I lived for over a year with a set of Paradigm Studio Reference 20 V2’s with their original stands. They mated very well with a B&K ST202 I bought to run off my Pioneer receiver as the preamp. I used them in a combined 2 channel/HT setup in my basement room approximately 25x25x7.
The room is not truly square, as there is a 5x8 bathroom in the front left corner when seated in the listening chair. The system lives in the front right corner of the room, so it essentially becomes a nearfield setup in a larger room. Berber over thick underpad throughout the room, and lightly furnished. Room treatments are limited to whatever stuffed animals my kids leave in the room!
The system consists of a PC front end (dedicated netbook running Logitech Media Server), a hacked Pogoplug (VAMP s/w from Vortexbox) as the player, an HRT Music Streamer II asynchronous USB DAC controlled by iPeng on a variety of IOS devices in the home. There are multiple dedicated AC circuits for the system. All music is all FLAC of various rez quality. Most is 16/44 redbook, but some are 24/88.2 or 24/96 files.
The Paradigms were a pleasant partner for quite some time, and invited critical listening. Their sweet and clear top end demanded your attention, and revealed tons of inner detail of the music. The bass was surprising given their size and the space in the room.
To be honest, and
it is embarrassing, their only real fault was that they were not
beautiful. That’s right, I can admit it, I love beautiful sound and love beautiful speakers too. I knew the day I bought them that they would not last, because they just looked like black boxes. Ready to revoke my audiophool card yet?
Historically, my start in audio came in my youth when I played instruments for over a decade. I played violin, stand up bass, electric bass, trombone and a little guitar. I bought my first real audio system in the mid 90’s, and that consisted of a Sugden integrated and a pair of Totem Rokk speakers on Atlantis Reference stands. I kept a Yamaha powered sub in the system for bass jollies, but the Totems were a really nice match for that integrated. Mark at Soundstage Audio in Waterloo steered a student in the right musical direction for sure.
Ahem, so as my visual discontent grew with the Paradigms, I kept my eye on the local classifieds on Canuck Audio Mart. I am lucky enough to live in the suburbs of Toronto, so there is a lot of gear that flies around here that is within a one hour drive.
A set of Totem Sttaf in mahogany came up around a month ago. They pulled at my heart strings with that beautiful finish, and the promise of a musical presentation. I am a purely subjective listener, and keep what speaks to me. I ended up selling the Paradigms with the stands, and making the 2 hours round trip to pick up the Totems.
The Sttaf are a small floor standing speaker (OK Totem refer to them as columns), one up from the notoriously popular (and polarizing!) Arro. The Sttaf are 7x11x35 in overall W/D/H. They are approximately 88dB efficient and unlike many Totem speakers are an 8 ohm load. They utilize a 5 ¼ woofer and a soft dome (again rare with Totem speakers) tweeter in a 2 way, rear ported configuration. Totem recommends 20-100w, and the owner’s manual outlines some placement guidelines of 1-4 feet off the front wall and 4-10 feet between the speakers.
Plunked into the system replacing the Paradigms, the differences were apparent from the start of the first song. There was a much more relaxed presentation, with less detail and more soul to the sound that filled the room. I was not sure that it was better though. I was hearing different things in my standard demo material, but not clearly better for sure.
It was not a case of hearing things in a recording that I had never heard before, nor was it a case of the presentation being clearly preferable. It was an interesting experience to hear music I am very familiar with presented in a way that attracted my attention in a different way. I think “attracted” to listen to different instruments vs hearing them for the first time is the only way I can describe it.
The 20’s would reveal inner detail, background sounds, interplay between instruments and almost capture your ears and want you to listen. The Sttaf would present a more complete picture where the whole thing was attractive vs bringing one instrument to the fore. I was not thrilled with the treble quality of the B&K and Sttaf combo. The 150wpc of the B&K produced good mids, and the bass was fine, but something did not sit right with me.
I ultimately decided that synergy should be explored. I did a lot of research on integrateds that were reputed to match well with the Totems, and came up with a short list of Sugden (A21), Simaudio (Celeste I-5080, I-3, I-5), NAD (any of the BEE series), NAIM (the i5 in particular), Nuforce (DDA-100 and perhaps the upcoming DDA-120) and a number of tubed recommendations. Many of those choices were in the $800-$1500 range used.
The decision was made to completely separate the 2 channel and the HT setups. They would continue to share the room, but would be run in isolation. Another embarrassing truth is that I absolutely need a remote control. I find that the volume of various FLAC files is different from one collection to another, and the ability to fine tune the volume from the chair is essential for me.
I sold B&K off locally and picked up a used NAD C325BEE integrated. The 326 gets mildly better reviews and I would have popped for the extra $, but the 325 is what appeared first and for $250 I figured it would serve me well to try a different combination for the Totems. I was not clear what I would experience going from the 150wpc B&K to the 50wpc NAD, but a local audio store (Bay Bloor Radio) used to sell this combo and often demo’s Totem with NAD in their showroom.
Right from the first song (Jack Johnson – Posters) the combo was better. The treble information was much more present, but not bright. The combo still does not provide the clean window into the detail of a song like the 20’s did, but the integration and drive of the NAD just present involving music.
I played a little with placement, but honestly the Totem’s are very simple to achieve great sound with. I have them 75 inches apart, and 96 inches from my listening chair. They are 15 inches off the back wall (from wall to the rear of the speaker), and the right speaker is off the sidewall by 28 inches. The left speaker is in free space (OK, there is a sidewall but it is about 9 feet away). My listening chair is around 16 feet from the wall behind me – there is a pool table in the space behind the “family room” area in the large room.
A tour through some more of my fav tunes:
Alicia Keys – Fallin
Allison Krauss – Stay
John Lee Hooker – I cover the waterfront
Sonny Rollins – A sentimental mood
Rolling Stones – Honkey tonk woman
Natalie Cole – Straighten up and fly right
Beck – Cellphones dead
Head bobbing and toe tapping ensues. It is simply a case of hearing good music, and wanting to hear more.
I am not suggesting that the B&K/Paradigm combo was not as good as the NAD/Totem combo, but I can say that I am enjoying a more complete musical picture. More like appreciating a painting for the whole of it, vs being amazed by some of the brush strokes or the composition in isolation. Dare I call the NAD C325BEE PRAT on a budget?
With daughters 8 and 10, there is no escaping some pop music. Katy Perry’s album Teenage Dream gets a fair amount of play around here, as does Lorde’s Pure Heroine. There are tracks on both that I (gasp!) like a lot. They are happy to hear their tunes on the main system, and I am happy that it is not Beiber!
When I lived with the Paradigm 20’s, I spent a lot of time investigating and learning more about jazz. I got into what I would call soft saxophone jazz. Lots of Stan Getz, Lester Young, Ben Webster, Paul Desmond, Sonny Rollins and some Cannonball Adderley. The treble detail of the 20’s had me in love with the smoothness of well played Tenor and I was often drawn to the sound of the reed etc.
I find the Totem’s less “hi-fi” in that they don’t always deliver the same level of detail, but for me the soul of the piece is what comes through in spades. Those same songs are just as enjoyable, but it is more the interplay between the instruments and how they play together that draws me in.
No setup I can afford will be perfect, but this combo does music in the room well. I tend to swap gear out on 12-24 month cycles and this current phase is one I am happy to be in.
It passes the ultimate test, which is to create a yearning to go listen. Oh, and I like the way they look too!
Here is a shot of the 20's in place.
Here is a shot of the Totem's in place. Basement lighting does not showcase their striped mahogany finish well though.
