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Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater. |
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Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater. |
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First, some housekeeping. In our last segment, we talked about the cold and often turbulent waters surrounding San Francisco. It's not really practical, just to step in that water. You either avoid it all together, or jump right in.
Here, we were on a winter weekend trip to Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur. The overcast skies and shorter days tricked us, and we were not properly prepared for the beach. The beach is flat, and the water lapping the shore is only inches deep. Mentally, you think you can just dip your toes, without getting get. Wrong. The water moves. Whether you stand still, or pick up your feet, the water splashes. The girl in the middle had the longest skirt, so her two friends tried to help, by lifting the skirt above the splashing water. Said water ran up everyone's legs, and all skirts (I was wearing shorts) got a bit wet.
When I got married in September 2003, my wife's two nieces, then 14 and 16, were bridesmaids. The former had just entered my alma mater, Lowell High. The latter was a junior at Galileo. Thus, both nieces were in that minority, who were bridesmaids, before they were prom dates.
The nieces were paired up with two guys who were in their late-20s. The groomsmen took good care of the nieces, which prepared them well for prom. While taking photographs, we listened to a lot of 80s music. But while taking a break at the Legion Of Honor, the nieces chose Melanie C's (aka Sporty Spice) "On The Horizon," which was new to the groomsmen.
After I got married, our house needed to be rebuilt, which was going to take a year. During that time, we rented a 1-bedroom apartment, where we needed a temporary stereo system. I cobbled together various electronics and cables. For speakers, I bought the Totem Arro, in special-order "white ash." My wife dubbed the Arro "toothpicks." Among the worst features of the Arro was the awful "stair step" binding posts.
When reviewing a product, I like to go step by step. But in the case of the Totem Sky, let us take a sidestep, and cover what I think is its worst negative. Sigh, like the Arro, the Sky features the same godawful "stair step" bi-wire binding posts.
Take a small knife, and carefully remove the black and red plastic plugs. Doing so will reveal the holes, for you to insert banana plugs. Your next step might be to remove the mirror-imaged and reversible straps.
In order to Cook these bi-wire straps, you will have to (a) identify/mark/indicate which end is which; (b) attach them to the Cooker's top binding posts; and (c) run a wire from each strap, to the corresponding bottom binding post. On the Totem Sky, if you use a standard stereo speaker cable pair + jumper, you will have to experiment. In some systems, you may like the speaker cable going to the Sky's tweeter. In other systems, you may prefer the speaker cable going to the Sky's woofer.
The problem with these posts is that the threaded shaft requires a spade lug, which is at least 9mm wide. Most spades are narrower than that, and thus, will not fit around the binding posts' threaded shaft.
If your speaker cable uses spades, your best bet might be to stick one leg through the shaft's center hole.
Another negative is that the hole for banana plugs is shallow. Moreover, if you use a speaker cable with bananas, it will approach from the top. On a standmounted speaker, such as the Sky, that angle is awkward, and can place strain on the cable, its leads, and/or the bananas.
Even after you Cook the included straps, they still sound bad and/or lose resolution. Many users will then experiment with after-market bi-wire jumpers. With the stair-step layout and positioning of the binding posts, you will have to (a) choose connectors wisely, and (b) bend and route the jumpers carefully.
That Totem Arro in "white ash?" When my college roommate got married, I was his best man. I gave the Arro to him, and he and his wife still enjoy it. With or without its box, the Totem Sky (each speaker measures 12"H x 6.35"W x 9"D) is easily transportable. If not for COVID, we'd do a side-by-side comparison of the Arro and Sky.
-Lummy The Loch Monster
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Topic - Totem Sky, Part 2 - Luminator 22:21:38 02/3/21 (1)
- Some good practical advice re the speakers (NT) - Joe Appierto 04:32:05 02/5/21 (0)
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