TheEAR Posted November 2, 2003 Share Posted November 2, 2003 I am quite familiar with Totem products,I almost purchased the venerable Totem Model 1 Signature a few years back(decided to go with Dynaudio Contour 1.1).Today I have the ROKK and Tabu,two very revealing minimonitors that I use with my main PC. Ok you ask where is the subwoofer in here... Well Totem released the Thunder not so long ago,and low and behold after hearing the unit I found it very clean and powerful for such a compact sub but nothing more. Last Saturday I purchased the november Home Theater mag and I was shocked after reading the multisub comparo. Bass Bustin Out All Over compared eight subs,from the tiny Earthquake SuperNova 10 and equally small Velodyne SPL1000 newest revision(damn mine does not look this good)to the towering SVS Ultra like Adire Sadhara using the new Sadhara 12" ubber woofer. As was to be the Sadhara won,it was by far the largest sub,BIG CABINET with a sub human 12" woofer many $5000 subs would kill for.It won but not by much! The only clear challenger was the very compact Totem Thunder! Yes the Totem Thunder with its 10" woofer and dual 10" PR's matched the Sadhara down very low!!!! The Thunder ties the Sadhara from 20 to 31.5Hz,and kept very close to 50Hz where it can be crossed over with larger speakers.It was overall more linear of the group,remaining withing 3dB window from 33Hz up to 150Hz!!!! Say what you will I call this a grand show from a small sub,and distortion remained below average in the group too. I will say it one more time the little Totem Thunder with its ten inch woofer(nothing grandiose on paper)matched dB for dB the BIG Adire Sadhara down low 31.5Hz and down to 20 pulses!!!! Impressive to say the elast Damn I am buying the Thunder and maybe TWO!!!! He he he IN YOUR FACE lovers of huge subs(uh I am too ) the little guy proves you wrong. And it will match my Tabu and Rokk like a glove. Now the doubters will have to admit small subs can compete with the SVS's and Adire's of this world.I did not say outperform but compete in performance and still not cost many times more.The Sadhara goes for a grand and the Totem for 1.5 grand.The Totem is very compact and gorgeous and the Sadhara a very good looking SVS/HSU type cylinder. All of a sudden I have the infamous eye roll...this is a clear sign from god,buy this sub...or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_highlander Posted November 2, 2003 Share Posted November 2, 2003 that is why I said, it's not about how big the driver is...the Tempest can be just as good as the Tumult...it's all in the design... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QRuse Posted November 2, 2003 Share Posted November 2, 2003 Yeah, EAR, remember when I open a thread asking about the Totem Thunder and Triad, that was it - I do subscribe Sound and Vision & HomeTheater mags and read that review long before and found the result impressive. But Here was your answer then: "Less OUTPUT and dont dig as deep as SVS or Aerial. SVS and Aerial lay a dB beating on Triad and Totem. Quality,Totem and Triad are just as good,its the output and extension that would favor SVS and Aerial in a BIG way. For smaller sats/rooms and with music Totem's Lightning is quite a sub.Just will not shake the liver the way the heavyweights do...." As I'm curious as my nick, QRUse, I would like to know then if you already had good experience with those reviewed subs...now you're buying not only one but two Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted November 2, 2003 Author Share Posted November 2, 2003 The Aerial and SVS Ultra will outperform the Thunder,its compared to the competition and the Sadhara the Thunder held up.This is very impressive. OMG I am so sorry,I under estimated the Totem Thunder,my bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CO1 Posted November 2, 2003 Share Posted November 2, 2003 Oh yeah, well all of those subs had better run in fear of the D-Box David 300 I'm about to buy. Eat your heart out Ear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted November 2, 2003 Author Share Posted November 2, 2003 D-Box ...yes they make one good sub the Mammoth,with a huge 18" woofer using an electro magnet in place of the permanent magnets most woofers use.It costs about 8 grand,its BIG. The smaller Mammoth sub using the 15" woofer is ok,I heard it.Not impressed.The linear on this woofer is pathetic.Overpriced The rest of the D-Box ...they should remain in their boxes.Me Too performers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fire pinch Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 Oreillon, What kind of power was given to the Sadhara? This is a passive subwoofer... Im really really impressed of the results you talk about! So this comparo tell us that the Sadhara is less powerfull than the SVS Ultra? But we dont know how much power the Sadhara had, so I have some ??? in my mind... "and still not cost many times more.The Sadhara goes for a grand and the Totem for 1.5 grand." Totem is 1.5 grand amp included or not? BUT, I say but... if you make yourself a clone of the Sadhara, in the end, you will pay less than 1 grand. About 700$CAN so about half of a grand in USD. But yeah, I admit it (in the case of not DIY), some commercial subs can be well near of Adire offerings! Im myself very impressed by this "micro" Totem! Thanx to feed us with some new findings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 LF10 Funny how the Totem Thunder resembles the ill-fated Klipsch LF10 and LF12. Except the LF10 employs what Klipsch called True-Coupling (one active and two passive 10 drivers) with Pioneers Bridged Amplifier/Switching Hybrid (BASH) amplifiers. The small LF-10 and LF-12 were capable of 1650 and 2400 watt maximum dynamic output. In describing the benefits of True-Coupling technology, Klipsch states "The small cabinet, 'one active and one passive' approach gives good output, but is has distortion problems and can only boast fair definition. The single driver with an accelerometer approach gives good bass definition, but pays a penalty in output and dynamic range. We discovered that if we couple one active driver with two passive radiators, we get more output and less distortion without the penalty of the power drain from an accelerometer." In my current 14 by 17 room, at the lowest EQ setting (40Hz) and ¾ power, the LF10 peaks at 88db at 40Hz and 90dB at 31.2Hz (up 16dB from 50Hz). It is down 5dB at 25Hz and gone by 20Hz. It fits in nicely with the big ole Klipsch classic corner horns when EQ is set at the lowest and the power is set 1/4 to ½ for music. By comparison, the Vince Christian sub-woofer is about the same price. It peaked at 80 and 100 Hz on both 50 and 180Hz EQ settings. Please allow 2dB for room, testing and SPL meter errors. Retail price was $1,300 for the LF-10, with $1,700 planned for the LF-12 (no production). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted November 4, 2003 Author Share Posted November 4, 2003 Colin, Yes the Thunder only "resembles" the LF10,with a much better finish,better performance and costs less here in Canada.Its made in Montreal,I visited the Totem assembly place,and saw many many cabinets,drivers and finished speakers. The LF10 when compared A/B with my Sunfire Mark II got beat so bad it was not even funny,at 31.5Hz the Mark II laid a beating of sub human proportions on the LF10.And to say the sub was larger and had greal "looking" specs.Ha Go Totem,and the Thunder I will have.It looks great,it sound even better and its very compact.What not to like?Plus all Totem products I heard and owned so far are of great quality and quality control is top notch. On a side note when I borrowed the Klipsch LF10 I really wanted the LF10 to perform because I was abuyer if it did,and it looked like it had the goods to take over the Mark II.Sadly it fell short,and on top it had an air leak and latter at the store whjen they pushed it the voice coil started to rub against the magnetic structure.My testing probably started its demise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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