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In Reply to: RE: thoughts on upgrading my Totem M1S posted by jimgrocecfp@hotmail.com on August 24, 2014 at 16:16:19
As an avid fan/owner of the original Totem Acoustics Model Ones, I've to say that in my case, the only worthwhile upgrade in my mind is the One 20th Anniversay Edition, as Lummy has mentioned, yet I'd have to go out on a limb here and say the best I've heard them to date has always be when they've been driven with tube Integrated's or amps, as far as cabling, I came across a very synergistic match with them as used with CRL Bronze Series cables, as the purity of the copper in their speaker cables seems to have added more weight to the midband as well as fleshed out a more responsive texture in said area if you will, while the hybrid IC has added more insight into the delicate, yet nimble top end in a manner to which I've found soft dome tweeters to gloss over in regards to their abilities to stop and start on a dime.
Some might consider metal dome tweeters as bright/harsh, yet to my mind it done correctly to begin with ( as Totem has done since day zero ), it's very obvious that many more modern designs are actually means of trying to build upon the craze for higher resolution, yet at the expense of texture/tonality/purity of notes.
In my system/home, there's more then enough low end impact as the volume hits 10 o'clock setting, so much so, I feel I'd never need more, and have to ask myself at times, just how others hear/perceive bass?, I mean if one is accustomed to listening to say a live jazz trio or an acoustic event, have tgey ever seriously paid attention to how the bass notes actually seen to roll around the very bottom of the floor/setting?, and aren't as pronounced as some would've us believe, to my mind bass between say 40 - 55Hz, being that I'm a jazz lover and never listen to head banger type music am more then content with purity as opposed to boom boom or rumbling fake bass lines any day of the week.
While some speakers are all about flash and grabbing ones attention short term, it's when we as music lovers begin to understand and appreciate the finer lines between transparency/neutrality and musicality that we should sometime ask ourselves - what sounds more natural?, something's stand the test of time, while others seem to have to offer resolution as a means of making one feel as if they've reached that point of what I often term
The Abso!ute Illusion.
If any given component has the capabilities of speaking to your soul and draws you into the musical venue on a purely emotional level, then what else is needed?.
Purity of note versus one of mere sound, I just can't understand the concept. Call me biased to what I hear as a very musically correct speaker, and I'd raise my hands gladly, but as the old saying goes - something's sound different, but when do we know if it's actually better?, and not just different?. Lateral movements does not a system make.
Enjoy what you've, and find means of voicing it to fit your needs instead of moving onto something that merely sounds different, to which you might regret later..........
Regards,
O_o scar
Follow Ups:
Very well put, and agreed. I too love jazz and listen to lots of acoustic bass. I also listen to rock music, but not metal, more along the lines of Traffic, Joni Mitchell, Richard Thompson (featuring Danny Thompson's awesome acoustic bass). I am not looking for LOUD bass, but I do want to more easily hear the bass line on certain recordings. I love the Totem M1S in every other regard. Maybe I should consider speaker cable, which is currently Totem Tress bi-wire, bananas on both ends. The bananas on the amp end are not ideal for the Ayre, I am using them but the amp end would be better with spades.
Before you make any cable moves, you need to put the Tress and the rest of your cables onto a proper cable burn-in device, such as the Nordost VIDAR, Hagerman FryKleaner, or audiodharma Cable Cooker.
+1 agreed!
And I too have purchased tubes from him and tubes he's recommended to me. The guy has never missed a beat in his recommendations. so I suggest if you want to stick around, you'd be better off by not picking a fight with the members here. We can all do without your drive by postings.
Agreed 100%. I've bought tubes from Oscar and have had many productive and friendly audio discussions with him. No one here, especially Oscar, needs or wants the obnoxious/ aggressive input from this first time poster.
Thanks for understanding my statements in this regards, as it's heartfelt. As mentioned you'd easily move onto something for the sake of difference, yet still not have what you've at this very moment, weird thing is as my original Totem Model Ones were intended upon my recommendation for an ex-friend as something to which I felt would match the sonics of his Sophia Electric 126S integrated, and vowed that if tgey didn't?, I'd be more then willing to trade him for my once loved and cherished Devore Fidelity Gibbon 3s no questions or difference in funds needed.
Long story short ( yeah right, as if ) he didn't get the same sort of bass response in his system/room that I'm obtaining from them, and in my room..........., what I'm hearing is more then enough, in hindsight they proved a much much better match in my home/sysystem to the point, where I'm the happiest I've been in 32 years of this hobby, so in taking it upon myself to find the best amp for my needs/ears ( EL84 Integrated ) and then matching them with the CRL Bronze LS Cables only fleshed out every little hidden detail which was there to begin with, yet made everything and I mean literally everything seem as if for the first time in my entire life, as if the system as a whole had a " purpose ".
So much so, that the only items I pursue these days are tubes and tunes, because in my mind once we've taken our systems as far as our minds/budgets allow!, what else needs to be done, beside invest in ones music collection, an expensive system is nice to own, yet serves its purpose not without music to hear back through it, and only limiting oneself to the top 30 greatest sounding Audiophile approved 30 CDs or LPs, does not a system make.
Try to at least borrow said Cable Research Labs Bronze or better still Copper Series Cables through the Cable Company, as you owe this one to yourself before deciding to move onwards or laterally without knowing just what these speakers are capable of............., the great thing about it is, you only have to invest in these cables once, if in fact you are capable of hearing what I am?, and what I hear has me off the bandwagon chasing components until something is broken?, otherwise.............., I'm content/happy being in the state of mind/bliss I'm in at this very moment in my life, as there should come a point in all of our life's where we've to ask ourselves - when is good enough, enough!.
Therein lies my sense of logic/rationale - hearing is believing, but in order to hear, one must be open-minded enough to find their own " truths ". ( I know, I know ) but it's true, lest we allow others to dictate what we should be hearing?, when in fact some aren't willing to admit tgey themselves, don't know what to listen for!, whom do we trust?, their ears instead of our own?, I think not!.
Regards,
O_ o scar
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