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Totem Forest Signature, Part 1

Posted by Luminator (A) on May 3, 2024 at 22:06:47

At the end of 1991, I was a junior at UC Santa Cruz, while my friend ACS was a freshman a UC Berkeley. At the time, the audiophile press had a strong bias against mini-monitors. Reviewers often pushed the "bigger and more expensive are better" mantra.

Anyway, since this was winter break, ACS was working at the Victoria's Secret at San Francisco's Union Square. She got off one evening, and hopped the 38-Geary, to get to my place.

I had just received the new January 1992 Stereophile. In it, this May Audio ad brought the brand Totem to my attention. Sigh, and of course, ACS had to quip, "Oh, rhymes with scrotum. Maybe they have big balls!"

As of this writing, Totem do not have any Northern California dealers. At the end of 1991, ACS and I were unaware of the existence of any local Totem dealers. So we could only dream and prognosticate. Perhaps under the VS influence of "less is more," ACS had no problem with mini-monitors. At the time, Totem only made that one product, the original Model 1. The ad promised "life and space," and "timbre, rhythm, ambiance, coherence, tonality, and musicality." ACS and other friends looked at each other and harrumphed, "Hmmm, our speakers do not possess those qualities." We mentally projected, what a stereo would sound like, if it did have those qualities.

But I had to return to Santa Cruz, for the Winter 1992 quarter. In our college apartment, my housemate Todd provided a floorstanding Bose "Stereo Everywhere" loudspeaker. I think it cost over $600 - which was a large sum for college kids. Because that Bose was bigger and more expensive than anything else we had, we guys just assumed that it was better.

However, Todd's roommate, Doug (above, right, in the surf), had a bookshelf JBL loudspeaker, which could not have been more than $250. During the Fall 1991 quarter, we had used my Sony D-10 Discman. But because I had obtained an NAD 5000 for my home (San Francisco) system, I was able to bring my old Sony CDP-520ESII full-sized CD player to Santa Cruz. We guys have my been delusional or in denial, and clung to the Bose. But the girls insisted that the smaller and more affordable JBL was cleaner, clearer, faster, more open and captivating, than the "muddy everywhere" Bose.

During the summer of 1992, my family, as they always did, went to Honolulu. That left me home alone, in San Francisco. Seemingly everyday, friends would come over. My main system had the $349 Paradigm 5SE, which had gotten good reviews. My bedroom had the little Pinnacle PN-5+, which was $199 and had no reviews. Perhaps under the influence of those reviews, my guy friends praise the Paradigm, for being "smooth." But the girls kept losing interest, and falling asleep.

Shelley, a fan of heavy metal music, couldn't stand the lifeless Paradigm. So she suggested trying the dinky Pinnacle, which was the same size as Totem's Model 1, in the living room. Okay, the Pinnacle was uneven, but in terms of making the music come alive, it just slayed the larger and more expensive Paradigm. Like the seagulls crapping all over San Francisco, the girls crapped all over the Paradigm 5SE.

The dinky Pinnacle PN-5+ took up residence in the main system, and the music made 1992 our Summer Of Love.

For the 1992-93 school year, I brought that Pinnacle PN-5+ down to Santa Cruz. My housemates and the few guys who came over were uncomfortable with the mini-monitor's small size. They likened it to detachable speakers from a boombox or mini-stereo. My housemate Ron pulled out a J&R Music World ad, and begged me to buy Pinnacle's matching subwoofer [sorry, I do not recall the model name/number], which may have been $200-$220.

But the girls had no reservations, about the PN-5+'s small size. That whole year, it seemed like we could not go two consecutive days, without a girl coming over. Granted, the girls loved the Adcom GTP-400 and AudioQuest Lapis, but they easily were captivated by the PN-5+'s energy and liveliness.

Oh ho ho. During the middle of March 1993, I went home to San Francisco, and attended the Stereophile Show. On the 6th floor, May Audio had the Totem Model 1, the first time I got to see it. Despite being among the smallest speakers, that Model 1 was one of the few, which did a credible job on rock music. Someone had the good sense to play The Police. The Totem understood that the key was in getting right the snap and crack of Stewart Copeland's Tama drums.

No way! A couple weeks later, during spring break 1993, I was back home in San Francisco. The April 1993 Stereophile arrived, and in it was a review of that very Totem Model 1. Alas, it was $1500, plus you needed stands. As a college kid, you could not afford such things, but hey, you could dream :-)

During that Spring 1993 quarter, I took that April 1993 Stereophile everywhere, including the forest. Sitting under the trees, I was excited, about how the Totem Model 1 might be able to bring out the spirit, life force, and nature of the music.

And then, in the late-1990s, I finally got my first Totem, the Model 1 Signature. In the late-2000s, a 20th anniversary The One supplanted my M1S.

So it makes sense that I am an ideal person, to review Totem's $3500 Signature One, which my audiophile circle/network/web has been working to bring in.

But wait. We received two elongated and heavy Totem boxes.

After moths of trying, we were not able to secure the Signature One bookshelf speakers. All along, I had promised readers that we'd be reviewing the Signature One. Instead, we have obtained the $7400 Forest Signature.

We have to switch gears and plans, but we will give the Totem Forest Signature a workout. The Forest Signature is a compact floorstander. Yes, we shall see if it lives up to the standard(s) set by other Totem products. But here we are, 32 years after I originally learned about Totem. The Forest Signature will have to stand or fall, on its own.

-Lummy The Loch Monster

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

Herbie's Audio Lab

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