Totem Kin Play In-Depth Review - Now I Know Why My Audiophile Friends Like Totem!
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- Totem Kin Play In-Depth Review. These have one of the oddest frequency responses I’ve measured. The exact opposite of what I usually go for…BUT I somehow like them! Good job Totem Acoustic on these active bookshelf speakers.
Disclosure: These were sent to me free for review by someone at Totem Acoustic.
Link to buy the Totem Kin Play Active Bookshelf Speakers: bit.ly/totemkin...
My Hearing Test Video: • How Old is Your Hearin...
Thomas and Stereo’s review of the Totem Kin Play comparing them to the KEF LSX: • Totem Kinplay speaker ...
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Haha, it's so cool you integrated the Q&A session into the actual review video. Thanks for the exposure, appreciate it!
It was last minute. So it turned out to be more enjoyable for me that way. Thanks for joining the Q&A.
This is why I like your channel so much is the fact that you do measurements on speakers not many other people do that keep up the good work Joe
Thank you Tim!
I love Totem's, not for being a very audiophile speaker where you're sitting in a sweet spot and listening by yourself, but for sharing a high quality experience with your friends.
Interesting you say that. They did have a wide sweet spot so they would be good for that.
What l have always liked about Totems was their high quality dispersion and imaging. The owner of the company was also very informative and engaging.
I am watching this video while listening to a set of Totem Acoustics Model 1 that are 25 years old . They were expensive back then at 2000 euro's for the pair , but boy they still sound excellent with a deep bottom end that makes you think you're listening to a mature tower , not a 5 inch woofer in a small book shelf . Specs are great : a high end Seas metal dome 28 mm tweeter further tuned by Totem and a 5 inch Dynaudio woofer with a 3 inch (sic!) voice coil . Max SPL is 103 dB ! . X-over uses only air coils and film caps . The interior of the cabinet is covered with the same material as used in the space shuttle heat tiles . Imaging however is OK but if I switch to my omni's , the (positive) difference is immediately noticeable . I do understand why audiophile magazines in the 90's were raving about these when they released this . They are really revealing , detailed , analytic yet do not cause any fatigue and are completely neutral and balanced . You can listen to these for hours
Over 15 years ago I went to I think 5 speciality audio shops in the south New Jersey area to listen to a bunch of speakers. B&W, Kef, and Totem I specifically remember being in my list and ones I wanted to hear. At the time I really wasn't wowed by the Kef, they were good but didn't feel they warranted the hype they had received online "at the time". The B&W shop I went to was super high end with amazing individual listening rooms and was quite the experience. Everything driven by the most expensive stuff around. Where I was able to see totem's was at a very strange building, didn't look like a hifi shop. But once you got in they had soooo much stuff. Was immediately drawn to the totem thin and talk towers. I remember a tower with a ton of woofers, basically no space to the sides or even above and below. Looked like just a massive speaker made of small woofers. Everything was high quality wood. Listened to the bookshelves as well. I was impressed. Been surprised that I don't see Totem much in the RUclips world today because I really would have thought they'd blow up by now.
Lol “necessity” pointing to your kid 😂😂 i feel you man
Hi Joe, Excellent review. If you push the button above the volume buttons, it will return it to flat.
at the 8:00minute mark your evaluations and reviews are coupled with real viable measurements. you are the man for this, your reviews actually mean something because of this. good job mister you nailed it good job.
Thank you bossman!
Totem also has a lot of tiny thin tower speakers that have incredible sound for their size. Really surprised me.
So cool that you review products outside of the "mainstream." I heard a pair of Totem Dream Catchers years ago and was very impressed. Keep up the good work Joe!
Edifier S3000 Pro are the end game wireless powered speakers on the market, with usb, coaxial, optical input DAC, BT 5.0, DSP, balanced & unbalanced analog inputs for $950 a pair with matching stands, or $800 for the speakers with no stands.
I would like to try those and the Air Pulse.
@@joentell I haven't heard the Air Pulse, but they do spec out with less power, which to me means less headroom & dynamic range. A physical side by side listening/measuring comparison has not been done of the two that I'm aware of.
I used to buy into break in times but I've moved over to the camp of thinking it's more of the listener becoming acclimatized to the speakers than it is the speaker smoothing out over time...The only break in I've noticed with speakers is for a few minutes right after taking them out of the box. One of the reasons why I think break in is a myth is simply that if 100 hours is going to degrade and loosen the material enough to make a sonic difference to your own ear, than why would 200-300 hours not continue to have the same effect.
Hey Joe! Just letting you know from last nights stream when we talked about Spotify vs. TIDAL - Dude. OMG. I just upgraded to TIDAL's 'HiFi' subscription, and the difference is *jaw dropping.* Spotify sounds like a tin can in comparison (K, not quite that steep, but uh... you couldn't pay me to go back).
It seems to have all the same artists I listen to, as well. 8 years of Spotify I'll never get back :(
plays bass mechanic through high end speakers .... (instantly becomes my favorite reviewer)
😂 The fact that you know the track and your comment makes this my favorite comment! 👊😎
@@joentell Bass Mechanic was my punishment guilty pleasure track back in the day. Bass Mekanik and DJ Billy E, among others are still making woofer test tracks.
Love the depth of your reviews. I won a set of Totem Mites a few years back. I love their sound. For a small speaker they do get loud. They also have very good imaging.
Guarantee that HF peak is engineered in. Standard practice for extra zing.
Cool video, especially the fact that this was based off of what was said in the live stream! Speaking of Klipsch, are you planing on making a review on a pair of Klipsch RP-600M Reference Premiere Bookshelf Speakers? I have heard many people talk praise about them, and I am looking forward to hear your opinion on them.
My buddy @technodad ordered some just for few of us to review. He seemed impressed with them last time I talked with him.
I dunno how you measure below 200 Hz in a normal room , but you can only do that kind of reliable if you hold the mic very close to the woofer , like a few inches at most and even then the result is not completely accurate . To really measure low bass respons acurately , you have two options : 1) rent a dedicated sound dead room or 2) find a place outside far away from traffic and other noise and measure the speaker lifted a few yards from the ground . Ofcourse , room gain will always come into play at low freq's and a speaker that rolls off at 6 db per octave from say 60 Hz can sound very deep , reproducing 30 Hz easily once that room gain is added
Would be interesting to hear your option on the Q active 200 - they're not bass heavy so probably not your listening style, but still, a very interesting powered speaker...
I could not see the graph last night when you were live. the more speakers you listen to and measure the more you will find that that is an excellent graph, pretty damn flat. You could have said more about how they sound to you, did you hear things in well-known music that you hadn't noticed before? I very much liked the b-roll additions to your video, thank you for your time!
I did forget to mention that. The mid-range is surprising flat. I like that and I should've mentioned that. Things slip by me and I don't notice till later sometimes.
Def nice getting some ACTIVE speakers in the mix!
Yessir
ur assumption of the reason for the bass response seems quite insightful. would u be able to do some tests, with the mic at listening position, and do some sine sweeps of the bass-midbass range, with the speaker at various distances away from the front wall? u can see what the differences are from the listeners point of reference
I was considering doing some measurements with the Totem Kin Plays closer and further from the wall to show the difference but the problem is it's room dependent. So it will depend on how large the room is and how much leakage there is in the room. But just to give you an idea, the Vanatoo Transparent One Encore's I reviewed come in "shelved mode" by default where there's a -4dB decrease in bass starting somewhere around 150hz if I remember correctly. This is to compensate for the speaker being placed close to a wall.
From reading in forums, the room or boundary gain you get is somewhere between 4-6dB on average (possibly up to 12dB in some cases) from 20hz all the way up to 200hz depending on the room size and how sealed it is.
@@joentell hmmn. i have a door that opens exactly behind onto my pc chair. the speakers are about 3 feet away from the chair at head height. when the door closes, the next wall surface is about 10 feet behind the chair.
sometimes the door swings, between open and closed, and while transitioning, u hear the sound change from a congested sound to an airy sound.
u dont notice any thing wrong with the sound in either open or closed position i.e. if stationary. only while the door moves, does ur brain perceive a difference. i was kinda hoping if a graph might have been able to show that in a visible way.
@@sMASHsound If you don't need crazy precision, there are some good RTA phone apps that can show you the change
The remote looks like it's sofa fodder. Once lost never found. Thomas n Stereo also likes these a believes that they are well worth considering if looking at the KEF LS50W, but obviously spending less.
Actually, if someone is looking for a LS50W, then they should just get that one because it is better than the Kinplay. At more than double the price, I am not surprised. If someone is looking at the KEF LSX, now, he should also audition the Kinplay.
Dear Joe, I asked this question to Thomas too but unfortunalety he send this speakers back already. As I am waiting for your review on the Kanto Tuks and they are the same kind if active, there is a question on this kind of going active with one active unit and one being passive. How does this pair especially the passive speaker sound with another cable than the one that is included? Can this really be a symmetrical pair of a stereo sound? Can a pair with one speaker being active itself and the other being differently really sound exactly the same over both channels? And is this only possible with the cable which the manufacturer tested and ships it with? I asked Mr. Vince Bruzzese at the Munich HighEnd Fair and he said the signal travels with the speed of light from the master to the slave.
What I often hear e.g. on the LS50W versus the LS50 and the Focus 20XD versus Focus 160 is that the active pair sounds better no matter witch amp you pair the passives with (unless you have a special taste towards the soundcharacteristics of an amp). If „amp-inside“ sounds better than „amp-outside“ than there is a difference. One could buy two pairs and take both passive units and make them a pair against both active units as a pair too. To sum it up my main question is: Does the cable change something here like it almost always does? Kind regards from Munich
I am not a big believer that exotic cables improve the sound. I think it may be possible for them to change the sound, but it has yet to be proven that it is for the better.
I think there are other factors that can cause the passive side sound different from the side with the amplifier. Mainly, a lot of times there is a difference in the internal volume of the external volume is the same since one has a plate amp with numerous components and the other doesn't. Sometimes manufacturers account for that difference in volume by placing something that's similar in volume to the plate amplifier.
There are many factors that are much more likely to affect the sound than cables (if you believe they improve the sound at all.) Your example of active speakers vs their passive counterparts. If the cables mattered so much, then the passives would have a better chance of sounding more "balanced" because you could use the same cables with the same lengths for both speakers.
The truth is, that LS50W's can sound better than the LS50's because they can take advantage of active crossovers and DSP.
Hope that helps.
Thank you for pointing out that cables can change the sound and that it depends on individual taste if this change sounds better or not. The fact that cables can change the sound of a speaker tell me not to change the included cable, wheter I buy the KinPlay or Tuk. I am sure measurements are made with their own cable. I will definitely give the Kanto Tuks a chance as they are beautiful and get the full WAF-Score together with my former white satin Elac UB5‘s
@@DigitalPhilosophers my point was that if I had to place cables in order of importance when designing a system, it would be very close to the bottom. So many other factors make so much more of a difference, that I would say, don't even worry about the cable. Concern yourself with things such as placement and room acoustics.
Kanto Tuk vs the Totem Kin Play? Your opinion?
I love imaging and soundstage and I’ve heard Kin can give a very holographic sound.
Paired with my Rel T5/x sub, think these would be killer.
Something else. Lots of new speakers I've reviewed since that I think are better than both. Check out my leaderboard bit.ly/SpeakerLeaderboard
I just inherited a high-end 1970s receiver, and am being told I need Totem speakers.
Its very common to run a little less mid or treble, as our ears are more sensitive to these frequencies.
Hey I love your video. I have a question, what do you think about Dynaudio Emit M30 sound?
Thanks before =)
I haven't gotten a chance to listen to those. I actually haven't reviewed any Dynaudio product. 🤞
Dynaudio Emit M30= $1500 are great, as are all Dynaudio Speakers.
@@gregd7842 im loving my dynaudio A50s but i have never listened to higher end/newer dynaudio
"Barely hear" for f10 is a bit overstated. It's half the perceived volume, which if it's present in the program material at significant levels you'll still hear, but if it's an 808 and the track has it at equal volume playing first at the f3 and then at the f10 frequencies, the second note will sound "weak," but very far from "barely hear." So there's my dissertation on your two word comment lmao. Actually PS - if you look at some older school designs, like the LSR6332, f3 is 54 Hz, f10 is 35 Hz, and the actual port tuning is 33 Hz, which shows their goal was to represent very low frequency content audibly rather than sacrifice that to stay flat a few Hz lower, like to 49 Hz or whatever it may be.
I always thought totems were like studio monitors with a small soundstage. I've never heard them. I need some high end speakers for my office.
Very interested in these... Did you do any measurements in a desktop set up, 12" from wall? Hoping for better bass response.
I really enjoyed the review!
I'm glad!
I simply don't understand why any speaker with a sub out wouldn't automatically include a high pass to the speakers, especially in this price range. Is there a reason, other than manufacturing cost, this isn't standard in the industry?
Not gonna lie but you have some real good video production skills!
I'm fine with an f10 being quoted so long as it's at 20hz. :)
Yeah me too! As long as F10 is 0hz 😂😂😂
i would like to see a Energy Speakers Veritas line review or any from the Canadian designed brand
Totem used to make use of dynaudio drivers. I liked the forest.
Joe
which would you go with between a few of them you review
Totems kin mini to Kali
Check my speaker leaderboard. speakerleaderboard.com
Awesome
Isn't that narrow very high frequency peak caused by the metal dome tweeter's "oil can resonance"?
I doubt they would allow cone breakup within the human hearing range. That would be an amateur move.
Very nice video Joe
BTW don't worry about your descriptive word age. You do what you do very well indeed. It's how we non-reviewers do this. We like it so keep on keeping on my friend as you are very relevant.
Thank you Paul! I appreciate what you have to say.
Would you happen to know of you can program a TV remote to operate these speakers?
Sorry, I don't remember
Looking at how highly u rate the Wharfedale Dentons, do review the Wharfedale LINTON and see how it ranks
I wish they would send it to me. I did listen to them for a good while. Did you see my video of them from Axpona? I know they would probably be a the top if they sound anything like the Denton 85th's.
How would you compare these to the Kanto Tuk since they are fairly close in price?
I reviewed the Kanto TUK also. Check out that review
Have a question in regards to these speakers, which I'm hoping someone who owns them can give me a hand. When listening to spotify threw bluetooth, and I'm transitioning from one song to the next, the speakers make this faint morse code sound. It only happens when I'm going from one song to the next, but otherwise sounds perfect during full song play. Is this normal? Is being caused, because I'm going threw bluetooth?
I don't remember hearing that sound. Unfortunately, I don't have those anymore.
will you test jbl305 ? thanks
woofer looks like a oem version of a Wavecor WF152
hey Joe just wondering does your testing be influenced by your rooms coloration ?
It definitely is affected. The point in doing measurements is not to give an absolute measurements, but a relative measurement to give you an idea what I heard in my room. I will upload a sound demo where you can hear a source file compared to it played through the test speaker and recorded with a calibrated mic. It's all there to give you perspective.
Joe N Tell Got ya , I been audiophile for 31 years Joe and I really like how you can measure speakers sound signature pretty awesome man ! but theirs so many different formulas that influence a speaker sound signature it's crazy ! When I started to review speakers on the audio channel I started I told myself I'm not going to use just one integrated amp to make all my reviews and ear opion on the sound quality of speakers like I've seen some reviewers do so I've bought 6 different power amps from 2 channel receivers/Intergrateds/Separates I bought bright neutral and warm sounding systems that way I could give a more accurate over all review of the sound signature and I also have bright neatural warm sounding speakers also to review different Amplifiers to me it's all about finding that (SYNERGY) on a limited budget !! Thanks again Joe enjoy the knowelege in audio that you bring to many of us Audionuts!! LOL
Dang it didn't mean to write you a book !!
I think B&W has the same high end bump. Who buys expensive stuff? Old people. We need hearing aids built into the speaker.
I'm not old, in my 40's and my audio system is more expensive than my car.
Question: would these be a better alternative to a sound bar? (Music and TV)
If you can do these, it's not contest. Not even close. I would pick these every time.
@@joentell thanks. I see a big upside with music but do you lose out a bit watching TV/movies without a centre channel and Dolby Atmos / Dts x capabilities??
@@scotbarlow213 with correct placement, you will get a strong phantom center image.
@@joentell thank you! Have you reviewed the Kanto SYD ?
@@scotbarlow213 I have not
Why did you disable comments for the ear thing
Because I would get a crazy amount of notifications with people saying "I'm 32 and I scored 32" and stuff like that! 😂 There was no way to just turn off notifications for that one video.
@Joe N Tell Do you have a discount code?
Let me check and get back to you
@@joentellTell thanks bro your the best! ;-)
do you think the Kanto is better for the living room or stay with the Totem Kim Play?
These Totem Kin Play or the Kanto Tuk? They're the same price.
I've reviewed the TUK also. All ranked here on my Speaker Leaderboard bit.ly/SpeakerLeaderboard
These are $1300 now
Good for movies?
Depends on the room size, but I would say yes! If you need a sub, you can always add on to this
@@joentell Not a big room........good to know! Thanks
Plastic woofer, metal dome, class D active over wireless...15lbs...$1000. Good? You’re not an audiophile, just a RUclipsr.
How's life under the bridge? Must be where you got your audio experience and education, too.
B gone troll ! Plenty of other manufacturers use the same materials.
Minus the insults at the end, the points he is mentioning are valid.
MOST of audiophile quality isn't going to be at Best Buy. Sorry. Could be why they CALL it Best Buy!
My upcoming video involves Best Buy and ours includes a Magnolia Design Center. They have Bowers and Wilkins 802D's and other pretty nice stuff.
radiotvphononut calls them worst buy
i had to stop the vid at 1:37 and make this comment.... to all Audiophile people out there... please be advised........ break in time for speakers....... MYHTH!!!! NO SUCH THING IS POSSIBLE........ once a substantial song is played on a speaker ....;.. it is " BROKEN IN" so enough of this nonsense of 50 - 100 hours/...... its a bunch of BS> 5 min max is all thats needed for a speaker to ADJUST for maximum output... so stop saying this snake oil comments... Like a 30, 000 speaker line is actually preforming better than my 40 dollar cable is nonsense.
Are you talking AT ME? You must not have watched my speaker burn-in video or you wouldn't be saying these things to me. Go and watch that first, then come back and talk to me. For your convenience: ruclips.net/video/Vw1B79LSXAo/видео.html
Your answer about the comparison to the Miccas was really poor, "loud" isn't a sound quality.
The question was, how do they compare sound quality vs cost to the Miccas, are they 10 times better? And your answer was "they are louder" c'mon dude you're reviewing audio gear you need to learn to describe sound quality.
Sensitivity aka efficiency or loudness, is an important spec. You want to listen to a perfectly flat 20hz-20khz speaker at 60db max, that's on you. 😂😂😂
@@joentell
We can all find specs, we don't need anybody to read specs to us.
The question was how do they sound compared to the Miccas, are they 10x better.
Saying they play louder doesn't answer the question.