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Totem Sky, Part 6

Posted by Luminator (A) on February 25, 2021 at 18:05:47

Totem Acoustic got their start in 1987-88. At the same time, my friends (a) were in high school, and (b) lived in San Francisco. Thus, we had the time, inquisitive nature, MUNI Youth Passes, and freedom (but alas, not much money), to check out the local music scene. While the Bay Area sported a variety, we latched on to the thrash metal scene, called it our own.

In support of their then-new album, The New Order, Testament played a show on 6/18/88 at The Stone in San Francisco. It was located a couple blocks east of this intersection of Broadway & Grant. If you had attended that show, you needed to look for us kids with the rubber stamp on the back of our hand. That indicated that, for the 2-drink minimum, we could not buy alcohol. If you looked further, the short (4'10") blonde with long hair was Abby. She brought along two nerdy Asian girlfriends. And then you would have found their friend, Lummy.

In the late-80s and early-90s, we learned how to drive, using economy subcompact cars. In the mid-90s, when grunge had taken over, and everyone missed and had a thirst for thrash, we used those same small cars, to explore California. If you ask my friends, which small, affordable, practical car they wish they'd have in the 90s, most would name the Honda Fit. Indeed, the Totem Sky is that anachronism of having a Honda Fit in the 1990s.

In 2007, to celebrate their 20th year of existence, Totem made 2,000 pairs of the so-called The One. Its retail price was a whopping $3595, and it was only available in one finish, "root brown."

In 2008, I acquired a pair of The One. At the same time, Testament brought back original guitarist Alex Skolnick and bassist Greg Christian. Their album, Formation Of Damnation, was their first new material since 1999. Although band members had moved out of their native East Bay, this album was recorded at Berkeley's Fantasy Studios. The killer leadoff single, "More Than Meets The Eye," had you flying up and down California.

You needed to make no excuses for The One. It was worthy of the best electronics and cables, even if the associated gear cost many times more than The One itself. It took everything (well, except for the deep bass) the Nordost Odin could provide, and asked for more. In fact, The One clearly showed that the audiodharma Cable Cooker went beyond what Nordost's own VIDAR burn-in device could. The One also demonstrated that the Odin did not have a monopoly of "best of." Other offerings from, for example and not limited to, MIT, Pranawire, Tara Labs, and Wireworld, preserved portions of the signal (and thus, the music) as well as, and better than, the Odin.

As an aside, you can see why, if you have a Cable Cooker, it treats hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cables. Anyway, forget the Honda Fit. Forget cars. Totem's The One was the equivalent of the Transformers' three F-15 Eagle jets: Skywarp, Starscream, and Thundercracker.

Sorry, Totem's Sky just isn't anywhere near as good as their The One. The Sky does not preserve the image size, density, and body. Paul Bostaph's (he also played in Forbidden, Slayer, and Exodus) drums appear small, and the sound decays too quickly. Thus, his drumstrokes sound more like a tap. The Sky does not have the ease, of producing lead singer Chuck Billy's powerful growl. Electric guitars are harder, smeared, and distorted. If you like playing along, you can't pick out the notes as easily.

If you use The One, it all comes back, and into focus. Your feet will precisely follow and gallop along to the kickdrums. You will churn out the killer riffs, and then marvel at how Skolnick and Peterson nimbly nail their solos. Their guitars have that natural wail, which is not the same as how they sounded (more black and blue) in the late-80s. Assuming everything upstream is top-notch, The One is that rare loudspeaker, which correctly portrays Christian's fingers on strings, and then sets into motion the "sheet" of bass energy, coming at you like a wave. And you'd never know, just by looking at The One, that it could reproduce Chuck Billy's rare sense of awe and power.

If you did not get into UC Berkeley, no, the Totem Sky will not magically make you a Cal student. But your girlfriends attended schools like Cal. And hey, the Sky is like the good ol' days of the 1990s, when you and three of your female friends took the little car, and went places.

The Sky is, in absolute terms, more smeared, distorted, and hard. But it still, unlike most audiophile speakers, proudly captures the music's bite, pacing, click-clack snap, attitude, and spunk. It will have your female friends enthusiastically and emotionally belting out the tunes, just as they did in the 90s, driving up and down California. Back in 1987, when you had PE, and college was still in the distant future, you were doing relay races. Baton in hand, you were huffing and gasping, your lungs and thighs on fire. As you rounded your last quarter of a lap, your female friend was anxiously yelling at you to hurry the hell up, get to her, and give her the damn baton. No, that's not why she got into Cal, while you didn't. But she and the Totem Sky both possess that can-do spirit, even if she/it gets a bit sweaty, salty, and harsh-voiced.

Your lazy guy friends kick back on the side, and make fun of your "slow ass." That is not the Totem Sky, but it's okay; your guy friends have plenty of "audiophile" speakers to choose from.

In practice, the Sky is ideal for you and up to three friends. Yeah, its infectious personality will make you get up, dance, play air instruments, and flail around. But if someone sets up near or in front of one of the speakers, the Sky, unlike other Totems, gets blocked. If you like to host larger gatherings, skip the Sky, and opt for something which disperses sound around standing guests.

Versus The One, the Sky isn't as adept at the extremes of (a) quiet listening, and (b) louder moments.

Maybe Testament were so enamored of the "root brown" The One, that they later came out with Dark Roots Of Earth. Just kidding! Since Totem are from Montreal, they might not like the Winnipeg Jets :-)

-Lummy The Loch Monster

• More Than Meets The Eye   (Open in New Window)

Edits: 02/25/21

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Atma-Sphere Music Systems, Inc.

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