July 19, 2014

  • Totem Element Fire, Part 6

    During the Spring '93 quarter, I read and re-read the April 1993 issue of Stereophile. It featured interesting reviews of the B&W 805 Matrix, Theta Cobalt 307, and Totem Model 1, all of which I had seen at the March '93 Stereophile show in San Francisco.
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    But there was something which kept attracting me to the Totem Model 1. I even sat amongst the redwood trees on the UCSC campus. I dunno; perhaps the Model 1's mahogany finish reminded me of those redwood trees. A cone falling on my head could not tear me away from that review.

    Okay, let's go back to that morning of Saturday, 5/15/93. A naked KJ got out of my bed, to use the bathroom. She then walked over to the other bedroom, whose door was open. KJ peeked inside, found no one home. Since no one else was home, KJ then walked out to the living room, past the dining area, and into the kitchen. After getting something to drink, the still naked KJ then traipsed around the dining table, waded through the living room, opened the sliding glass door, and drifted onto the balcony. My top-floor apartment was on top of the ridge/hill, so KJ could look down on the other buildings and parking lot. As was the case at Crown-Merrill, no one was around, so I doubt anyone saw the naked KJ staring out from the balcony. So yeah, the naked KJ positioned herself in all areas of my college apartment.

    Because Totem loudspeakers are designed counter to "audiophile speakers," Totems are the easiest to place. Totems fire straight ahead, without any of that retarded and ugly toe-in. Totems are placed relatively close to each other. This often leads to shorter speaker cables. Shorter speaker cables cost less than longer ones. Instead of bringing the speakers all the way out into the living room, where they look stupid, block paths, and set tripwires, Totems typically can be placed 2-3 feet from the back wall. When it comes to positioning, the Element Fire is exactly like all other Totems. Hooray!
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    Before coming to me, this Element Fire pair had gone through several other users. They each have different rooms, but all report that the Fire can be placed pretty much anywhere, and not sound bad. The Fire's port is in the rear, but it doesn't boom. So you can place a Fire 2' (which is closer than a normal audiophile speaker) from the back wall. With standard 8' ceilings, you can use stands which are 20-26" tall. You can go shorter, if the stand allows for tilt-back. Best of all, as I mentioned above, toe-in is neither required nor needed. Mine are about 36" from the back wall, 68" apart. From this position, moving the speakers in 1" increments makes NO difference at all. Just set and forget.
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    After you set up the Element Fire, another reason why it is superior to the competition is that there is no "sweet spot." That is, the Fire sounds great from pretty much anywhere in the room. Gone are the bad ol' days of sitting uncomfortably in the "sweet spot." Gone are the bad ol' days of holding your head in a vice. With the Fire, you can get on with your life, and enjoy stable soundstaging and flat frequency response all over the room. Moreover, the Fire sounding great throughout the room means you do not have to be alone. You can bring in multiple people, who will then dig and groove to the great sound throughout the room.
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    Regarding listening height, the Totem Element Fire is not critical. So long as you are not right up at the speaker, you can lie down on the floor, or stand up. Guess what that means. While on the floor, you can eat, do arts and crafts, play board games, go on the computer, fiddle with iPad apps, do chores, have sex, play video games, or do whatever you want, and still enjoy stable audio. However, if you try to read, the music might be too captivating, and you'll be forced to put down your book or computer. The Fire's insensitivity to height also means you can get up and dance! Liberate yourself from those crappy, finicky, ugly, poor-sounding "audiophile speakers," and get the Totem Element Fire instead.