Totem Acoustic Forest Signatures


I am putting together a new 2 channel system! I am looking for a new pair of speakers and my budget is around $7000. This thread has to deal only with the Totem Acoustic Forest Signatures!!!!!!  I have always been a fan of Totem Acoustic and love the Totem sound.  I have owned almost all their speakers except for the element series and the Forest Signatures. I have been trying to find reviews on the signatures but can't find anything useful so I am turning to the Audiogon crowd.

Has anyone demoed these or does anyone currently own a pair or owned a pair in the past that can give some useful insight? I don't listen to my music at high volumes and my music mainly consists of R&B from the 50's till now.

The speakers will be hooked up to the following - Hegel H360 integrated 
- Hegel Cdp4a CD player 
- Audioquest Wild Blue Yonder interconnects
- Audioquest Wild Wood speaker cable
- Audioquest Wel Signature power cables
- Shunyata MPC12A power conditioner but looking to upgrade to their new Denali series.
Ag insider logo xs@2xbrandonosman23
Just poking around and happily stumbled on this great thread. I’ve had my black gloss Forest Signatures for about a year, and they are far and away the best balanced, most satisfying speakers I have owned in 40+ years in this hobby (including Wilson Watt3/Puppy2, Quad esl-63 and Vandersteen Quatros). I’m running mine with a Plinius Hautonga (200wpc) integrated, which is a much better match for them than my previous electronics (VTL MB-125s with Audible Illusions m3a pre - not too shabby in their own right). So I definitely agree that the Forest Sigs benefit from lots of clean power.

I’m using all MIT in the signal path, including CVTerminator biwire speaker cables. I’m intrigued by the earlier comments about going single wire with jumpers, but my cables are dedicated bi-wire so that experiment will have to wait for another day.

Just wanted to mention that that you can fine tune the sound by changing the black balls under the skid plates. I tried both brass and carbon steel - the brass balls give a very smooth, warm presentation, but I ultimately settled on the hardened carbon steel. Not quite as warm as the brass, but more dynamic and extended. In my room, the metal balls provided more transparency and an even cleaner top end than the oem black rubber balls (this was Vince B’s suggestion, btw, not my own).  I also placed a small bdr disc under each, all of which sits on 1.75” maple plinths.

So very glad to see there are others out there who have found this under-appreciated speaker. IMHO, given the superb parts quality, flawless fit and finish and, most importantly, the glorious sound, it would be a bargain at twice the price!
Thanks, N!  Trying to keep a low internet profile these days, but this seems like a nice forum to share some set up ideas and listening experiences with these great speakers which, like you guys, seem to me to be under-represented out there. 

NSC
Welcome strat1117!  My experiences are similar to yours...the Sig’s are special indeed.  I have found the MIT cables to be an extremely musical choice as well.  Keep on posting and enjoy the music 🎶 
Hey dave_b!
How’s it going? Did you ever get a chance to listen to Black Light Syndrome, featuring Terry Bosio, Tony Levin and Steve Stevens? It is a recording masterpiece, am I right ghosthouse?

strat1117,

Thanks for sharing your system and setup info. The Plinius has good upfront wattage and 40 amps of peak current. Should make for a good combination with the Totems. How’s the presentation on the Plinius? I’ve read that it comes across as warm, not solid state sounding.

What source are you using?

Any service issues? Ive considered the Plinius Hiato but I don’t have a local dealer any longer.

I found your comments on the choice of decoupling spheres interesting and I feel that the hard - inert rubber balls overall presentation to be warm also. In fact my whole system tends to be warm due to the high bias class A/B components. And the Cardas Golden Reference are warm by nature. But your intel on the different decoupling spheres has given me reason to experiment with other options, thanks!

Recently adding the Mapleshade 18x15x2 plinths has opened up the soundstage and added more articulation to the low frequencies.

The new Wireworld Eclipse speaker cables offer more micro and macro detail and sonic transparency. They have a neutral and natural balanced sound.

I’m with you guys. Totem makes many excellect products. The Forest Signatures are beautiful both visually and sonically.

N