fdl

Played around with the camera last night, with no CF card. Tonight I put in the CF and snapped a few shots. Nothing spectacular, but I may as well post my some of my virgin XTi shots.





My Totem Acoustic Speakers




Wider shot, showing my Panasonic Viera Plasma




And my dinner for tonight ( Grilled chicken )




(and yes I know I need to paint my walls)

Street Spirit

Congrats on the purchase!! Read the manual (!), practice, shoot, shoot, shoot, have fun, screw around with it, and enjoy it!

Dan Martin

Cool!

Totem makes great speakers. How are you liking them so far?

fdl

Really liking them actually. Sound wise, for their size (5 inch drivers + tweeters) they are incredible. Huge sound stage, and great imaging. Its like listening to live music in person.

I didn't want monster sized speakers, and these ones got the blessing from the wifey as well. (She liked them because they were relatively small, cherry wood, etc I.E. "looked nice" lol. )

srika

yummy

jupitersolo

Off Subject...

I notice that you still have stickers on your TV. Are you superstitious? I once left the Sony "S" sticker on the screen of my 32" TV for 10 years. It was in the upper left hand corner of the screen. It was the red "S" made from the dots, their old logo.

I had two of them, the first one was working fine, then after the day I took the sticker off and start getting all of this high whining noise coming for inside the TV. I took it back and never took it off the 2nd one.

BTW, nice set-up. TV and camera.

srika

Hahah.. we did that too on our 1979 26" wooden Sony... looking back, WHY!?!??!

dom

Mmmm.....Chicken.....

Is that Montreal Steak seasoning?

soopa

Hey I've those same speakers... they're fantastic! I don't like them so much for movies (which is why I use my JMLabs in my HT) but for music they are unbeatable. Crystal clear from whisper quiet to unbearably loud.

soopa

p.s., take the stickers off your TV & Speakers

fdl

Cool. Which model do you have? They have a few that sort of look the same, the Arro, the Sttaf (which I have), the Hawks, Forests, etc. The Sttafs, supposedly, are the best for HT which is partly why I bought them. They just received very good reviews in Home Theater Mag as well. http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...o/scan0004.jpg
Besides HT is all about a wall shaking sub anyways

Paired with a good sub, I've been happy with them for HT, but their strength is definitely music (especially jazz, blues, vocals, and that sort of stuff).

fdl

I keep forgetting to take those stickers off

soopa

I have the Hawk's with the Dreamcatcher Center & the Thunder Sub.

I have some much bigger & much more expensive speakers in my collection but NOTHING compares to the Totem's for music... especially for, like you pointed out, Jazz, Soft Rock... anything with great Vocals/Instrumentals really.

soopa

It's one thing to leave the bragging stickers on the TV... but leaving the QA stickers on your speakers is just wrong

whynot

How much space is between the speakers and the wall? Have you tried placing them a little closer to the wall? Any noticable difference in low end response?

fdl

For music I usually keep them a foot and a half from the wall. Totem recommends 1 foot minimum, 4 foot max for these speakers. For HT i dont mind having them closer to the wall, but for music I want things to remain as balanced and natural as possible (ie not bass heavy). I also have a sub for HT which helps fill in the low end

Another thing that can be done with the totems is mass loaded (with 5-10lbs dry sand,silica sand, etc). This has an effect on bass response as well, but I haven't tried it.

I'm thinking perhaps I will move this thread to the Home Theater forum

whynot

interesting... I used to keep mine 2 feet from the wall then I deceided to move them closer, about 8 inches away and for the life of me I can't tell the difference at any volume

STL+3.0CL

What is it about them that you dont like for movies?

soopa

I shouldn't say I don't like them, more, I prefer my JM Labs over them for movies.

No surprise considering my JM Labs are higher end than my Totems.

The JM's simply have more "presence" to my ears when listening to tv/movie audio (which I typically listen to at volume). Whereas I prefer the crispness and the ability to produce clean notes at low volumes of the Totems for music.

Lacking side-by-side comparison, you'd be hard pressed to be left "wanting" from either of them. Totem's are fantastic speakers, every model. Some of the best in the world, IMO. It's hard to find anything better anywhere near their price.

fdl

soopa, what are you driving the totems with? Totems, hawks in particular, respond very well to good components and are a bit power hungry.

soopa

I'm basing my side-by-side comparison off of my Rotel RSX-1056, one of the few loved & respected integrated receivers by audiophiles, especially the Totem club. I have a much more powerful 2-channel amp from Plinius which I used to power the Totem's for awhile and didn't get much more out of of them.

In any case, power is not the issue as the Rotel is able to power much larger speakers. Really, there is no issue at all. Overall, I simply prefer my JM Cobalt 826S's, is all. Which really shouldn't be much of a surprise. On the flip-side, I prefer my Totem sub to my JM sub.

Not putting down the Totem's in anyway. I have multiple products from them and love them all, which was my point in posting. Totem is an amazing brand. Plus I think it's cool that they're made relatively close by, mostly by hand no less.

soopa

Now you got me thinking about speakers and dreaming about some JMLab Chorus 800V's...

Damn you.

fdl

http://www.americansound.com/features.htm

soopa

financing options?

fdl

Some of the stuff they have at that store is unreal. I first auditioned the totems there (had to call in and book the audition in advance, which is :ghey: ). I ended up buying them somewhere else though because I couldn't deal with the snobbery.

Check these used "sale" items they have.

Acapella Audio Arts
High Campanile In Gloss Black Cabinet

New: 79K. These are used, and on sale for 29K




or how about a used 20k amp ..

Audio Research
Reference 600 MKII mono block amps
- in very good condition
- Customer upgraded to the new 610t tubes checked and changed where necessary
- no boxes with manual, call ahead for audition
- a great opportunity
- $21,500 firm
NOW REDUCED TO $18,800 ( )




Or my favorite, used cables!

And now . . . the list of used and demo cables

Cardas Golden Cross interconnect- 2 meter balanced- $1350
Cardas Golden Cross interconnect- 3 meter balanced- $1,680
Cardas Hexlink Golden 5c speaker cable- 3 meter bi-wire-$1,300

soopa

wtf @ the cables