Totems: Arro much better than Mite?

[Quant]

I had decided on the Totem Mites (after comparison with the B&W CM1), and have had them home for a couple of weeks now. However, now my wife has agreed to go ahead with floor-standing instead of the width restricted bookshelfs. Our entertainment center shelf restricted the max width I could do, and I also did not want to put them "completely inside" a shelf. Since these speakers are for a family room and not a dedicated HT room, WAF is important.

So, now seeing the fine wood finish of the Totems, my wife's agreed to go for floor-standing. That is exciting, but a couple of things are making me wonder.

1. Currently the bookshelfs are at perfect ear level (about 39" at top); the floor standing ones will be slightly lower at 34", considering my sofa. How much of an issue is the slightly below ear level?

2. The Arro or the Sttaf floor-standing do not have a perfectly matching center. I would either have to use the Mite center, Rainmaker center, or the expensive Model-1. Are any of these center's close enough in timbre?

 

[AVRat]

You could angle the floorstanders slightly upward if your interested, it might make a little difference. The Rainmaker center looks like the best match.

 

[Quant]

Is a floor-standing always better than a bookshelf, especially if they both have only one woofer and one tweeter? With a floor-standing, you are paying for more wood-laminate, more materials of construction, and more weight (shipping costs). Does a bigger box automatically translate into better sound?

 

[Quant]

It seems the Arro uses a smaller woofer and a smaller tweeter. Not necessarily a better speaker, and thus I feel I will be paying more for the other stuff I mentioned above, instead of for a better speaker.

What do you think of the Sttaf? The woofer & tweeter seem to be the same as the Mite. Combined with a bigger enclosure, it might be a better speaker. Comments?

 

[AVRat]

What will you power these with? The impedance of these speakers vary; 4 ohm or 8 ohm. 8 ohm speakers are easier to drive if you are using a low/mid-level receiver. The STTAF /Rainmaker setup would be my first choice. Floorstanders seem to offer a richer, fuller sound, while bookshelfs on stands provide better imaging. I hope this helps. Sad that no one else has chimed in.