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Need to replace my Totem Acoustic Arros

Hey guys,

I’m on the market for a new pair of floorstanders. My Totem Arros are great but I am looking for something more. My criteria is as follows:

Will be in a small-medium size room(s)
Must be floorstanding
Must be efficient enough to be driven with 20-30+ watts (possibly tubes)
Must obviously best the Arro in most regards
Looking for something that is refined and organic sounding

I am starting to listen to music with more scale and want something that can keep up with the dynamic swings of classical music. Yet, I listen to a lot of chamber and folk music along with a decent amount of jazz.

Budget is $3,000 new or used.

Speakers cannot be Totems. I've owned just about every Totem on the block and I am looking for something different.
baroque_lover
gunbei
2,327 posts
 
Have you thought of getting the Totem Hawks or are you interested in trying something with a lightly different flavor?

If not Totem, how about ProAc D15s?

As a former [and happy] ProAc owner I'm thinking of a set of Hawks as my re-entrance into hifi.
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,888 posts
 
Are you using only 20-30 watts with the Arro's?

That sounds underpowered to me. When I heard Arro's they were surprisingly power hungry for such a small design. They seemed to thrive on 100w/ch and more.
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
I'd recommend Vandersteen 3A signature, but they need more power to sound right for the large orchestras. You can also bi-amplify them or use tube preamplifier. They're much better off with solid state amplification preferably over 150Watts. It would also be better budgetwise v.s. powerful tube amps. They're excellent for large orchestras, have huge dynamic headroom and would fit your budget. For small jazz band and chamber music you can have SET(or low-power tube)/high-efficiency system if it dominates your collection.
One of my favorite high efficiency system is Avantgard Uno designed for bi-amplification with low-powered SET amp. You might also find it used to be within your budget.
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