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Totem Limited Edition One Bookshelf Speakers

by Gene DellaSala last modified January 09, 2008
Totem One

Totem One

Summary

  • Product Name: Limited Edition One
  • Manufacturer: Totem
  • Review Date: January 09, 2008 04:07
  • MSRP: $3595/pair
  • First Impression: Mildly Interesting
Specifications



Executive Overview

Totem debuted their Limited Edition One bookshelf speaker system at their Venetian demo suite. With only 2000 units being produced and retailing for $3595/pair they are certainly targeted for the audiophile that demands an exclusive speaker system. The speakers sport a high excursion Dynaudio 5 ½” midbass driver and a 1” chambered aluminum dome tweeter from SEAS. They are rear ported and bi-ampable with moderate efficiency and 4 ohm rated. Their relatively smallish footprint (12.5” x 6.5” x 9”) and light weight (9lbs) makes them easy to place into a listening space without hindering the room décor.

Totem recommends an unusually long (150-200) hours of break in for them to achieve their best performance. Doing some math would require the average listener about 3 months based on 15 hours of listening per week to reach sonic nirvana. While I think this is a bit of a stretch I certainly found them to sound quite pleasing from a first listen at the show and I am confident they would be similarly good right out of the box. Their demo room was a bit crammed and I though the speakers were placed too closely together relative to the listening position to reach their true potential. Regardless these speakers had a very fluidic sound characteristic with detailed and airy highs while conveying the intimacy that only a top quality bookshelf speaker can deliver.

For more information visit: http://www.totemacoustics.com

Recent Forum Posts:

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AVRat posts on January 20, 2008 13:20
I guess announcements on upgraded pre/pros was skimpy/non-existent since nothing was reported, eh?
The Chukker posts on January 15, 2008 23:28
Scratch that - when I wrote that article, I was converting from Yen to $ and came to $1800. Turns out it will cost more like $2500 according to Sony. Yikes. It would be interesting if someone used the average price points for LCD or Plasma tv's (from say 27" to 60+") and then applied that sliding scale model to OLED tv's to give a "rough" idea of what the larger panels would cost in comparison. I know this logic is inherently flawed but geez, $2500 for an 11" tv? pfffff.
Do you get the feeling these guys are just showing off for it's own sake?
Tom Andry posts on January 15, 2008 10:10
Scratch that - when I wrote that article, I was converting from Yen to $ and came to $1800. Turns out it will cost more like $2500 according to Sony. I'd love to see this tech mature but I have a feeling that no one is going to want to invest in it enough to get the infrastructure to the point were they can be produced cheaply. With the majority of the public rolling their eyes at me when I tell them that there is a difference between SD and HD, I can't believe that we're going to convince them that a high contrast ratio is reason enough to spend 5x on an OLED display.
Tom Andry posts on January 15, 2008 08:43
So what kind of price differential are we talking about here? Did Samsung actually have an MSRP for the 31" model? If mass production were to indeed start in 2010 of mid to large sized models, what price point is Samsung shooting for and what was the maximum size they were touting?

Sony just released their first 11" OLED at $1800
Toshiba isn't going to release any at all based on manufacturing costs
[read more [audioholics.com]]

Samsung didn't talk price (heck, they didn't have a price tag on a single item in their booth) but many times these tech showcases are just stuff they are exploring.
The Chukker posts on January 14, 2008 17:44
"there is ample evidence that OLED will never come down in price enough to be a serious contender against LCDs."
So what kind of price differential are we talking about here? Did Samsung actually have an MSRP for the 31" model? If mass production were to indeed start in 2010 of mid to large sized models, what price point is Samsung shooting for and what was the maximum size they were touting?
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