July 31, 2014

  • Totem Element Fire, Part 10

    20 years ago, with The Sweetest Illusion, Basia brought back her brand of Latin-tinged foreign jazz-pop. I suppose this album found a small cult following. Yet, that following did not include Stereotypical Audiophiles.
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    In those halcyon mid-90s days, ACS and I auditioned lots of speakers. Back then, stereo stores had a bias against popular music, which real people, including ourselves, loved. So when ACS and I went to those stores, we refrained from going in all-guns-blazing with our kick-ass heavy metal. No, we eased ourselves into the stores, by first playing Basia’s The Sweetest Illusion. You gotta let those old goat salesmen warm up to you and your music. Basia helped do that. Though the music on The Sweetest Illusion is kind of ho-hum, it is a decent recording, to which audiophiles do not object.

    Gosh, off the top of my head, the speakers which come to mind are the Eminent Technology LF-VIII; Martin Logan Aerius; NHT 2.3; PSB New Stratus Mini and Silver Stratus i; Thiel CS.5 and CS1.5. Many others didn’t make it past the first round of our auditions, so I’m not going to list them here. But out of all the speakers we auditioned, only two captured the energy, vitality, and color of The Sweetest Illusion. One was the original Sonus Faber Concertino, the other was the Totem Model 1.

    In 1995, the sexually active ACS had just turned 21. Because the Totem got us closer to the music, Basia’s “Perfect Mother,” which is about a young girl becoming a mother (albeit a good one), creeped me and ACS out. While she would have been okay with having a child then, ACS did not want to become a mother for a few more years. In real life, she didn’t become a mother for another 10 years, when she was 31.
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    Whereas the Model 1 pulled off the virtual reality act by concentrating on the midrange, the Totem Element Fire (above) is simply one of the most accurate, open, transparent, resolving loudspeakers. If the sources, electronics, and cables are capable, the Fire will respond in kind.

    The real surprise which left listeners stunned was Basia’s rockin’, almost out-of-character, “More Fire Than Flame.” Quite stunning is the Element Fire’s resolving powers. In the mid-90s, I wasted my time and money on all sorts of audio tweeks, mainly of the anti-vibration variety. ACS would sit, listen, notice really slight audio changes at best, lose patience, get up, and move on.
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    No, back then, she and I could not have dreamed of moving a Beak around the baseplate of a speaker stand. I’ve already discussed what happens, when the Beak is placed in the middle and rear of the Billy Bags #1214. Via the Fire, these changes are of the magnitude which ACS would have sat up and noticed. Honestly, it’s all personal preference. Some audiophiles will like the slow-it-down-so-I-can-see middle position. Others will like the more spacious, ethereal rear position. But when the Beak is placed at the front of the speaker stand, the Fire’s sound locks in, and is the best-balanced. Many times, ACS just wanted her partner to lie on his back, while she was in control and rode him. Other times, ACS was just too tired, so she passively bent over at the edge of the bed, and let the male do all the work. But there were also times when ACS called out, “Nailed it!” Here, both sexual partners equally went at it, were so in tune, worked the rhythm, and were perfectly in sync. For me, that describes the Beak positioned in front.

    Once the Fire has been properly burned-in, and is locked-in, you start to notice other aspects, traits, and facets. Back in the mid-90s, ACS and I did love the little Model 1. But even though it rocked, you always got the feeling that it was working hard. I described that as pushing the boulder up a hill. ACS described it as "clumsy and awkward sex," like in a small car. But if there’s one word to describe the Fire, that word is “effortless.” Maybe it’s the 8-ohm impedance. Maybe it’s the inert and angular cabinet. Maybe it’s the lack of crossover on the 7” Torrent woofer. Whatever the case, the Fire doesn’t seem to break a sweat. Other than the deepest bass, it just takes and reproduces whatever you feed it. It really is like a clean, undistorted mirror, into which even a vampire can see his/her own reflection. If said vampires want to strut, shave, flex muscles, primp, and beautify in front of that mirror, so be it. More power to them, all made possible by the Totem Element Fire.