January 23, 2013

  • Totem Element Ember, Part 19

    20 years ago, everyone was watching Beverly Hills, 90210.  I remember the episode where Dylan (played by Luke Perry) was worrying and being uneasy about his dad being released from prison.  Meanwhile, my housemates and company were having a friendly discourse about which Beverly Hills, 90210 character was their favorite [I think mine was Andrea Zuckerman].

    Meanwhile, I lamented that The Wonder Years was fading in popularity.  While Dylan's dad was getting out of jail in Beverly Hills, 90210, on The Wonder Years, Kevin and co. missed out on a Rolling Stones concert.

    When the current shows were over, my housemate Tron told us that he had seen the movie, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, starring Luke Perry.  I never did see this movie.  However, in January '93, I went to UCSC's radio station, KZSC, where one of my friends was working.  For $1, I bought a promo CD single of Rob Halford's "Light Comes Out Of Black."  It's from the soundtrack for Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

    When I brought the promo CD back to my college apartment, what were my speakers?  The Pinnacle PN-5+.  Don't laugh; the PN-5+ actually did a credible job of letting me know that Judas Priest's Rob Halford used Pantera as his band, on "Light Comes Out Of Black."  While reading Stereophile, I was so enamored with the little Pinnacle PN-5+, I wondered what other similarly-sized minimonitors, especially Totem's original Model1, would sound like.  Since the apartment bordered a forest, the wood trim and finishes of the PN-5+ and Model 1 felt right at home.
    Okay, while everyone in college was comparing the characters on Beverly Hills, 90210, the audiophiles want to compare Totem's current-production Element Ember and their 20th anniversary The One.

    The Element Ember's Torrent woofer and fabric dome tweeter sound modern: clean, uncolored, high-quality.  It's hard to believe that The One's drivers [Dynaudio woofer, SEAS tweeter] came out over 20 years ago.  The Element Ember is significantly larger than The One.  Available in gloss black or white, the Ember looks sleek and modern.  Totem's The One only comes in "root brown."  While not old-looking, the mahogany/black "root brown" does look like it'd belong in the woods, or be part of wooden building materials.  Yep, at UCSC, the Crown-Merrill apartments had a wood exterior.

    You can throw just about any electronics at The One, and it won't sound bad.  On "Light Comes Out Of Black," throwing Rob Halford and Pantera together works wonders.  They kick ass.  And it was a much-needed push-back against the ugly grunge scourge. 

    You can only use high-quality gear and cables with the Element Ember.  Its clean, transparent, honest, and open qualities leave poor and mediocre gear nowhere to hide.  The Ember will simply tell it like it is.