LATEST Piece of Gear in Your Stack - What is it?

[wavelength]

Five matching Totem Mites with consecutive serial numbers fresh from the Totem factory in Montreal QC.

They are still a bit tight (Totem recommends 80 - 100 hours for break in), but they sound great.

It's like hearing my collection for the first time.

Your image shows the centre speaker in a horizontal position. If you could position it vertically (like the left and right speakers) I pretty sure you hear even more improvement.

 

[0tto]

Five matching Totem Mites with consecutive serial numbers fresh from the Totem factory in Montreal QC.

congratulation. yes, similar to others, at center it's smart move. seems manufacturers in their designs take more care about aesthetic side
than balance in reproduced sound among all speakers. sadly i have no chance to ever match up my set.

 

[phydo]

Thanks. The dealer told me thats how Totem thinks. They like the finishes and components to be identical when they sell a set of 2. 4 or even 5.

I opted to having a matching centre instead of the 'centre' speaker for the line. It has paid off. Even the sales guys at the dealer thought it was a great idea.

Superior build quality with these speakers.


I am very pleased with them.

Fliper:

I went the same route with my system and have never felt disappointed.

Justin

 

[Russells]

No sub-woofer?

Those speakers look like around 60Hz to 80Hz lowest bass (8inch woofers?)

 

[Russells]

Here's my 'stack'.


Top, left to right: Technics SL1200Mk2 T/T, JVC 4DD-5 preamp/decoder (behind which various pick-up cartridges), B&W center speaker, Eye-of-the-Storm plasma ball, AKAI GX4000D Reel-to-Reel tape, Dell Vostro Laptop with iTunes.
1 shelf, l to r: Sony STR-K780 surround amp for elsewhere in the house speakers, Pioneer VSX-D711 surround amp for this room speakers, fireplace, Aiwa AD-F269 cassette recorder, External hard drive (vertical), NAD910 pre-amp/decoder.
2 shelf, l to r: Technics ST-X3026 tuner on which is TV sender and speaker switches, HD-PVR satellite decoder on which is standard decoder, telephone (vertical), fireplace, Sony TA-N220 power amp, Kenwood SS-992 amp.
3 shelf, l to r: LG RC-388 tape to dvd writer on which is Sony PS3 playstation/DVD/BluRay, Sony SEQ333ES graphic equaliser, fireplace, Philips EQ-3088 graphic equaliser, Shox wireless speaker transmitter.
Speakers are:left and right (behind black cloth) Wharfedale design 1x12" woofer 2x4" lower mid, 2x4" upper mid, 1 tweeter, 1 piezo super tweeter per each;
centre Bowers & Wilkins XTC; inner left and right (4 shelf) Altec Lansing model 85 speakers; rear left and right (behind camera) Acoustic Research model 925E speakers 1x10" 1x4" and 1 tweeter.

Seven channels at approx 150w per channel. Frequency response front speakers 15Hz to 25KHz, rear 20HZ to 25KHz, middle and inner speakers 50Hz to 25KHz.

I can wake up most neighbours with it...

 

[phydo]

Here's my 'stack'.
View attachment 9176

Top, left to right: Technics SL1200Mk2 T/T, JVC 4DD-5 preamp/decoder (behind which various pick-up cartridges), B&W center speaker, Eye-of-the-Storm plasma ball, AKAI GX4000D Reel-to-Reel tape, Laptop with iTunes.
1 shelf, l to r: Sony STR-K780 surround amp for house speakers, Pioneer VSX-D711 surround amp for room speakers, fireplace, Aiwa AD-F269 cassette recorder, NAD910 pre-amp/decoder.
2 shelf, l to r: Technics ST-X3026 tuner on which is Sony PS3 playstation/DVD/BluRay, HD-PVR satellite decoder on which is standard decoder, fireplace, Sony TA-N220 power amp, Kenwood SS-992 amp.
3 shelf, l to r: LG RC-388 tape to dvd writer, Sony SEQ333ES graphic equaliser, fireplace, Philips EQ-3088 graphic equaliser, Shox wireless speaker transmitter.
Speakers are:left and right (behind black cloth) 1x12" 2x4"lower mid, 2x4" upper mid, 1 tweeter, 1 piezo super tweeter per each;
centre Bowers & Wilkins; inner left and right (4 shelf) British make; rear left and right (behind camera) Acoustic Research 1x10", 1x4" 1 tweeter.

I can wake up most neighbours with it...

Russells:

Very nice, clean setup. I notice the shelving seems to fit perfectly - is it custom?

Justin

 

[Russells]

Russells:

Very nice, clean setup. I notice the shelving seems to fit perfectly - is it custom?

Justin

Hi Justin.

The shelves were made to fit the spaces between the fireplace and walls (slightly different on each side) and to accomodate the equipment seen here (there is a space between rear and wall to accomodate wires. Lots of them!) The left and right speakers only just fit in their boxes and have doors that open for access to the speakers. It took about a month to make and I am happy with the results. Your comment says it all.

It's a bit of a dog's breakfast - collected over years - but my wife and I (and most visitors so far) think it sounds great.

Thank You for your compliment.

Russell

 

[filper]

No sub-woofer?

Those speakers look like around 60Hz to 80Hz lowest bass (8inch woofers?)

I have 2 subs. The Mite drivers are actually 5.5". They are rated down to 50Hz.

I have them crossed at 60Hz.


Break in time:

70 - 100 hours



Placement from rear wall:

1'- 4' / 305 - 1,219 mm



Placement distance apart:

3' - 12' / 914 - 3,658 mm



Frequency Response:

50 Hz - 20 kHz ± 3 dB (with proper room positioning)



Impedance:

8 ohms



Sensitivity:

87 dB/W/m. Maximum sound pressure 102 dB before dynamic compression



Recommended Power:

20 – 80 W



Crossover frequency:

3.2 kHz electrical and mechanical



Woofer:

5.5" / 140 mm granulated



Tweeter:

1" / 25 mm soft dome



Dimensions (w x h x d):

6 x 10.8 x 8.4" / 153 x 275 x 214 mm



Internal volume:

5.6 l (internal)



Weight:

4 kg (approx. 9 lb)

 

[filper]

Your image shows the centre speaker in a horizontal position. If you could position it vertically (like the left and right speakers) I pretty sure you hear even more improvement.

Perhaps, but the Mites have incredible off-axis imaging.

 

[Russells]

Perhaps, but the Mites have incredible off-axis imaging.

The set up surely looks like it should deliver wonderful clarity. I'm a bit too far away to come listen, unfortunately.

 

[0tto]

i used to use Mirage MC 4 as center with it's 2 x 4.5" and one titanium tweeter
@ 89dB sensitivity and 15-100W efficiency. not the worst center which could be but obviously didn't quite
matched with front pair of Warfedles. i tried to replace Mirage with one Merak and sound become better but
sadly speaker box was too big for placement.
so past summer i build center by utilizing pair of spare set of 2-way Merak MK. new center consist 1 1/4
thikness enclosure devided by sealed internally into 3 more enclosure (2 for woofers and 1 for tweeter).
original Merak crossover, 2 x 8" woofers and tweeter have completed all.
the "new" center can be seen in picture

View attachment 9184

 

[jimfisheye]

Apogee Rosetta 800

 

[filper]

i used to use Mirage MC 4 as center with it's 2 x 4.5" and one titanium tweeter
@ 89dB sensitivity and 15-100W efficiency. not the worst center which could be but obviously didn't quite
matched with front pair of Warfedles. i tried to replace Mirage with one Merak and sound become better but
sadly speaker box was too big for placement.
so past summer i build center by utilizing pair of spare set of 2-way Merak MK. new center consist 1 1/4
thikness enclosure devided by sealed internally into 3 more enclosure (2 for woofers and 1 for tweeter).
original Merak crossover, 2 x 8" woofers and tweeter have completed all.
the "new" center can be seen in picture

View attachment 9184

That is awesome. I am humbled.

 

[0tto]

filper actually you're doing very well.
may be i have some acoustically superior elements in my set, soundwise your set is much better balanced
and advanced in comparison to mine. as i have mentioned above, i have no chance to balance the way it would be perfect
for surround, because front and rear lines comprised from different speakers with their own specific character of the sound
and i have no funds to go after 4 speakers, which can be at least equal to those beloved Warfedales.

 

[LizardKing]

Mine has arrived!

Its going to be a fun to play around with this over the weekend!!!!
:banana:

I need a good RCA switch for it now....

 

[0tto]

Mine has arrived!

Its going to be a fun to play around with this over the weekend!!!!
:banana:

I need a good RCA switch for it now....

so how it's turned out?

 

[LizardKing]

Not bad... its not the holy grail, but it does a good job or stereo to surround..

 

[Russells]

Is it better than playing stereo through a 5.1 decoder? My Pioneer does a pretty good job of getting surround out of stereo sources. Would a Surround Master be so superior?

 

[dr8track]

Is it better than playing stereo through a 5.1 decoder? My Pioneer does a pretty good job of getting surround out of stereo sources. Would a Surround Master be so superior?

True, all modern receivers have some sort of pseudo surround modes for processing stereo. As far as how those decoders would compare with the results of the SM, it would take someone with the unit doing A/B comparisons to hear which they liked better. I think the advantage of the SM is that it seems to have a very effective QS decoder for those with actual QS surround recordings. For those folks they have the bonus of the QS decoder plus the ability to process surround from stereo. In the future Reality Technologies plans to also include an SQ decoder in the unit as well. So, another reason someone with quad SQ and QS material might want the SM. If you have no interest in decoding QS and SQ in the future, then you would really just need to get feedback from those who have a modern receiver and a SM to see if they think it is far superior.

 

[Quad Linda]

I'm anxious to hear the SM decoder/synthesizer, as well as feedback from anyone who a/b's them to modern and vintage synthesizers.

Like many of you, my main system can do a multitude of modern synthesis modes. With an SQD-2020 added and a QRX-5500 (for QS & Vario-Matrix only), there are a variety of decoding and '70's synthesis options. IMHO, Vario-matrix is the best synthesizer I've heard, the Vari-Matrix on my Marantz (5th system) would be second, and my QS/RM circuits would be next. Modern synthesis would come in a distant fourth, followed by my full-logic SQ decoders in SQ decoding mode.