Re: Their only redeeming product is the Rainmaker for their prices
I can't believe some of the comments I'm reading here. The Totems are awesome, and easily better than many products at similar prices. There is not a single bad model in the line. They very in their "flavor" a bit between models but they all are definately Totems. I can listen blindfolded and tell you if a speaker is a Totem or not. They certainly have a signature sound. It is one that I ultimately love as well as many other people. I've listened to much more expensive speakers, and said to myself, "they sound good... but their missing something that the Totems have", a certain "life" that the Totems breathe into music.
I've had much time to listen to all the speakers mentioned in this post, with varying electronics. The Sttafs contrary to what someone else posted are the easiest speakers to drive in the Totem line. They sound amazing for thier price to boot. One of my friends actually said that they sound better than his own Martin Logan Summits, an over 10K speaker! There is a certain magic to the way an extremely simple two-way speaker with a high grade crossover can present the music. I own the Hawks myself, in a system that every other component costs significantly more. (my previous speakers were about $5,000, but the Hawks are much better) I auditioned probably about 40 different speakers before I settled on them, and even then it was between the Hawks and another pair of Totems. The Totems were simply better.
The comment about HiVi drivers is completely nonsensical. What you will see in the Totem line, is that unlike other companies who "sell out" and use drivers from all one manufacturer in all of thier designs to save cost, Totem chooses whatever driver fits the demands of the product that they are building THE BEST. If Vince thought that another driver would have worked better in the Forest, he would have used it guarunteed! The HiVi is an excellent driver with a 3" voicecoil and an extrordinarily long throw for a 6 1/2" woofer. This is one reason that the Forest can have such amazing bass extension for a small two-way. Just because HiVi doesn't gouge on their prices, now the entire speaker becomes undesirable? Well, I say if you think you know better, than why not build one yourself? Trust me it isn't as easy as it looks, I've tried. Also, even with HiVi woofers, and all your own labor and parts procurement, it will still cost you more and most likely sound worse.
One thing you'll find, is that upon first glance the Totems do seem expensive, maybe because of how small they are or how simple they look ect. Some people just can't see forking out that kind of cash for something that's so "small". I've heard people say; "but you could get so much MORE speaker for that kind of money" without ever even listening. If "more speaker" was what mattered most, then I could have bought pretty much every speaker Radio Shack has to offer and chained them all together in a room full of drivers for the price I paid for my Hawks but it would have sucked.
No matter what people will say, the looks of a speaker still play a very important role about how people will percieve their "sound" or "Value". Totems, while attractive and very wife friendly, are smaller and seen as not very serious by many people. It's ashame that that makes the decision for many people. I can't tell you how many times someone's posted to upgrade my speakers on my system and how my electronics are way beyond my speakers ect. But, they have not heard my system! It will blow your mind. If you closed your eyes and pretended my speaker was a pinyata you couldn't find it with a stick if you tried, all that you would find are musicians and instruments. It's that good. IMHO :)
