[mjm6]

I'm on the hunt for new speakers for a dedicated 2-channel room, and I've always liked the sound of the Totem speakers, but my research has me thinking about the Salk line as well...

I was looking at the Totem Forest and the Fire, and possibly stretching for the Earth, so the price range is pretty great there, but let's start with the Forest.  I listened to the Forest and then the Fire, and the Fire was more forward, but not achingly so.  The soundstage came in front of the speakers some, whereas the soundstage of the Forest started at the speakers and went back from there.  The Fire had a bit more top  end energy, and it clearly have a lot more bass energy and control.  Since it is a substantially more expensive speaker, that is no surprise.  Tonally, I feel that the forest would be easier to listen to with poor recordings because of the slightly less treble energy.

The Earth was very similar to the Fire, but it had more snap in the sound, had a more focused soundstage, and overall, was a clearly superior speaker, and the price increase to go along with it.

Over the years, I've listened to a lot of speakers, and definitely have my preferences, like I find Thiel's speakers unlistenable for the most part (but haven't heard them in 10+ years).  Loved the Hales Design Group Concept 3 speakers (owned them), loved the Aerial 10T's (owned them), enjoyed  the Totem line but never owned them.  I've heard Sonus Faber speakers I've loved as well.  A friend has Vandersteen speakers, and I never could get comfortable with the very recessed soundstage it presents, but the imaging is great.

So for all that, I'm interested in whether people can give me a characterization of the somewhat comparable Salk speakers to the Totem's?  Since we are talking about direct-purchase, I the argument can be made that the SongTower should compare with the Forest?  The HT2-TL to the Fire, and the HT3-TL to the Earth?  Otherwise, why not just get a speaker from the local dealer where I can try them in my home?

I'd love to hear what people think about the Salk line in comparison to others that I am familiar to.


---Michael

[audiotom]

Haven't heard them myself but know a few people who liked them

Search in the speaker forum on audiogon

Lots of insight

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr_srch.pl?ANY&&purlsrch&ALL&st26&&&zzsalk+totem&sort=relv

[won ton on]

when i was looking for speakers i also considered the totem forest's.the day i went to listen the local dealer just ignored me, although i had heard them before. after reading so many good things about the salk ht2-tl's on here i decided to try them and i'm glad that i did. the salk's were less money than the premium finished forest's.note that the finish on the salk's is superb,you also have a good selection of veneer's to choose from,mine are pau ferro rosewood and replaced martin-logan aerius's . good luck finding the right speakers for yourself

[Austin08]

I owned some of the speaker that you have mention above. The direct compare in my own home with the same system would be Totem Wind and the SS8. I may assume that you are very familiar with Totem, right? So as same with a lot of guy out there, I felt the Wind sounds excellent, evently dustribute from top to bottom. The bass is very tight and tuneful and the high is detail and on the warm side. I did love the Wind and thought could not be any happier to park with it for a long time till the day that I am tired of my wife complain about the look of the Wind. So gone with the Wind and welcome the new king of the town, the Sounscape 8. All the quality that I fall in love with the Wind is there and even more so. I found the 8 is more acurate and transparent. While at first, I thought the Raal was some what recess but soon to realize of how real and naturalness it is. Compare to the 8 high, the Wind high was a bit dry but I swear I could not detect it before. Vocal of the 8 is unbeatable, more natural while the Wind is warm color. The 8 also beat the Wind in the lower region hand down. It goes deep and distribute the bass more evenly in my room thanks to the dual radiator on either side. So put it this way, listen to the Wind is like looking at the ocean through the window while listening to the 8 is like being infront of the ocean. I can breath, can smell and can touch the water. If you have 8g to spend on speaker then the 8 is a serious contender.

[Big Red Machine]

Totem is a nice brand.  Had the 10T's once and can say HT2TL's or HT3 would smoke them in cohesiveness from top to bottom.

What is your budget?

[mjm6]

Thanks for the comments everyone...

As for budget, I figure I coud go as high as about $7000 before really starting to wince, but I'd really like to get out of Dodge for as little as possible, as the money is tight this year.

I have a problem with space, so I don't see getting anything as large as the SS8's and possible even the HT3's may begin to be a bit much.

I don't listen loud, but I do listen to a lot of classic rock, along with folk, itm, new age, classical and some club music. About the only things I don't listen to in any amount are metal, rap, and country and their variants.

I have noticed a used pair of HT2-TL on Audiogon not too far from me, and I thought i might go look at them.  The thing is that it appears they have the older tweeter, and I'm not sure what that means for the sound.  Can anyone tell me what the sonic difference is between the older tweeter and the RAAL?

Thanks again for the comments,


---Michael

[Nuance]

I've heard the Hawk and the Forest, but it was after I purchased my SongTower's.  Regardless, I wouldn't trade the ST's for either, though I do like what Totem has to offer.

Based on your list of speakers I'd say you like a little less treble energy than normal and are probably sensitive in the upper midrange.  Does that sound correct?  Some of the brands you mentioned would be generalized as "laid back."  Salk speakers aren't laid back, but rather completely neutral.  Nothing sticks out in your face or draws attention to itself over the rest of the frequencies, which is a good thing IMO; everything is "balanced," as my wife would say.  Salk speakers have a natural sound, especially tonally and timbre wise.  I highly recommend going with the RAAL ribbon tweeter due to your sensitivity to the high frequencies; you won't regret it!

[catastrofe]

I've never heard Totems, but I compared SoundScape 10s to Thiel CS3.7s and Von Schweikert VR5 Anniversaries.  The SS10s won hands-down.

[mjm6]

Since I'm new here, the posts take a while to show up, so I apologize if the responses are slow or a little out of order...

I do like a laid back sound as opposed to forward, but one thing in particular about the new Element speakers from Totem is that they are a bit more forward than their previous offerings.  This results in the soundstage moving in front of the speakers by a foot or so.  I don't like a real forward sound, so that is a little bit of a concern, but listening to them, I feel they were not too forward.  What the did is a more engaging presentation than the Forests, and hopefully, not fatiguing.  I have listened to them for an hour or so without feeling beaten down.

Tonally, I prefer a dark sound to bright, but ultimately would prefer a neutral tonal balance, towards dark if I had to choose a side in that respect.  I am quite sensitive to treble (my hearing is still quite good), and a speaker that has etch in the treble region will cause me fits.  So even if it has good balance, but the treble is somewhat unrefined, I'll have trouble...

I appreciate the feedback, and I'll probably see about listening to a local HT2-TL if there is someone in the Raleigh area that has them.  That will probably give me a good sense about the sound, and whether it will fit with my sensibilities.


---Michael

[Big Red Machine]

Any of the ribbon tweeter Salks will not be "etchy".  No worries there.

Ask Jim for a customer near you.  He does this hooking up audition thingy all the time.  Also try the sticky for auditioning Salks.

[Austin08]

Michael,

Look like Salk sound would fit you perfectly. Good luck with your quest.

[EthanH]

I've owned Totem Arros and have listened to Model 1's.  I've only heard the HT2TL (LCY tweeter version) for an hour or two at an owner's house.  The LCY HT2TL is a great speaker that is very detailed and neutral, but I would not characterize it as laid back or warm at all.  For my tastes, I thought the HT2TL sounded better with tubes than SS (the owner had a SS amp and tube amp for comparison).  With SS I thought the speakers were a bit too dry, especially in the upper-mid, lower treble area, however, I can understand that some people like that sound.  They are very detailed, and in my opinion sounded extremely good at moderate to loud levels with warm equipment and the right playback material.

The Totem sound varies a bit from model to model, but I think most of the line share characteristics like punchy midbass, slightly warm mids, and a bit more liveliness in the treble.  They are not the most neutral speakers, but the sound is generally enjoyable and fairly detailed without being fatiguing.  Forward, but not too forward for a lot of people.  In my experience their tweaked frequency response is also good for low level listening.  Drawbacks: not the most neutral speaker, bass is not that accurate/taut upon comparison to more well-endowed speakers, and many of the models cannot play loud without sounding compressed or strained (in contrast, it seemed like the HT2TLs play loud with clarity and ease). 

Two very different flavors of speaker, in my opinion.  From what you're saying it sounds like you may really like one of the Raal-equipped Salks (never heard one, but read they're detailed like the LCYs but more smooth/natural sounding).