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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
pilots89
5 posts
 
I've owned the Mani-2s for years and love them.  The base extension and detail is great.  The buying decision at the time came down to Mani-2s and the Forest and the decision was a no brainer.  I recently demoed Mani-2s next to the Forest Signatures at local dealer and there is a stark difference in base extension, detail and sound stage.  I had to pull the trigger and now own both.  Both are power hungry and the Krells and Mac tubes are up to the challenge.
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audionut51
25 posts
 

Amps tube or solid state All that is neded is a Quality Amp 50 Watts! I will take a high quality 50 Watt over a 500 watt all day long. Be aware, there are high quality 500 watt amps out there, too. Both $$$ but worth it......

akg_ca's avatar
akg_ca
2,155 posts
 

Short reply in brief:

FORESTs demand a lot of “grunt” to permit them to perform at their max.that means high- current and lotsa amps delivery. WPC specs by themselves mean nothing.

(1) pair them with high-current, high-end , solid-state amp only

(2) Do not pair them with tube amps

 

I owned TOTOTEM FORESTs before in a prior system . I simultaneously owned their ARROs, so I know their strengths and warts very well.

With the FORESTs, I had to upgrade the amp to a S/S bi-amped rig ( not bi-wire) with a high-end integrated amp paired with a matched spec stablemate power amp, just to get them to perform at their true max potential.

my BFF amigo audio friend borrowed them to test-drive them in his top strata high-end CARY tube amp system . In brief: just plain yuk! Comparatively, they were flat and lifeless until he pushed the volume knob to a 2 o’clock position on the volume knob . At which point they were quickly irritating, and predicating a dial-back to a listenable level. But alas, back to no dynamics, flat, et al and a poor match for a low(er) level listening

Choose wisely.

 

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