One thing I can tell it’s the most revealing speakers I ever had trust me I hade plenty you really have to work hard to find the right amplifier preamplifier cables ++++++every time you change something it makes difference from better or worse But if you find your way possible it will be the last speaker in your life in my very small room it sounds great I can’t imagine how better can be in proper room it sounds big beautiful powerful but prepared your self for big hi performance amplifier I did try few lower end amplifiers the sound it was terrible booming till I connected my bel canto mono block amplifiers 1000 watts per channel few better power cords interconnects everything changed day to night the difference for better it needs serious power really hi and front end it’s 5 stars for me.

weakness you must have serious front end big power expensive

Very impressive big sound. With a lot of detail in all the spectrum. Voices are so natural, bass goes deep, but very controlled. Guitars sound as if they are played in your room. I play mostly pop/rock/blues/jazz and since I have the Winds, I discover everytime new things in the music which I never experienced before. Adele, Robert Plant with Allison Krauss, Alice in Chains ( Unplugged ! ), the XX, Massive Attack, Pink Floyd, Bliss - it's all a big adventure and joy to listen to.

But they deserve good electronics and cables, for they reveal everything, also when it's not so good. And that counts also for the quality of the recordings .But......Is that a weakness?

Truly stunning speakers. These replaced Revel Salon2s in my setup, a much more expensive speaker, and the Totem hands down do everything better. While the Revels are like surgical instruments devoid of any feeling the Totems are a full range and complete package. The soundstage is stunning, nothing seems to be coming directly from the speakers, and the bass response extends into the low 20s with superb definition.
They are supremely transparent and highly resolving but still communicate the EMOTION intrinsic in music.
These are rarely on the used market and it is easy to see why.

clarity and imageing

NOT stabel on carpet. i tryed them on platforms but thay rattled at low frequencies. i ended up attaching spikes and taking the hit in resale value. Efficency

right out of the box thy have no base and are bright to the point of being shrill. I but a cd on repeat and went to work for 2 weeks then satdown and gave them a good listen. after the stability problems were sorted out i was vary happy with them. the image improves with bywireing or if you can't do that atleast replace the stock jumper pin(a stratened paperclip) with a 3 in. piece of speaker wire. like most speakers in this class thay sound as good as what you but in them. the better the sorce and electronics the better thay sound. for the price thay want TOTEM should supply spikes for people with carpet.

Realism, Bass Response, Highs, and overall fidelity. Amazing Jazz speakers.
Outstanding vocal reproduction:

None really - but the speakers seem to be too articulate to keep up with blunt rock recordings and hip/hop - pop without soul. The Winds reveal flaws in some of today's overproduced recordings.

Price a bit high - and getting higher in the Bush league economy.

These speakers are a dream. I listen to jazz and in the price range there is nothing better. I was set on buying a pair of B&W 803Ds until my audio salesman asked me to do a side by side test with the Winds. I couldn't believe my ears. The Winds beat the B&Ws hands down. I bought a pair and haven't stop listening (except for when work, girlfriend and sleep necessitate) since I installed them in my apartment. The sound reproduction is uncanny - more realistic than the 803Ds imho - with better bass response and attack. The highs are there too - but not so high (as with the diamond tweeter) that you get listening fatigue. I have them bi-wired to a McIntosh 6500 integrated and a Sony 24bit /192Khz DVD/CD player. I'm approaching the end of my break-in period and let me say they get better and better with time. Also unlike the B&Ws you don't have to drive the pants off of them to get them to perform. I'm cruising around 2 watts most of the day and rarely feel the need to crank the amp.
Though I am not a review hound, I felt the need to contribute my 2 cents about the Winds - as there is a dirth of info. on the web about these speakers. I dare say Totem needs to pick the pace up in marketing as many will overlook these speakers or never give them a chance as they are virtual unknowns to all but the most die-hard audiophiles.
Let me end by saying the Winds are so good that I find myself re-evaluating my "favorite" songs as the speakers are so accurate any flaws or fakery in the recording process become quite evident.

Just to great everything bass sounds deep and loud tweets at the right sound and mid is just enough to be soft. Everything on this speaker is strength nothing here is weakness when listening to this baby.

don't show it off to your friends or they'll want to come over and party all day listening how nice this towerspeaker sounds but not loud enough to hear if your party is large.

i bought 4 of these speakers for front speakers and rear speakers for my 7.1 Pioneer elite THX ceritfied and boy this is the real thing. This speaker is the real deal everything comes to life i watch cable tv all the time so foot ball and basketball is clear as watching it front row. This tower speaker is so awesome nature show sounds just awesome. this is the real deal i mean i haven't seen any speaker out there besides pioneer and there 9k speaker sound as nice as these baby but i chose these over pioneer towers also just because paying 9grand on one tower speaker was out of my budget. Since i bought 4.

Tonality, Imaging, treble, bass

Ineficient

I helped my friend buy these and am extremely jelous. He wanted to improve on his Paradigm Studio 100s V2 and I knew that these would be perfect for him. The are absoloutly fantastic speakers.

The thing that these speakers do really well is tonality. They reproduce the full soundscape with extreme detail. I find many recordings with a female and a male voice to be the best test of tonality. A particularily good track for this is Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli -- Time to say goodbye. On a poor systems the voices are blended. On a good system the voices take turns being strong. With the winds it was remarkable. Each voice was clear all by itself. It kept the voices separate. What this means is that these speakers are able to accuratly reproduce all of the overtones of intruments and voices perfectly. This is essentially the characteristic that makes a piano sound different then another intstrument.

Another favourite track of mine is on Dianna Krall's stepping -- Stepping out. There are some very interesting sounds in this track that this speaker excels at. I have heard this track over 100 times on many systems and this is the first time I noticed a small laugh in her voice as she said 'your story is so touching'. I now here it on other systems but this slight nuance handled perfectly by the winds, it jumps at you. Another excellent sound is from the soft brushing of the cymbils by the drummer. This is one of the hardest sounds for a speaker to reproduce. Often it just sounds like static. On the winds, with the proper source the circular/to and fro nature of the sound was revealed. Again, this indicates a new level of detail for me in this track.

The only issue with these speakers for some people would be their inefficiency. They are not nearly as efficient as the Paradigms and I felt them wanting for very loud rock music. Hooked up to a Bryston 3bst they were not capable of producing the really loud sound that the more efficient paradigms produced. Even with more power I felt that these were not 'Party' speakers, but were rather more suitable to dedicated listening.

All in all these speakers are absolutly fantastic. I am a little upset because now there is not much chance of me being able to keep up with the Jones.

Similar Products Used:

Vandersteen, Martin Logan, Energy, Kinima

Tonality, Imaging, Very tight base, highly extended hi-end and low end.

Inneficient

I helped my friend buy these and am extremely jelous. He wanted to improve on his Paradigm Studio 100s V2 and I knew that these would be perfect for him. The are absoloutly fantastic speakers.

The thing that these speakers do really well is tonality. They reproduce the full soundscape with extreme detail. I find many recordings with a female and a male voice to be the best test of tonality. A particularily good track for this is Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli -- Time to say goodbye. On a poor systems the voices are blended. On a good system the voices take turns being strong. With the winds it was remarkable. Each voice was clear all by itself. It kept the voices separate. What this means is that these speakers are able to accuratly reproduce all of the overtones of intruments and voices perfectly. This is essentially the characteristic that makes a piano sound different then another intstrument.

Another favourite track of mine is on Dianna Krall's stepping -- Stepping out. There are some very interesting sounds in this track that this speaker excels at. I have heard this track over 100 times on many systems and this is the first time I noticed a small laugh in her voice as she said 'your story is so touching'. I now here it on other systems but this slight nuance handled perfectly by the winds, it jumps at you. Another excellent sound is from the soft brushing of the cymbils by the drummer. This is one of the hardest sounds for a speaker to reproduce. Often it just sounds like static. On the winds, with the proper source the circular/to and fro nature of the sound was revealed. Again, this indicates a new level of detail for me in this track.

The only issue with these speakers for some people would be their inefficiency. They are not nearly as efficient as the Paradigms and I felt them wanting for very loud rock music. Hooked up to a Bryston 3bst they were not capable of producing the really loud sound that the more efficient paradigms produced. Even with more power I felt that these were not 'Party' speakers, but were rather more suitable to dedicated listening.

All in all these speakers are absolutly fantastic. I am a little upset because now there is not much chance of me being able to keep up with the Jones.

Similar Products Used:

Energy, Vandersteen, Martin-Logan, Kinima