Rbstehno hit the nail on the head. Power. Many of us have discovered the hard way that there is a difference between power a speaker sufficient to get the volume you want and powering a speaker in a manner that it produces robust, well balanced sound. Your 50 wpc can probably drive the Totems to any desired volume level but it won't control them adequately to produce clean healthy sound.
It's good that you picked up on this quick. I think I bought and sold speakers several times, baffled by the difference in my experience with them vs the reviewers, until I learned that underpowering a speaker will produce volume but fail to produce high quality sound.
It's good that you picked up on this quick. I think I bought and sold speakers several times, baffled by the difference in my experience with them vs the reviewers, until I learned that underpowering a speaker will produce volume but fail to produce high quality sound.