Loooooong story cut short, My brief was to find a small pair of wife friendly speakers to go with my wife friendly Marantz M-CR603 🙂 I have had demos, with my marantz, with as many of the big name budget bookshelf offerings between the £180 - £300 price range. I finally settled on a pair of Monitor Audio BX2's and had them running in and playing at home for about 6 weeks.
I really liked the BX2's at first, they were much better than my old Kef floorstanders (cresta 30's). I left them playing all day, everyday for about 1 week and whilst the sound had improved I found myself not really enjoying them as much as I should or thought I would. I can't explain why but perhaps it was the novelty of new speakers or maybe that initial improvement over my old speakers had something to do with it, or just good old room/system incompatibility but I just couldn't relax with them.
I was given the opportunity to buy a pair of Totem Dreamcatchers for £300, without a proper demo I knew the risks but thought I could move them on without too much damage if they were not what I wanted. Well first impressions were, wow, they are really slim cabinets and the mid/bass drivers were tiny. They sit nicely on my stands and the small size means they seem to disappear in my living room.
What really really blew me away was how they sound. For such a small speaker hooked up to a modest 'lifestyle' system the sound is incredible. I've played various tracks tonight by The Who, Foo Fighters, Queen, The Smiths, The Cult and even caught the wife playing some Birdy :-D I am really sold with these tiny wonders. Everything sounds so clear, detailed and even fast paced tracks were handled easily. I actually found myself listening to the music rather than feeling like I was listening to hifi equipment. There is no thunderous bass but not once tonight have I felt like I was missing out on anything.
I apologise if I'm not making much sense, long day and I'm knackered, but I thought I would tap out a mini review as I feel I owe you something in return for my many months of clogging up WHFF with my constant pestering for advice.
Thanks to all of you who have helped with advice etc. I'm really pleased with today's purchase and I'm looking forward to many evenings of just sitting and enjoying my cd collection.
I really liked the BX2's at first, they were much better than my old Kef floorstanders (cresta 30's). I left them playing all day, everyday for about 1 week and whilst the sound had improved I found myself not really enjoying them as much as I should or thought I would. I can't explain why but perhaps it was the novelty of new speakers or maybe that initial improvement over my old speakers had something to do with it, or just good old room/system incompatibility but I just couldn't relax with them.
I was given the opportunity to buy a pair of Totem Dreamcatchers for £300, without a proper demo I knew the risks but thought I could move them on without too much damage if they were not what I wanted. Well first impressions were, wow, they are really slim cabinets and the mid/bass drivers were tiny. They sit nicely on my stands and the small size means they seem to disappear in my living room.
What really really blew me away was how they sound. For such a small speaker hooked up to a modest 'lifestyle' system the sound is incredible. I've played various tracks tonight by The Who, Foo Fighters, Queen, The Smiths, The Cult and even caught the wife playing some Birdy :-D I am really sold with these tiny wonders. Everything sounds so clear, detailed and even fast paced tracks were handled easily. I actually found myself listening to the music rather than feeling like I was listening to hifi equipment. There is no thunderous bass but not once tonight have I felt like I was missing out on anything.
I apologise if I'm not making much sense, long day and I'm knackered, but I thought I would tap out a mini review as I feel I owe you something in return for my many months of clogging up WHFF with my constant pestering for advice.
Thanks to all of you who have helped with advice etc. I'm really pleased with today's purchase and I'm looking forward to many evenings of just sitting and enjoying my cd collection.
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