Totem Mani 2 sig vs Dynaudio special 25s

Are you buying used, or new? If used, I'd probably go with whatever spkrs on my "list" I found at a great price/opportunity.

I've owned The Mani 2 sigs for a couple of years, & there is apparently no one who has owned them who doesn't love them. Harbeth's (from what I've read) are from a diff. planet than Totems or Dynaudio's, more for lower powered tube amps.

What's the rest of your system??? SS or tubes? (etc.)

I have owned two different models of Harbeth as well as the Focus 140 and Confidence C1. People used to talk about some speakers transporting you to the recording venue and others bringing the musicians into your listening room. Harbeths are very much in the latter camp. Their midrange is rich, ripe, seductive and convincing, especially on vocals. The tradeoff is that they they are low resolution (others will argue with this I'm sure) -- you do not get much information about the recording venue, nor do you get much detail or spatial information in general. And Harbeths are not transparent to the source, meaning you will hear less difference between components ahead of them in your system (amps, cables, sources). This can be both a blessing and a curse.

At the opposite end of the spectrum lie ultra high resolution speakers. Most electrostatics, which tend to be very transparent to what precedes them. Likewise Thiels. (I have owned and loved both). I imagine the Berrylium tweeter speakers fall in this camp as well. When I had the Focus 140's, I felt that they shared some of the overall warmth of the Harbeths but also excelled at spatial information. The Confidence C1 (and I think the Special 25 also) are more neutral. The Special 25 may be more to the high rez side of the scale, while the C1 falls nicely in the middle, to my ears.

I hope this is useful. You really can't go wrong with any of these choices, but personal preference is the key variable and only you can weigh in on that.

thank you all for the great feedback!

Obviously, the best thing to do is to audition both speakers myself but, as you can imagine, the special 25's are a bit difficult to come across.

Lapierre and Tobias, thanks for the heads up on the need for especially powerful amps. Do you two think that something like Bel Canto's Ref 1000s would pair well with these?

Nieuwen, I have also read about the The One and am interested in checking them out. How would you say The One's compare to The Mani 2 sigs? Also, what are the major differences between The One and the model one signatures?

Drubin, thanks for your input. I hope the differences are to my liking. I'm going to try and audition the 25's as soon as I get the chance.

Two more questions for the forum. Can anybody tell me what the major difference between the Mani 2's and the signatures are?

Finally, I would also like to solicit some feedback on Harbeth speakers, as I have heard many positive things about them. How do their line of speakers stack up to the offerings by Dynaudio or Totem?

Thank you all for all of your time!!

In my experience, the Focus 140's and the Special 25's are very different sounding -- there's hardly a family resemblance to speak of.

Not quite on point but in case this is useful... I traded my dynaudio Focus 140's for Totem The One's. The Ones's are a 20th anniversary upgraded version of the Model 1 Signatures. The Totem's have better quality bass more definition and detail. Also more detail through out the spectrum, generally a more enjoyable experience than the 140's

The standard Mani-2s (I have not heard the Sigs) do not have a specially memorable tweeter. Their bass is of course exceptional but as always it depends on room placement and treatment. As Lapierre says you will need an exceptional (and powerful!) amp to drive them or you will not be happy--the texture and inner dynamics of the music will not appear.

I've audition both and preferred the Manis because of the bass. The tweeter I don't remember being an significant advantage for either speaker.

If you have great amp(s) to push the Manis or 25s you will be greatly satisfied.

thanks for the post Zieman,

I just recently missed out on an opportunity to scoop up a pair of 25s for $2100. I don't know if I'm going to see a price like that anytime soon. Good to know that you think the tweeters of the totem are comparable to the 25s. Not sure if I'm going to pair one of these with a sub but, I do have a JL Fathom 113 sitting around just in case. If more folks chime in and it looks like the two speakers stack up pretty evenly it might just come down to which one I can get for cheaper.

Thanks again!

Ucsb21, This may not be much help. The Dyns won't make the bass of the Manis. Unless you have a smaller room you will want a sub for both. Better tweeter in the Dynaudio, but it takes a HIGHLY resolving system to hear the difference.
I do think the image is a little more believeable with the Totems. I also think they are a little more room friendly. If this is part of your decision process, try to find a used pair of 25 Anniversary speakers, and see how much of the original retail they still command! Told you this might not help!