Totem floorstander to PMC standmount?

[Ric969]

I'm planning on changing my Totem Arro small floorstanders to a standmount and the one I'm looking at is PMC Twenty 21.

On the face of it it sounds a bit strange but hear me out.

My system consists of Rega Elicit amp, Rega Saturn and Rega DAC. I've had the Totem Arros for nearly a year and recently added a REL T5 subwoofer as I'm happy with the Totems but wanted a slightly more filled out sound which the sub has now given me.

I've recently bought a new rack which is oak and now my Totems don't look right as they're mahogany and most of my living room furniture is oak. This got me looking at possible new speakers (any excuse) and now that I have the subwoofer, I'm also looking at standmounts in either black gloss to match my Rega equipment and REL sub or oak to match the rack.

I don't want to spend much and looked at trading in my Totems, I phoned a few hifi shops, initially thinking of buying some Kef LS50s after reading some great reviews. I was told that as good as the Kefs are for the money, my Totem Arro are possibly a better speaker and to look at something like PMC instead which would be an improvement on the Arros. I was told the PMC Twenty 23 floorstander would be a good choice as it would give me everything the Arro could but more dynamics, texture and musicality.

However, the PMC floorstanders are bigger than my Arros and after living with the diminutive Arros, I'm not keen on anything bigger which got me looking at small standmounters. Now I'm thinking of going for the little Twenty 21 standmounter instead of the PMC floorstander which uses the same driver units as its bigger brother, is a lot cheaper even with the stands and would not look so imposing in my living room. Plus I would be able to keep the REL sub to fill in the for the lack of lower end.

So could the little PMC Twenty 21 with the REL sub be just what I'm after? And would it be an improvement on the Arro?

 

[Al ears]

I'm planning on changing my Totem Arro small floorstanders to a standmount and the one I'm looking at is PMC Twenty 21.

On the face of it it sounds a bit strange but hear me out.

My system consists of Rega Elicit amp, Rega Saturn and Rega DAC. I've had the Totem Arros for nearly a year and recently added a REL T5 subwoofer as I'm happy with the Totems but wanted a slightly more filled out sound which the sub has now given me.

I've recently bought a new rack which is oak and now my Totems don't look right as they're mahogany and most of my living room furniture is oak. This got me looking at possible new speakers (any excuse) and now that I have the subwoofer, I'm also looking at standmounts in either black gloss to match my Rega equipment and REL sub or oak to match the rack.

I don't want to spend much and looked at trading in my Totems, I phoned a few hifi shops, initially thinking of buying some Kef LS50s after reading some great reviews. I was told that as good as the Kefs are for the money, my Totem Arro are possibly a better speaker and to look at something like PMC instead which would be an improvement on the Arros. I was told the PMC Twenty 23 floorstander would be a good choice as it would give me everything the Arro could but more dynamics, texture and musicality.

However, the PMC floorstanders are bigger than my Arros and after living with the diminutive Arros, I'm not keen on anything bigger which got me looking at small standmounters. Now I'm thinking of going for the little Twenty 21 standmounter instead of the PMC floorstander which uses the same driver units as its bigger brother, is a lot cheaper even with the stands and would not look so imposing in my living room. Plus I would be able to keep the REL sub to fill in the for the lack of lower end.

So could the little PMC Twenty 21 with the REL sub be just what I'm after? And would it be an improvement on the Arro?

I, and I am pretty sure, others, could not answer this question (cannot be many if any on this forum that have gone the route you are thinking of taking.) Agree standmounters would not look so imposing but they take up about the same floor space when you take stand into account. Personally I think the integration of a REL sub (or any sub for that matter) with the Twenty 21's would be a mistake for a stereo system.

I can only suggest you find somewhere that will be able to let you have a pair for home audition.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

I doubt the rel would be as agile as the twenty 21 in the bass department,which in turn would probably remove the excitement from the little pmc's.I used to have m/a silver rx6 and I don't really miss the extra bass from the floorstanders.If you can get the twenties close to the wall,the bass response is great for the size of the small cabinet.But it's the mids and highs where the twenty 21 excell imo the sonolex tweeter is fantastic.Also standmounts tend to dig out that bit more detail against floorstanders £ for £.I very much doubt I'd go back to a f/s but if you got a large room the twenty 21 's will be found wanting and you might want to consider the 22's.But at that price your as well with the 23's.I wouldn't worry about the foot print . it's all the same at the end of the day,whether it's standmounts or floor standing speakers they all take the same amount of space.BTW,I think the twenty 21 are excellent and in the diamond black (which I have)they are the finest looking(and sounding) speakers I've ever owned.

 

[plastic penguin]

Although I have experience of the Totems and love them, I have little knowledge about your amp. That said I did hear it briefly with Twenty 23 and it sounded exciting, however...

I would guess the 21s wouldn't give you a big enough sound. Purely because of the internal cabinet size, floorstanders, even the little Arros will give you a bigger bang for your bucks. Have to confess, though, the only real downside to the Arros is when the amp is really cranked up they can start to sweat a little. But in terms of stereo imaging I'm struggling to think of a better speaker than the Arros... at any price. Totem tend to specialize in this area.

As I own the older PMC TB2i, these are mightily impressive but do need a fair bit of breathing space to work at their best.

Have you tried Rega's own speakers?

 

[Ric969]

Yes I have tried Rega speakers, I had the Rega Rs3 before the Totem Arro. I prefer the Totems, they sound more musical, are surprisingly a better fit with my system and look much nicer too.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

I think you already have the speakers your looking for within your system and maybe just a case of change for changes sake.I have no experience of the totems,but I've read nothing but positive feedback about them.As others have already mentioned the arros will go deeper than the pmc's and I wouldn't recommend a sub other than pmc's own which would,I'm sure integrate well with the 21's.....but the price is around the same as a pair of 23's.But hey the rel might work fine,It'd be an expensive gamble, unless you can get a home dem of the 21's and try it out.I wouldn't mind hearing the 21's on the end of that rega amp,I'm inclined to think it would sound very good indeed.

 

[Ric969]

I think you already have the speakers your looking for within your system and maybe just a case of change for changes sake.I have no experience of the totems,but I've read nothing but positive feedback about them.As others have already mentioned the arros will go deeper than the pmc's and I wouldn't recommend a sub other than pmc's own which would,I'm sure integrate well with the 21's.....but the price is around the same as a pair of 23's.But hey the rel might work fine,It'd be an expensive gamble, unless you can get a home dem of the 21's and try it out.I wouldn't mind hearing the 21's on the end of that rega amp,I'm inclined to think it would sound very good indeed.

Thanks Mark, yes I think it's partly true about change for change's sake as I could live with the Totems but the mahogany colour as nice as it is doesn't match my oak funiture. As to the Totem's sound, they do most things very well but I think I need more of an all-rounder, the Totems are wonderful with acoustic material but not at their best with rock for example which was the main reason I added the Rel sub. The PMCs by all accounts are great with any type of music.

 

[CnoEvil]

What constitutes a better speaker? I prefer to think of a preferable speaker...ie One that you subjectively prefer. This means that you should not rule out speakers until you've heard them.

I have yet to hear a Totem that I've liked, so would take the LS50s....remember, you can't choose hifi with other people's ears.

IMO Rega works well with Kef R Series/LS50s.

 

[Ric969]

What constitutes a better speaker? I prefer to think of a preferable speaker...ie One that you subjectively prefer. This means that you should not rule out speakers until you've heard them.

I have yet to hear a Totem that I've liked, so would take the LS50s....remember, you can't choose hifi with other people's ears.

IMO Rega works well with Kef R Series/LS50s.

Thanks, I agree with all that you say. The Kef LS50s are the ones I initally had in mind as I noticed that Chord cables have a Rega / Kef set up on their site. My cables are all chord:

http://www.chord.co.uk/help-and-information/demo-room/

 

[plastic penguin]

What constitutes a better speaker? I prefer to think of a preferable speaker...ie One that you subjectively prefer. This means that you should not rule out speakers until you've heard them.

I have yet to hear a Totem that I've liked, so would take the LS50s....remember, you can't choose hifi with other people's ears.

IMO Rega works well with Kef R Series/LS50s.

Thanks, I agree with all that you say. The Kef LS50s are the ones I initally had in mind as I noticed that Chord cables have a Rega / Kef set up on their site. My cables are all chord:

http://www.chord.co.uk/help-and-information/demo-room/

Chord also makes cables for Leema. Based on that analogy, why not try Leema Xones? Like the Totems a very compact floorstander. Very pretty speaker to boot.

 

[Ric969]

They do look nice but I think I'm going to go with standmounters to go with the Rel sub. I think the Totem Arros are so small and narrow they're not really like normal floorstanders, they are like a mini-monitor but without the need for stands!

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

Why not ask your dealer for a home dem of the 21's,even if you have to take along the arros as some sort of security if he is unfamiliar with you.it wouldn't hurt to try before you take the plunge.Also you haven't mentioned room size and whether the rega amp is smooth or a bit excitable.

 

[Ric969]

Why not ask your dealer for a home dem of the 21's,even if you have to take along the arros as some sort of security if he is unfamiliar with you.it wouldn't hurt to try before you take the plunge.Also you haven't mentioned room size and whether the rega amp is smooth or a bit excitable.

My room is approximately 3.8 x 3.7 m, the Elicit amp is 82 watts, nice bass, neutral if a little lean sounding, certainly compared to the Mira amp it replaced.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

Well they'll fill that room no probs(mine is 4.9x3.7) with punchy,authoritative bass (providing they are around 15-25 cm's from a wall)it is amazing the difference a wall makes with the 21's.I had mine sited in front of a window,comming just above the cill,25 cm from the window and they were very lean sounding,to say I was disappointed was an understatement.I have since rearranged my room and put the speakers about 20 cm's out from a solid wall and it's as though I'm listening to an entirely different set.the difference is huge,in a good way.

 

[Ric969]

Thanks Mark, that's good to know.