Totem Dreamcatcher 5.1

L

lisa

Audiophyte
<font color='#000000'>Any thoughts on this system? &nbsp;It retails for about $1700.</font>
 
Rip Van Woofer

Rip Van Woofer

Audioholic General
<font color='#000000'>Lisa, Lisa, Lisa...have you not heeded the counsel of the wise advisors here? There are more speakers on the market than any of us could possibly listen to, and speakers are very much a matter of personal taste (though some people have better taste than others, of course!).

Go, thou, out into the world and listen to the speakers we in our wisdom have suggested. Listen to others too, according to thy wont, including the Totems (I never heard of them but that means nothing). Trust thine ears in telling thee which will make thee happy.

Then, when you have found the speakers to gladden thy young heart, and to make sweet musike unto thine ears, post here and tell us and share thy happiness, and we shall verily rejoice with thee. Save, perhaps, for a few knaves who mayest sneer no matter what thy choice. For that is the mysterious way of the Audiophile...

(Geez, he's old but we didn't think he was THAT old...! And actually, we're pretty knave-free around here.)</font>
 
L

lisa

Audiophyte
<font color='#000000'>He he. &nbsp;Ok. &nbsp;I hear you. &nbsp;Am planning to listen to them this weekend. &nbsp;Certain brands that strike my interest are not available in my area, but these are. &nbsp;Thanks!</font>
 
Z

zumbo

Audioholic Spartan
<font color='#000000'>Rip, that was very cool.
Lisa, I would say for your best bet, try to stay away from the &quot;package deal&quot;. I don't know about the Totems, but usually speakers that are sold this way ,IMO, are meant for the person that just wants to get it over with and not study or take time to build a system. If you are on here doing research, that tells me this system is not for you! People seem to say the Axioms are very good, &amp; you can get them on the net from the manufacturer, and get a &quot;package deal&quot;. You may also see if a Paradigm dealer is close to you. I have heard these speakers, and for the money, you can't go wrong!</font>
 
jeffsg4mac

jeffsg4mac

Republican Poster Boy
<font color='#000000'>Here here on the Paradigms, I have them all the way around. Very nice indeed. The new Focus from them is supposed to be very nice and only about $300 or $350 I believe. If on a budget look at their perfomance series, Hard to beat for the money.</font>
 
P

petermwilson

Audioholic
<font color='#000000'>Hi Guys,

I agree completely with the concept of personally auditioning speakers.

I own Axioms and Paradigms and Totems.

They are all great speaker manufacturers.
I havent heard the Dreamcatcher package but as far as Totem goes they would generally be a cut above in both cost and quality once you get to the Model 1.

I think the Dreamcatcher grouping is meant to be a budget Model 1 setup and the professional reviews have been encouraging for Dreamcatcher which is a new offering from Totem.

Peter m.</font>
 
Z

zumbo

Audioholic Spartan
<font color='#000000'>Oops!



</font>
 
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3db

3db

Audioholic Slumlord
<font color='#000000'>Hey Lisa

As was posted before, I would try and listen to a few speakers &nbsp;toget an idea of what's out there. &nbsp;But if you like the Totems, &nbsp;go for it. HT gave them a thumbs up. Totems are considered a higher end Canadian &nbsp;speaker company and their build quality is of higher quality than that of Paradigm, Axiom Energy and my personal favourites PSB.</font>
 
G

Guest

Guest
<font color='#000000'>I listened to the Dreamcatchers this wkd, with the Mites sub'd in for the front mains. &nbsp;It was very nice. &nbsp;Took the Mites home and compared them with my friend's Energy's and Def Techs. &nbsp;Certainly a different sound but so hard to tell which is &quot;better&quot; to me.

I am interested in listening to the Paradigms but I've seen people say on another forum that they are a BAD match with a Marantz receiver (too laid back and boring). &nbsp;Not sure if I will have a chance to audition them WITH the Marantz and so I am hesitant, though very interested.

Considering whether the Totems are out of my budget (I would have to go with the Mites b/c they sounded SO much better inserted in there).

I have seen a few people say Monitor Audio is great with Marantz but I have no where to audition them and would be buying blind based on the recommendation of nameless, faceless internet posters. &nbsp;Not sure about that.

I also listened to B&amp;W. &nbsp;Honestly, it is so hard for me to tell, especially when I change dealers and rooms and listen fresh. &nbsp;It was even hard when we did the switch out in my friend's basement, especially after we overlistened for a few hours!

Still on the quest to get the best speakers appropriate for my mid-level Marantz.... &nbsp;: )</font>
 
Rip Van Woofer

Rip Van Woofer

Audioholic General
<font color='#000000'>I'm real skeptical about all this business of certain recievers going with certain speakers*. It is a matter of controversy, to say the least, and I'll get an argument here! In my opinion, you should give it little if any consideration. Even if it is true the effect is likely to be extremely subtle as I mentioned earlier.

You *are* undeniably correct that listening to different speakers in different rooms makes it hard to compare. I would say, nearly impossible, if we're talking basically good speakers (truly sucky ones will be easier to weed out with some experience). The listening room is as important as the speakers. Some say, with justification, that the room and speakers are in reality a single system! There's really no way to know you have THE speaker for you until you listen in your own room. And even then, if your room is too echo-ey or has a lot of bass &quot;room boom&quot; you'll need to experiment to find the best position for your speakers, and maybe do some interior decorating with an emphasis on correcting acoustics (see the articles on acoustics in Audioholics, and check out the threads under &quot;speaker position and room acoustics&quot; in the forum).

Really, shopping for speakers is like dating. You &quot;audition&quot; likely candidates in highly artificial settings, and only after spending time with them in everyday life do you discover their true strengths and weaknesses. And generally, it's easy to weed out the real jerks pretty quickly, even on a date. You, like the rest of us, will own many speakers before discovering the &quot;type&quot; that you can live with for a long time. The good thing is, it's not as messy as breakups, or divorce and remarriage! Can be just as expensive, though!

Come to think of it, I think it's why a lot of guys are audiophiles -- less risky than sex and extramarital affairs, but still a thrill! Hmmm...sounds like a good thesis subject for a psych PhD candidate! I can just hear Freud now, &quot;Ja, ze pursuit of ze ultimate zpeaker iss in reality ze zublimated zexual drrrive...&quot;

But enough of that!  Happy dating...er, shopping!



*The techy reasons for my assertion: The amplifiers in all recievers all basically have flat frequency response (all the bass, midrange, and treble are in balance without any frequency being emphasised or suppressed), distortion and noise below or near the threshold of hearing, decent damping factor (mainly so the woofer will shut up after it goes &quot;boom&quot; and not continue to ring), and low output impedance. These are pretty much the only things you can hear from an amp, and the only things your speakers will respond to. Nearly all modern amps do those jobs well, including the one in your Marantz. 30 or 40 years ago you couldn't take this for granted but now you can, except maybe for the very cheapest gear. Ain't technology grand?</font>
 
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S

simplman63

Enthusiast
<font color='#000000'>I would agree with Rip compleatly, for what it's worth. I would also advise you to pay some attention to speaker effencentcy. (90db eff or better)With a small amp, efficient speakers are very important to keep from haveing any clipping. This is even more important if you ever like to TURN IT UP!

David  


I hope that did not sound wrong, I meant, for what MY opinion is worth...  
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G

Guest

Guest
<font color='#000000'>I've heard other totems and they were quite nice and VERY well built. Perhaps a shade warm if anything IMO. The others also had good suggestions. Also try monitor audio if your receiver is a bit warm and/or you would like something brighter.</font>
 
jeffsg4mac

jeffsg4mac

Republican Poster Boy
<font color='#000000'>The only thing I might add is this, someone who thinks paradigms are laid back might be used to a bright and shrill sounding tweeter. The monitor series has one of the most neutral tweeters I have ever heard on any speaker at any price it is really that good. I have built stuff with dynaudio, VIFA, Morel, and FOCAL tweeters and the Paradigm is buy far one of the best I have ever heard. Silky smooth, crystal clear, never harsh or too bright. Laid back is not how I would describe them at all. Accurate is how I would say it. Listen for yourself though that is the only way to decide.</font>
 
G

Guest

Guest
<font color='#000000'>Thank you all! &nbsp;The other speakers I would like to try are Von Schweikert. &nbsp;These are a BIG step up from what I was auditioning, obviously. &nbsp;But I could splurge or minimally they may shed some light on what I have heard so far. &nbsp;I don't know if they need a better receiver to drive them though than what I have and/or additional equipment. &nbsp;Also don't know how they fair on home theater duties. &nbsp;I'll try to find a dealer around this way, but it will be hard. &nbsp;We have Dynaudio (42s), but I don't think my receiver is up to pushing those (4 ohms). &nbsp;Probably these high level speakers deserve a higher level receiver?

Anyway, thanks so much for the assistance!</font>
 
Z

zumbo

Audioholic Spartan
<font color='#000000'>What receiver do you have? It may work fine. In my case, I used 4ohm speakers &amp; was able to get more power out of my amp. I read somewhere on this site about a well designed 4ohm speaker may be better than a poor designed 8ohm speaker due to the fact that a speaker is never at a constant ohm. My receiver has not shut down once!
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Z

zumbo

Audioholic Spartan
<font color='#000000'>You can get Paradigm from www.6ave.com</font>
 
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