Totem Sttaf, Any Comments?

I agree with Celtic. In a small room, it is all one could ask for. I used a a pair in my study for 3 years & looked forward to listening to the radio on the Sttafs as much or more than to my main system! [The other Totems tend to wear me down & I believe that, aside from the Sttafs, they all use those damn metal domes...]

I liked the Sttafs a lot. We had a pair in the house for seven or eight months and they held their own against some much larger competition. I'm with Celtic in that they are great speakers for acoustic material.

A little late getting to this discussion but here is my 2 cents worth. I have had a pair of Sttafs for just about three years and I still enjoy their sweet non-fatiguing sound. With a lush midrange the Sttafs just involve me with the music. The soft dome tweeter produces non harsh highs with just enough detail. For acoustic material, jazz, and lighter classical the Sttafs are just great. I especially find pipe organ music through the Sttafs to sound full and lush. Also, the bass that the Sttafs produce is hard to imagine given the size of the midrange/woofer driver.

Normally, I take manufacturer's comments on their speakers with a grain of salt but if you go to the Totem website and read the description of the Sttaf I could not agree more. In closing, I think the Sttaf is a great small floorstander that has not been given its fair share of professional review. A true bargain at $700.00 to $800.00 for a used pair.

By the way, I obtained a pair of Totem Hawks as a possible replacement for my Sttafs. Even though the Hawk is a more sophisticated speaker with more detailed highs and tighter bass it just did not "move" like the Sttafs. Maybe others will disagree but I sold the Hawks in favor of the Sttafs.

My Totem Wind's are more involving than the puppy 6's, 801n's, dunlavy sc-v's and magnepans I've owned...by the way, if you own current well designed gear and cables, most great speakers will deliver clean sound..if you experience harshness through any of the speakers I've mentioned then you have heard them fed improperly!!

My brother has the Sttafs in line with a Sim-Audio i-5080 and Arcam DiVA CD. The bottom end is boomy though reasonably extended. I am amazed at the volume of bass generated by such small drivers and cabinets. Unfortunately, the boominess often masks the midrange. I don't tend to agree with comments about midrange lushness. I find it to be rather thin. Acoustic guitars sound scratchy and voices sound hollow. The tweeter is definitely a lot more relaxed than the Totem Forests, though I haven't been terribly impressed with a deeply immersive 3-D soundstage. I liked everything about the Forests except the piercing highs > 10k. Might as well drill a hole through my eardrum and be done with it!

I consider the Totem Hawks to be excellent speakers for the price, even though they are a step up in cost. The bass is tighter and more extended than the Sttafs. The mids are fuller than heard on the Sttafs. The highs didn't fatigue me in the slightest. I auditioned them on a Sim Audio I-3 with a Cambridge Audio CD player. I was blown away by the cone extension that generated the taut but extended bass with appreciable slam. I would consider saving for an extra couple of months to upgrade to a fuller and more refined sound. The Sttafs are excellent value speakers but they are still rough around the edges to me. In time, the novelty of fat bass will fade and you'll be left with a thinner midrange that just doesn't cut it in my humble opinion.