VSA VR4 SR vs Totem Wind

I've only listened to the VR4 at a dealer, but I own the Wind. The VR4 just never drew me in emotionally like the Wind did.

The Winds can be a little finnicky with set-up, getting them in just the right position is key, but I think this is true of many larger full range floorstanders. I think the Wind is a perfect complement to your room size as well, if you have the flexibilty to position them freely.

Gee... so they aren't any audio nuts that have either heard or owned the Totem Winds that have also heard the JRs, huh?

I own the VR4jr, but have listened to the VR4 SR extensively as it is on my short list for upgrade. I beleive the VS speakers are very muscial and will draw you into the music like few other speakers and will give you incredible sound. Pairing them with a tube preamp and good solid state amp will give you magic ! VS speakers are very revealing and as such upstream components need to be scrutinized. But I assume if you are willing to drop 8-12K on speakers, then probably you will not be running these with a Yamaha receiver.

As far as Totem goes, since I am in Canada I have numerous Totem dealers around here and they can be had on the cheap - that is compared to other offerings. As such I had the Totem Forests for about 6 months quite a few years ago when looking for my holy grail and althought they did lots of things right they were very fatiguing. Something I never have with my VS. I don't think they use soft dome tweeters. Which kills it for me right away these days. The Winds IMO are a little better... I heard them at the dealers and at the last Montreal show and they were not as bright as the Forests but even with a Plinus amp I could tell long term listening would be problematic - for me anyway. Personally I would go with Totem for home theater and VS for 2 channel. YMMV