Small living room speaker options.. Totem Arro?


Hi,

I've recently moved into a small condo and feel like my LSi9s are just not working so well in this small living room (11x14). These speakers need to be a bit away from the wall and are fairly large in stature. I am also doing much more low volume listening now and feel like the LSi9 works better when at mid volume, otherwise it's kind of a sleepy speaker that isn't very detailed, especially missing much of the mid section when listening at very low volumes.

So what I want is a small form factor speaker that has clear and live presentation at low volume. From everything I read it seems that the Totem ARRO is a very good contender for this job, especially since it's small and loves to be close to the wall, which is where I'd have it for aesthetic purposes. 

My gear consists of a Classe SSP AMP2 (Class D), which is a 200w amp, so I think I should have no shortage of power. My pre is an Outlaw 975 which will probably get upgraded over the next year or two, but for now this is what I'm working with.

Would love to hear any thoughts on the Arro in this setup and any other options I might look into at this price point and size. Again, keeping in mind low listening volume requirement and lively/punchy presentation, although I'm not a fan of "bright"  speakers. 

Should I consider the Totem Staff? I would probably like it's tonality better, because it's closer to my LSi9 in the sense that it's a more laid back speaker. But I am not sure if it will work as well as the arro in low listening volume and it is also a larger speaker in terms of dimensions that also probably would not work quite as well backed up against the wall.

Any and all thoughts much appreciated! 
lietuvis91

Showing 3 responses by chrisr

I have owned rega rs5, audionned staf, and currently own the hawks.
The rs 5 have a very good, clear midrange, image well, efficient, and on  the bright side of neutral.  I imagine the rs3 and rs1 to be the same with less bass depth.  With your monster of power classe, rega would not be my choice.
Totems staf are punchy and go low, musical, but the midrange is not as clean and fleshed out as with the regas.  The hawks fit in between regas and staf, with deeper and punchier bass.
Both totems sound much larger than they look, and the soundstage is more 3 dimensional.
With the power you have, i would buy totem because you will not have any regrets: they are very musical, airy with a very fair amount of detail.  No sub needed.  Sure there's always something better, but you can't dislike them.  Not so with regas.
I agree with 213runnin, Totem has increased their prices considerably on designs that are nearly 20 years old.  Performance-wise, they are really good though, transparent, detailed with extended and rich tonalities.  
I consider my totem hawks the better compromise in comparison to B&W cdm-9nt, martin-logan aerius i, Dynaudio BM5A, Magnepan MMG, MG12, Vandersteen 2CE Sig, Paradigm Studio 40 v5, rega rs5 that I once owned.
But the outrageous price increases of Totem models do not make them any better than what they already are, and there's tons of new competition.  The key is to buy them used.
mdr, thx for sharing your experience... So you would say that the current focal chorus line is up there with totem ?