Very muscial, wonderful soundstage, small size

High frequency harshness with some material

The Totem speakers offer a rich, lush sound that is better than many larger more expensive speakers. They also strike a nice balance with the sound/size/price points. The speakers are very sensitive to placement and they do suffer from some harshness on some material. Overall they are very pleasing sonically and offer a brilliant, vast soundstage that is breathtaking considering their size. I have my pair bi-wired and I use them in conjunstion with an M & K MX-2000
subwoofer. I also utilize a high quality M & K high pass filter. By themselves, without the sub or high pass filter, the Totem speakers are sensational, but do not have enough bass for the large room I have them in. The subwoofer/high pass filter causes a some 'one note' bass and muddies the mids a slight bit, but the overall improvement is worth the tradeoff.

Imaging, dynamics, soundstage . . . damn near everything actually.

None

Model 1 SIGNATURE:

The search is over. This speaker is ever so near perfect. Imaging is pinpoint when set up properly. The soundstage is massive (very similar to that of the Dynaudio and soliloquy speakers mentioned above) but betters the other speakers in terms of precision of image placement. I agree that they deserve the very best amplification you can afford, however my lowly Sim Audio Moon I-5080 is doing an adequate job right now. They are very dynamic and do a fine job at resolving every detail of the music (bettered in this area only by the N805's). The bass response is remarkable for such a small speaker.
Build quality is beyond reproach. The speakers' cabinet joints are done in the old tongue and groove style for maximum rigidity. The mahogany finish (inside and out) on these speakers is stunning.

They work with every type of music I've tried. All genres of "classical" , Jazz, blues, country, and Rock. Even Hard rock like Van Halen or even radiohead works great. The only area in which I would be careful is that of Rap/Electronica. On Massive Attack's "Angel" I noticed some rattling of the port. This was only at relitively high volumes however, and if you are familiar with the recording at all, you will know that Massive puts some HEAVY bass transients in there.

So, having said that I cannot recommend this speaker enough to anyone in the market for minimonitors.

System:

Arcam FMJ CD23
Harmonic Tech Truth-link Interconnects
Sim Audio Moon I-5080
Van den Huul CS122 Hybrid Bi-Wire Speaker Cable
Totem Model 1 Signature's atop Target R series knockoff speaker stands.
XLO Power Cables

Similar Products Used:

N805, CDM 1NT, Soliloquy 5.0, Dynaudio 1.1 and 1.3, linn Tukan and Katan.