Speaker voodoo? Totem Beaks...

[6th.replicant]

shooter69:I've got Totems and when i bought them the guy had some for sale and kindly gave me all the shpeel, and so i was obliged to have a demo. At this point he went off to the loft for a rummage about and 10 minutes later returned Beaks in hand. At that point i said cheerio.
Are you saying that you demo'd the Beaks and then departed, or "said cheerio" because the fellow emerged holding them in a threatening manner, which prompted you to beat a hasty retreat??

 

[jaxwired]

I'm beyond skeptical. I flat out don't believe they make any difference at all. How was the difference measured? I suppose you just used your ears. That device has been known to produce wildly inconsistent results. Definately cannot be trusted.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey jaxwired, ex- ukadvocate but I'm still a uk advocate. Sorry if I sounded a little defensive back then and I never auditioned these so called beaks. Dealer went under so I would have to travel to the city to encounter them. My guess is that the won't have any effect on standmounts with heavy stands, but it might work on light floorstanders and they are probably made for totem speakers only. Just a thought. If I have a chance to try them I'll let you know . What hi fi may want to delete my old user name or should I notify them ?

 

[shooter]

6th.replicant:shooter69:I've got Totems and when i bought them the guy had some for sale and kindly gave me all the shpeel, and so i was obliged to have a demo. At this point he went off to the loft for a rummage about and 10 minutes later returned Beaks in hand. At that point i said cheerio.
Are you saying that you demo'd the Beaks and then departed, or "said cheerio" because the fellow emerged holding them in a threatening manner, which prompted you to beat a hasty retreat??

Threatening manner! You could say that, he came down stairs naked to the waist and sporting his good lady wife's bra trying to do his finest Madonna riposte!

Seriously thou, if i can, the fact that he went to the loft to find the Beaks let me safe in the knowledge that with his Naim system they done nothing, nice try thou i'll give that!

 

[Singslinger]

I know speakers need "breaking-in'' but now they also could do with "beaking-in''? Hmmm...

 

[Anonymous]

People say Naim Audio products require a spot of witchcraft to perform at their best; I don't see why this practice is exclusive to electronic equipment.

And I can't see a company like Totem in this business to fool consumers either...all IMHO of course.

 

[6th.replicant]

Would be interesting to learn the views of others who've actually sampled Totem's Beak...

sivanessen:People say Naim Audio products require a spot of witchcraft to perform at their best; I don't see why this practice is exclusive to electronic equipment.

And I can't see a company like Totem in this business to fool consumers either...all IMHO of course.
I say, Sivanessen, steady! Don't you know that you're not allowed to be logical and open-minded?

 

[Anonymous]

" The improvement is a measurable "0.5dB attenuation in treble output" and various other chunks of techno-speak I don't/can't comprehend."

"However, what I can comprehend is that two Beaks sitting topside, placed in diagonally opposite corners, of each speaker give the sound a slight 'lift' "

Is it me or are those two statements seemingly at odds with one another ?

As for fooling consumers well in the wacky world of "HiFi" it wouldn't be difficult if you had a mind to given the high proportion of people queing up to be "fooled" Caveat Emptor. Ohhhh Emperor's new clothes what made me think of that.

 

[6th.replicant]

2oldnslow:
" The improvement is a measurable "0.5dB attenuation in treble output" and various other chunks of techno-speak I don't/can't comprehend."

"However, what I can comprehend is that two Beaks sitting topside, placed in diagonally opposite corners, of each speaker give the sound a slight 'lift' "

Is it me or are those two statements seemingly at odds with one another ? ...
Please clarify how "those two statements" are "seemingly at odds with one another" - it's not my intention to confuse, obviously.

2oldnslow:...As for fooling consumers well in the wacky world of "HiFi" it wouldn't be difficult if you had a mind to given the high proportion of people queing up to be "fooled" Caveat Emptor. Ohhhh Emperor's new clothes what made me think of that
You have demo'd the Beaks, then?

 

[Anonymous]

Just emailed the Vancouver store where I purchaced my system and who also sells totems and the reply was" yes they do work but only a slight difference." As for 2oldslow ,yes it is you. As for me to audition them probably not but the curious side of me, in the near future. As for price 100 canadiens, England your getting a great deal ! I don't know why everyone is getting their panties in a knot ? If reviewers say there is a difference then don't admonish it until you have auditioned them and not on here say. Have a nice day everyone.

 

[6th.replicant]

canuck2:... I don't know why everyone is getting their panties in a knot ? If reviewers say there is a difference then don't admonish it until you have auditioned them and not on here say. Have a nice day everyone.
La voix de la raison

 

[Anonymous]

If it works for you fine I just can't rationalise the engineering behind them.

 

[shooter]

6th.replicant:La voix de la raison

Indeed 6th, la voix de la raison, but the fact the Beaks have a 0.5db attenuation in the treble output relates no audible difference for human kind.

Check out a decibel chart and you will find a 1db increase has an imperceptible change, so imagine 0.5db.

Yes there may be an measured difference with equipment (i'm still struggling with that) but for us as the listener, we hear nothing.

 

[6th.replicant]

shooter69:6th.replicant:La voix de la raison

Indeed 6th, la voix de la raison, but the fact the Beaks have a 0.5db attenuation in the treble output relates no audible difference for human kind.

Check out a decibel chart and you will find a 1db increase has an imperceptible change, so imagine 0.5db.

Yes there may be an measured difference with equipment (i'm still struggling with that) but for us as the listener, we hear nothing.
Thanks for clarifying the science

All I can say is that when I use this piece of music (Fournier's version), for example, as a demo, with the Beaks the soundstage 'grows' slightly; there's a tad more overall clarity; and during the staccato 'strikes' of the C(?)-string, the bass has a wee bit more depth and focus.

Worth a demo?

From Audio Destination's site:

"The Totem Acoustic Beak is an optional tuning pod for any loudspeaker.

From a distance it looks like a bullet casing.

If you look underneath the Totem Beak you will see that it is partly hollow, but only partly.

That isn't all, the upper two-thirds of its surface is ridged with a series of tiny lines.

Nothing has been left to chance, computer simulations were carried out to predict the results with a particular shape,ridges of a particular depth and spacing, and a inner cut-out of exactly that form.

The Beak was developed to control parasitic resonance's on top of the speaker cabinets, resonance's that interfere with the proper lobbing action of the tweeter.

The small chamber underneath the Totem Beak actually absorbs and traps the resonance's.

As for the lines and the carefully-sculpted form, they help the intergration of the stereo image, strengthening the holographic depth that are a hallmark of Totem speakers.

Try 2 Beaks on top of each loudspeaker to hear greater vocal projection and wider sound stage resulting in a far more musical presentation.

Sound hard to believe?

We thought so too but try some and you will be as surprised as we were."

 

[Singslinger]

Although I'm a sceptic, I'd agree with you - Totem are not a fly-by-night outfit, so maybe they really have something worthwhile with those beaks.

 

[shooter]

Okay, okay i'm persuaded.

Upon the Mani!

 

[jaxwired]

Listening as the sole method to detect sound quality improvements is unreliable. That's a big problem with this hobby. I prefer to include common sense, scientific measurements, AND listening. Some people like to rely solely on listening. Those people own a lot of dubious products and spend a lot of money on those products. The totem beaks fail the common sense portion of my test. And it's not a close call. They fall into the lowest category of believability as they are not in the signal path.

 

[6th.replicant]

jaxwired:Listening as the sole method to detect sound quality improvements is unreliable. ...

 

[jaxwired]

6th.replicant:jaxwired:Listening as the sole method to detect sound quality improvements is unreliable. ...

You're not giving me much to work with here, but I'll pick a fight with you anyway

My statement is, unfortunately, all too true. Now, of course, listening is by far our best assessment tool, but people seem to think listening is as reliable and accurate as an oscilloscope. It's not even close. People are easily fooled into believing sound quality has changed. Additionally, I know of zero published double blind studies where audiophiles were vindicated. The audiophiles always come away making a myriad of charges regarding the validity of the test to justify their failed attempts to prove their ability to "hear" equipment differences. And there's a reason there are so many contraversial products in this hobby. It's because the snake oil pushers know full well many can be fooled and often high prices work best for snake oil. Expense lends credibility to snake oil. I mean, who'd buy cheap plastic cable elevators for $2 a dozen? Nobody. But charge $300 for a pack of ten and now you've really got something special. Charge $3000 and it takes on an even more respectable air.