A Totem Kin Play Experience

How is this possible??! I'm sitting in my room in a little bit of shock as I listen to two different speaker systems that are polar opposites in many regards. Am I fooling myself or is it really the case that $1000 Totem Kin Play Active speakers are giving my $10,000 Rotel 15 series / Bowers 700 series 2 stereo system a significant run for their money?

I have an amazing friend named Vidal. I met him through the used audio market when I was selling an Anthem Mrx 540. He came over to purchase the item from me, and we hit it off immediately and became friends. Sometimes he brings over second-hand equipment for my opinion, which I truly enjoy.

At one point, Vidal told me he had access to a pair of Totem Kin Play Active speakers, and I immediately wanted to listen to them in my room. He was kind enough to drop them off and leave them with me for a few weeks.

Spoiler alert… I think I paid far too much for my stereo system. It really blows my mind that I've been listening to my reference Rotel / Bowers system for over four years thinking it might be the best stereo system I will ever own only to have my bubble burst with a pair of Totem Kin Play Active speakers with less amplification and smaller drivers at a fraction of the price and with a sound that is too close to comparable.

When my friend Vidal brought the Totem speakers late at night, I needed help setting them up because of my spinal cord injury. We set them up at the foot of my bed in my bedroom and created the perfect triangle with my head in the sweet spot. After connecting via Bluetooth, we played "Tin Pan Alley" by Stevie Ray Vaughan…

...and immediately, I was impressed by the Totem's ability to make the track sound like a live performance. After I went to bed, I listened to a whole bunch of different music into the very early hours of the morning. I was mesmerized by how the speakers were interacting with the space because the soundstage and imaging seemed to be coming from everywhere. My bedroom closet has a curtain for the door, so it acts like a perfect acoustical backdrop for the Totems, and listening to them in that environment from bed was something that I've never experienced before. Laying in bed, cycling through a number of tracks, I was presented with incredible imaging which seemed like it was coming at me from 8 feet above my bed. In terms of soundstage, sound information was coming in from the sides far beyond the speaker placement, as though there were more speakers in the room, and instruments were placed and locatable throughout the soundstage, which made for a most enjoyable listening experience. Needless to say, I stayed up late that night, and it was a lot of fun. If you want a small bedroom system, look no further than these. They are unbelievably exciting to listen to if set up properly.

The next day I moved the speakers to my main listening room next to my reference stereo system so I could do a direct comparison between the system I use on a daily and the Totems and this is when things got interesting. I was not expecting these little powered speakers from Totem to sound as good or better than my main system but immediately after listening to just a little bit of music on them I just sat there shaking my head wondering why I hadn't listen to speakers like this years ago and why I thought I needed to spend lots of money to get really good sound.

More on the sound… I'd like to quickly address the differences between bass, treble, and mid range frequencies and what I heard switching back-and-forth between the two systems.
In terms of bass I'd say both speakers plummet low enough with enough authority that you don't really need a subwoofer for most music. I would also say that the Totems are noticeably faster but I only know this because of the comparison. The Bowers 705s2 do seem to hit a bit slower but it's not necessarily a bad thing as it gives it sort of a relaxed 70s sound. I think I enjoy the Totem’s quickness and tuneful bass at low to medium volumes but I would give the Bowers / Rotel a slight lead in control when playing at higher volume. I'm pretty sure the Totems arn't fully broken in as the manufacturer states they need at least 75 hours of playback so they could improve overtime. When it comes to mid range I think I prefer the Totems with some music because they sounded richer and a bit thicker which bodes well with music that emphasizes voices and guitars. The mid range with the Bowers / Rotel combination seem to be recessed like a V-shaped curve on a graphic equalizer. I found the tone on the Bowers with vocals and guitars to be a little thinner and voices sound more upfront in your face. The Totems seem to be a bit of an easier listen with voices when listening to songs like Song For Zula by Phosphoescent (particularity the BBC radio performance) and Wait For You by Ocie Elliott.

‌‌Treble response on the Bowers could be considered a bit more of a fatiguing listen but the detail is superb and actually quite smooth. Treble response with the Totems is good but it seems a touch harder or less bridled. The Totems are really good in this area but Bowers are a bit better in my opinion. And of course some of my quibbles about the sound of both systems can be addressed with tone controls but the overall sound signatures remain on both systems (more on that below).
One more point about differences between each system is that the Bowers / Rotel system has a greater sense of scale as it sounds larger to some degree. They have an ability to play at concert levels and fill a room without sounding like it can't keep up where as the Totems seem to start breaking up at that level. But most people including myself (most the time), don't listen to music that loud.

Features on the speakers include one analogue input, one digital optical input, one subwoofer output, and a Moving Magnet Compatible input. The Totems have tone controls which is awesome! I'm one of those who thinks everything should have them but the purists scoff and spit on the floor over thoughts like that. There are five steps of bass adjustments and four steps of treble adjustments. In my opinion the lowest bass setting is pointless and the two highest treble settings are unlistenable. I hate the remote with most of my heart. It gets some points for having sound adjustments for on the fly adjustments when listening but it's very plain and feels cheap and it seems the infrared line of sight has to be pretty accurate and straight on otherwise it doesn't work well.

If I could change one thing about the speakers I would like to see an app with these. I would pay more money for it. I'm sure they have their reasons not to include one but I'm a geek and I want to tweak and a fun little app would be complementary to the system. I'm sure Totem Acoustics will come up with more powered speakers in the future that will include apps. It's inevitable… I hope.

My Conclusion is this. When it boils down to it I enjoy listening to the Totems a lot. They are fun, exciting, quick, and effortless and they do well with all types of music. They are ridiculously close to sounding almost as good as the Bowers / Rotel combination and at a price of $1000 it speaks volumes to the value of the Totems. The overall tone of the Totem Kin Play seem more musical which is a term I don't particularly like because I've never really understood it when people used it but now I think I understand. My reference system has somewhat of a muted, heavy, darker tone which elicits a nostalgic, retro, 70s vibe that can sound more subdued and you get the sense that you need power and volume to get them to wake up. The Totems on the other hand sound quicker and lighter while still providing an ample sense of authority in midrange and bass regions (but not equal to the Bowers) which makes the speaker easy to listen to and more… musical (There… I used it). I like so much about both sets of speakers but I have to say that the Bowers / Rotel System is a bit better on treble response and overall scale but I really enjoy the mid range tone that the Totems dish out. Love them both. If money and cabinet space wasn't an issue of course I would prefer the Bowers / Rotel system because it edges out a little bit ahead of the Totems but I know without a shadow of a doubt I could be happy with just owning the Totems and if I were on a budget. It's a no-brainer.

Thanks for reading! Happy listening!