Heard last week the Totem Forest at Audioville in Montreal.
This is my favorite Totem speaker ! Combining the awsome soundstage, highs and mids from the Model One and a bass slam much better than the Totem Staff.

Build quality is A-1 as usual for a Totem product. Looking forward to buy a pair of Forest to match my Sim Audio Moon I-5 integrated amp.

I will also need a new CD player, any suggestion ? :-)

Deep tight base, good mid range, wonderful cabinetry. Beaks help!

Loses some focus on the highs... voices can sometimes sound a little shrill (may require more break-in time?).

Added to a Yamaha DSP-A1 AMP with Nordost premium bi-wire cables. I would encourage anyone to use quick responding high-end cables and bi-wire them for additional segregation of base and mids - worth the price for the additional sound clarity. I bought a demo set with some 60 hours on them and they sound distinctly better than a new pair that I tested side-by-side. Keep away from the wall unless you love lots of boomy base. Overall, great value for money and you will be hard pressed to beat this mix.

Similar Products Used:

Compared against Mani-2 (too expensive) and Gershmans (not nearly as good).

Sights & Sounds: Here we have a concious designer who surveys current market trends, then goes to the drawing board. Fit and finish are exemplary. Beautiful cabinetry, high quality parts ( ie. WBT binding posts ). A new driver by hi-vi research and SEAS tweeters with Uncle Vince' special sauce no doubt. Constuction is solid with precise, detailed visual appearance; they even smell good!
Some of the cherished artifacts found in the Model one signatures, with the exception of the 80khz bloom, remain present in this taller brother. I believe the " Forest " to be a little truer in the tonal dept. Bass is focused and deep. Midrange is open but not forced or pushed. Sweet extended highs were of auditory nerves delight with only a trace of shelved-up brightness on poorly recorded material. It is important to consider a break-in time of 50-80 hours before critical listening.

Final comments:
Those of you who have enjoyed the Totem family sound in less expensive models, this is a reasonable upgrade. A competant, relatively easy speaker to drive and live with. In this price range, put it on your short list.

Reference system used:
-Copland CDA 289 cd player
-Copland CTA 301 mk II preamplifier ( upgraded Siemens NOS 6922 gold pin )
-Copland CTA 505 pwr. amplifier ( upgraded Svetlana 6550-C output tubes ) Accessories:
-Lovan sovereign stands
-Cardas Neutral Reference 2x8' bi-wired speaker cables
-Cardas Neutral Reference 2- 1m. RCA interconnects
-YBA Diamond power cord
-Blue Circle power cord
-Michael Green room tune pak
-Room size- 21' long, 12.5' wide, 7.2' high ( dropped acoustic tile ceiling )
-1 large glass of Ocean Spray Cranberry juice on crushed ice with a pinch of cinnamon!

The Music:
1. Shirley Horn- " You won't forget me " Verve/8474822a track 11
2. Patricia Barber- " Cafe Blue " Premonition/prem-737-2 track 10
3. Phil Keaggy- " The wind and the wheat " Maranatha records/cdo8185 all
4. Jann Arden- " Happy " A&M/cd500789 tracks 2,7,11. (keep listening, it's there)
5. Albinoni-Pachelbel- " Musica da camera " Linn records/ cdk-012 all.

Much thanks is in order to my local retailer, London Audio. Owner Mr. Steve Glickman and staff allow the customer an in store or home demo which is relaxed and thorough with a service policy that is second to none... Yes, I ordered a pair!

-sweet highs
-amazing detail
-great soundstage and imaging
-very dynamic!

I'm stretching to find some but here's a couple: The break-in period was much higher than 200+ hours (I'm impatient) and the ball-bearings under the metal feet can roll under cabinets when you are repositioning the speakers (I'm also a big guy).

**System Configuration At Bottom of Review**

I was auditioning the Hales Revelation 3’s when, during a break in the music, I heard some crystal clear ‘Blues’ music coming from outside the room. It sounded like a live performance, so I left the room I was in and followed the sound into the next room where several speakers stood in the rear of the room. The soundstage was huge, very detailed and loud so I assumed it was coming from a pair of large speakers in the room. Boy was I wrong and I was amazed to find that two tiny (less than 40" tall) speakers with equally small footprints were the source of this incredible sound. And these babies are beautiful to look at with their standard mahogany real wood finish and silver feet (somewhat art deco in appearance and very elegant). The designer prefers not to have driver covers on the speakers to minimize any muffling of the sound but I do believe you can order them if you need them from the manufacturer. I like them without any coverings and I believe this adds to their appeal.

After first receiving my brand new speakers I was anxious to hear them even though I knew there was a break-in period ahead. I wasn’t prepared for the time it took – at least 200 hours before they started to sound like those in the audition but I think it was another 100 hours or so before they were perfect. Be prepared for this. I ended up buying Stereophile’s Test CD 2 and using the pink noise recording to facilitate the break-in period. Also, don’t toe-in these speakers and be sure to have them at least 2 feet from the back wall to get the best bass impact.

I can say now that my Totem Forest’s sound perfect and I look forward to listening to them every moment I can. Incredible detail, dynamics and a huge soundstage are my best descriptors for this product. The bass is very deep and tight. The designer is a master at creating small boxes with big impact and you can feel it! I listened to several other speaker systems and they all sounded good but none had the impact that the ‘Forests’ had on me (and my wife). The Sonus Fabers (Grand Pianos) were my second choice and I didn’t pick them because of their relatively weak bass and because I perceived a "dullness" with the sound that didn’t always agree with me on my favorite music material (Blues, Jazz, Modern Rock). It’s all personal preferences and I would enjoy listening to these systems again but the "wow!" factor is definitely in the Totem camp.

On a final note, I had the pleasure to meet one of the nicest and most honest businessmen during my research on the web of various system components. His name is Jody Crane and his website is http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/jody.crane/index.html. Don’t let the web scare you for high priced items like this, Jody and his partners are passionate about good sound reproduction and about their reputation – just read the dozens of customer testimonials in a link to their site. I strongly recommend that you contact Jody. He can get just about anything for you at competitive prices but with excellent service.

My system configuration:
Totem Forest Speakers
Totem Model 1 Signature Center Speaker
Aragon 8008X3 Amplifier
Acurus ACT-3 Multichannel Preamplifier
Parasound T/DQ-1600 FM Reference Tuner
MIT-T2 Speaker/Interconnects/Digital Interface Cables
Monster Silver S-Video Cable
Toshiba SD-3109 DVD Player (use digital out into Preamp)
Black Diamond Racing cones for Toshiba DVD player

Similar Products Used:

Hales Revelation 3, Sonus Faber Grand Pianos, PSB Golds

I am currently trying out a pair. I have read the past postings, and would like to add my two cents' worth.
First of all, these are taking a long time to burn in. This is nothing new. Like a lot of high-end gear, it takes about a month to break in fully. My samples still need another two weeks. Maybe they'd sound more refined, by then. For now, I provisionally give them three stars.

Be sure to use the Forest with a variety of equipment, before you come to conclusions about their sound. So far, I've used the Muse Model 100 and a Classe' CA-100. I'm going to borrow some other amps, before I declare what the Forest really sounds like.

As for the warmth, I think that has to do with the room. I have a small, square (16' x 16' x 8') room. Yep, the Forest sounds warm. But so does the NHT SuperZero, Sonus Faber Concertino, Thiel CS1.5, and ProAc Response One SC. I also have a problem in this room, with listening height. The Forest are short speakers. But, because of the small room, I have to sit pretty close (about seven or eight feet) to the speakers. If I do not sit on the floor, my ears will be too high above the tweeters.

So there you have it. Look out for (a) burn-in time, (2) associated equipment, (3) room size, and (4) listening height. Perhaps my setup doesn't allow anything other than minimonitors to perform well. I will try to use the Forest in other rooms, with different equipment. Perhaps then I'll get back to you guys. But in the mean time, I tend to agree with Mr. Bill Goldberg, except I would give the Forest three stars.

My reading of the Totem Forest is that they are nothing short of spectacular. I have heard these speakers --- beautifully made and looking --- in three different stores with three different amp sources (Audio Research, Audiolab, and Rega). I have compared them to other speakers from Aerial, PSB, Energy, and even a brand (which shall remain anonymous) costing almost 4 times as much and hightly touted.
About the last thing I would think of saying about these speakers is that they are "warm." What I would say is this: articulate, gorgeous top end with clear unaggressive treble, amazing imaging, to the point of causing you constantly to pay attention, depth to the point that some instruments sound like they are in the next room, a tight, rhythmic bass, coherent, outstanding timing, delivering a clearly demarcated musical image moment to moment, extraordinary detail retreival, also bringing smiles to the listening experience over and over, etc., etc. Overall, an airy, dimensional, tight sound with drive and resolution. In fact, if there is a weakness here (not for my tastes), it is that some might think these speakers are just too analytical. They are so involving, hwoever, that descriptors start not to matter. With these speakers, you keep thinking of music you want to listen to, and return to.

I have compared these speakers to the lesser priced Totem Staffs. The Staffs are also very nice, but the difference in design of the speakers is quite obvious. The Staffs give an incredibly clean presentation, but they do not have the depth and scale of the Forests. They do have a different sound, and you should try both. And, I think much better than the Totem Arros recently reviewed so favorably in a good audio magazine (FI).

Listen for yourself, under the right conditions, and my bet is that these speakers will be a discovery.

My name is Peer Brouwers, I have the REGA planar 3 with the blue-point special and the micromega duo 3.1. transport with speparte DAC. Micro-mega gives a vinyl feeling. And than I read about the very succesfull mariage between REGA and an new firm for me TOTEM. I myself had al real good speaker, German Isophon Avalon. But i wanted something more not 0,5 % but more music involvement. I listen 90 % classical music, especial 20 century. Glass, Britten, Part, Tavener, Adams etc. Kronos is one of my favorites.
In my search for more I went listningg for Rega Hal pre and EXS biamping. It was a new expierice, more detail, very deep stereo soundstage three-dimesional.
And than I read the Totem-site with the new speaker Forest. I tried it and ........
It is fabulous, so much more involvement, never hard, never too loud. Everthing is well placed. A live sensation, when i listen to jazz at he pawnshop analog.
Very good when i listing to Janis Ian, breaking silence on the micro-mega.

I think this combination is very good. Totem is a new standard for real music duplication. The last month with the totems I re-listen all my favorite music and al lot of this music is new in some way.

I find the price for the totem forest not cheap, but when you listen to them it is worth three times every euro.!


Please write me your expirience with Rega and Totem, and what you find of mine set:

Rega hal pre-amp
EXS bi-amping
Rega planar 3 with Blue Point special
Duson Tuner with fanfare fm -2g roof-antenne
Micro-Mega Duo 3.1. transport
Audio Alchemy DTI
DSP DAC
Stax Sigma with SRM 1 amp
No limits speaker connects bi-wiring
Neutriks concectors with KLOTZ interconnects
PhilipsDCC 900 series
AVM power conditioner
shakti on lines

thank you for giving feed-back

Peer Brouwers

Fantastic soundstaging
Excellent detail
Tight Bass

super long break in period

A follow up to my earlier review that addresses some important points:
1) These speakers have a long break in period. A couple reviews in this forum state "they sounded great at the store but not so great at my house". I felt the same thing...for the first month, but after 200+ hours, they have really opened up. They now sound better than what I remembered.
2) Source component is extremely important. I upgraded from an Adcom to a Proceed CDP for my CD source and it made an immediate difference in my listening pleasure.
3) Although these speakers are not difficult to drive, bass improves significantly with more power-more detail, and more weight.

I would highly recommend these speakers in their price range. Not to mention

Similar Products Used:

B+W Nautilus 804, Vienna Acoustics Mozart, Tannoy D-300

Build: solid
Look: very good
Quality parts (veneer, internal wiring, filters, wbt connectors) : very good
Sound: refined, good soundstage, deep and powerful enough bass

Price: high (at least in Europe)
Sound: highs at little bit harsh (maybe this is metal tweeter sound), bass not extremely controlled

It they where $1000 (or maybe 800) less it would have been better, otherwise they are a very good stand floor speaker.
As a suggestion filled them with sand IMHO they sound better (more control in bass area) and they become more stable.
Anyway give them a try (listen them carefully with good and very good electronics).
4 points for rating

I appreciate any feedback regarding the subject.
Happy listening !.

Similar Products Used:

Dynaudio Confidence and PSB suite