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"The elephant in the room is the room itself"

Posted by Luminator (A) on November 14, 2024 at 11:39:02

When audiophiles write to me about speakers, they point out that reviewers don't say much, if anything at all, about the rooms.

Divorced and re-married, my friend Donnie and his husband have been shopping for speakers. As they've read reviews, Donnie remarked, "The elephant in the room is the room itself."

This year, my friends and I have been reviewing the Totem Forest Signature. Accordingly, we have taken the FS, Totem's little Sky monitor, and several other loudspeakers, to a variety of Bay Area dwellings.

Although not unique, the Bay Area is plagued with tiny living rooms. Moreover, once you actually live in these rooms, the furnishings further reduce the space your stereo and speakers have to work with. More times than not, your small speaker will be placed against a wall, and between furniture.

Donny and his husband have a small place, and love eating in this alcove. To maximize space, they go with a small table for two. We actually placed the Totem FS there, and it sounded terrific. Alas, that location isn't workable, so they will have to go with a mini-monitor, going left-right across this room. Perhaps something of the Totem Bison monitor would work.

Donnie's ex-wife, Mai, lives in this building. This studio unit was put up for sale, and is similar/identical to Mai's, with the difference being the Murphy bed.

Eerily similar to Donnie's house, Mai has a small but sunny alcove, in which to place a small dining table. And, just like Donnie's place, if you place a Totem FS in that alcove, it sounds terrific. Alas, Mai has to use small speakers up against the wall to your right.

"The only place for a stereo is there," points my friend Stacie.

She and her husband live in this tiny 1-bedroom unit, which is so so common, here in the Bay Area. The Totem FS sonically overloaded that corner. In this space, the Sky worked better.

"Where would we put a stereo?" laments my friend Scylla.

Her second home has an utterly useless fireplace. Not only does the fireplace not get used, it prevents you from using that wall space. You have to place a TV/video monitor above the fireplace. Viewers have to look up, causing neck pain. You could stash electronics in the corner by the dining area, place speakers on either side of the fireplace, and then run long speaker cables.

Frustratingly, when we place the Totem FS where the dining room table is, it sounds fantastic. When you are at the opposite end of the room, which is the kitchen, the music boogies, and you can't stand still, while cooking and cleaning.

I still keep in touch with former coworkers, who work in property management. This loft condo was cleared out and put up for sale.

This photo intentionally makes the floor look bigger than it really is. Be that as it may, when placing a stereo in front of the curtains, the Totem FS sounded fabulous. Maybe it was the high ceiling, but Aerosmith's "Young Lust" sounded open and throbbing, among the best we've ever experienced it.

In October 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake struck. Mabel's parents took advantage, and bought a kind of industrial commercial unit in San Francisco. In those days, everyone thought they were crazy, spending $300k for a commercial unit which then had to be converted into a residence. They installed a full kitchen, and had to expand the restroom, to include a shower.

Mabel's parents are now retired, live in Berkeley, but renovated the SF place's bathroom.

Here, the Totem FS also sounded good. In this relatively large (volume-wise) space, as you move away from the speakers, you lose bass power. But still, because the FS nails rhythms, it compels you to move furniture, and create space, so that everyone can dance. That is so opposite of what SAs do.

Mabel was thinking that, if she were a professional audio reviewer, and only used this room, results would be skewed. Starting with the Totem FS, she feels that she'd write a glowing review, but then, in a conventional room, the same FS might not perform as well. She'd then have to face readers' ire and wrath.

Moreover, in this former commercial space, the Totem Sky and Element Fire sound "ghostly," as Mabel puts it. Yet, in many other rooms, Mabel has heard the Sky and Element Fire succeed.

Transporting speakers, setting them up, and taking them down are a lot of work. But as we've done these with, among others, the Totem Forest Signature, my friends have learned a lot. Donnie is right; when talking about a speaker, the audiophile needs to divulge what the rooms are like.

But even more so than the Totem Forest Signature, readers have been demanding more about the Kimber Naked balanced line-level interconnect. While the FS has gone to friends, who are not audiophiles, the Kimber Naked has gone to my audiophile acquaintances, who have a wide variety of balanced gear. Because of the Naked's price, these audiophiles have been skittishly nervous, in handing and transporting it. As I've been promising for months, in time, we'll post about the Kimber Naked.

-Lummy The Loch Monster

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Schiit Audio

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