October 29, 2010

• Totem The One, Part 20

  San Francisco does not have pronounced seasons.  The weather is mild, all year round.  It really only rains from December to February.
  
  In late 1995, Dream Theater's Change Of Seasons was popular.  I brought it many times to Ultimate Sound.  There, the "house speaker" was Totem's Model 1.  Ultimate Sound, located on the second floor of 41 Grant, had high ceilings.  So in the main room, the Model 1 never gelled.  Its bass came in and out, didn't move enough air.  The mid-treble was ragged.  But owner David Tam cordoned off a smaller space, creating a small room.  This space was quite representative of S.F.'s small living rooms.  Here, the Model 1 usually outperformed Ultimate Sound's other speakers.

  At home, I suffered with excess bass from floorstanding speakers.  Remember when I had the Thiel CS1.5, whose excess bass caused me to do a backstroke up the back of the couch?
  
  If I went to Ultimate Sound, and did not pick up a product, I often did not want to go home.  Most of the time, I would head up Kearny Street, and go to the Tower Records on Columbus.  There were times I would leave Ultimate Sound, look back, and wonder if I made a mistake by not getting the Totem Model 1.

  My mind is hazy, but I think I finally got the Model 1 Signature in 2000.  Since then, I have used the M1S and The One in many locales.  These minimonitors are about as small as a two-way can get.  You look at them, and can't help but think that they are cute, perhaps like a small dog.  Moreover, you assume that small dogs can't woof.  And that is when The One surprises you.  It is capable of detailed, rhythmic, 3D, textured, stirring bass response.  It just won't do DEEP bass, as comparisons to the larger Mani-2 Signature and Forest show.  And of course, The One's bass can only go so loud.  However, in small rooms, you'll be put off by the unbearably loud mids, before you reach these bass limits.
  
  The funny thing is, when guests come over, The One's bass is so good, they always look for the subwoofer.  But of course, there is no subwoofer!
  

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