The year was 1989.

As the globe celebrated the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the audiophile world felt a shockwave of its own when a young Canadian company introduced the first compact loudspeaker that was able to challenge the long standing doctrine of it requiring a refrigerator sized transducer to produce true high end sound.  The appropriately named ‘Model 1’ quickly rendered old notions obsolete as it garnered admiration not only for its sonic attributes, but for its ability to reproduce dynamic range that was previously unheard of from a speaker of such diminutive proportions. It was the speaker that broke new ground for compact monitors. Moreover, it was the speaker that put Vince Bruzzese’s Totem Acoustic on the map.

Today, Totem Acoustic is a fully mature company with a hefty portfolio of products that are distributed all over the world. While the scale and economy of Totem Acoustic has seen significant change since its birth in 1987, the tradition of delivering great sound from a small footprint is alive and well. It is a tradition that started with the Model 1. So when it came time for Totem Acoustic to celebrate its 20^th year in the business, it only seemed fitting to pay special homage to the Model 1 by retrofitting the design and offering it in a Limited Edition run. And so ‘The One’ was born.

 

The Good:  Throws out an enveloping soundstage ;  Incredible off-axis performance ;  Possess very articulate treble ;  Great midrange clarity ;  Lightning fast bass ;  Sounds great at both low and high listening volumes ;  Stunning dynamics ; Exceptional recreation of tone/timbre  ; Great aesthetics  ; Feature carefully matched internal components.

 

The Bad: Extremely fussy with regards to room placement and equipment matching ; Can sound thin in the lower treble / upper midrange when matched with the wrong type of gear ; Tend to sound their best when not placed on metal stands ; Should be used in only small to medium sized rooms.

 

The Bottom Line: ‘The One’s are fantastic little speakers that could be the perfect solution for the music lover who is tight on square footage.  While the The One’s are not the easiest speakers to work with, listeners who take the time to dial them in properly will be rewarded with great performance.

 

Specifications: $3,595 USD

 

Cabinet: 3 layers of MDF with lock-mitred joint bracing and internal borosilicate damping
Tweeter: 1 inch chambered aluminum dome
Mid-bass driver: 5.5 inch cone
Frequency response: 50 - 20.000Hz +/- 3db
Sensitivity: 87dB
Impedance: 4 ohms nominal

Cabinet dimensions (WxHxD): 12.5 x 6.5 x 9" / 313 x 167 x 227 mm
Weight (per speaker): 4.1 kg (approx. 9 lb)

 

 

THE REVIEW

 

It is often said that twenty years is when you go full circle in this business. For Totem Acoustic, The One completes that circle. It is a piece meant to showcase what Totem has learned throughout its two decades of designing and building loudspeakers.  Subsequently, a lot of time and effort was invested into making sure that the performance of The One’s would stand as a statement in what a reasonably priced set of mini-monitors are capable of.

Still, the one thing most Totem owners will want to know is, “How does The One better the Model 1 Signature”? It’s a good question, and according to Vince, The One offers advantages in terms of superior off axis imaging along with the ability to play deeper, louder, and cleaner than the Model 1 Signature. The One is also designed to deliver a much smoother top end with better articulation as well as featuring better driver integration, a quieter back-round, better dynamics, better measured linearity, and improved tonal qualities. Perhaps the biggest improvement comes in the form of The One’s ability to replicate a recording more accurately. These speakers were built to be able to adjust their tonal perspective from a laid back presentation to a forward one, hinging largely on the recording itself. So just how did Vince go about attaining these results from what on the surface appears to be nothing more than an updated loudspeaker with a special finish?

The Art of Precision

One of the major challenges that Vince and his team faced during the development of The One was figuring out how to substantially improve upon a design that has already been tweaked and overhauled over the course of twenty years. In order to take the Model 1 concept to its limits, it was decided that the speaker would have to receive a radical crossover upgrade, improvements in cabinet construction, and have meticulous attention paid towards fine tuning each and every part of the design. Sound easy?

It’s not. In fact, it took Vince and his team the better part of one and a half years to complete the project.  A solid chunk of that time was spent on the tedious process of selecting the right combination of parts through trial by error methodology. Each capacitor, resistor, air coil, etc, all had to function flawlessly with one another in the redesigned crossover. Once that process was complete, more time then had to be spent finding the right wire metallurgy, solder, and speaker terminals that could complement the overall redesign.

The One also received cabinet upgrades via additional internal cross bracing and full monocoque construction. Three different densities of MDF make up The One’s cabinet, with every connection point being lock mitered and glued together to attain exceptional rigidity. Like every Totem, the inside walls of the cabinet are internally veneered and damped with borosilicate material.  Yet for all the improvements The One see’s in terms of cabinet construction, the speakers still use thin walls to allow for controlled energy dissipation. It is important to note that Totem products are designed and built to take advantage of resonance by tactically controlling energy output from the cabinet, instead of trying to contain or absorb the energy within the cabinet itself. Vince believes that this unconventional approach is paramount in getting a loudspeaker to produce a natural and enveloping sound.

Finally, even though The One enjoys many upgrades, what ultimately separates it from the rest of the pack is the level of precision that Totem shows at the assembly level.  Parts aren’t just dropped and plopped into The One on a production line. Instead, each individual part that goes inside The One is hand selected for its technical and tonal excellence.  For example, out of every 300 to 400 drivers Totem buys, only 20 qualify to be used inside The One. Each speaker is listened to by trained ears during the assembly process to ensure that everything is as close to perfection as possible.  This extreme attention to detail translates into laser like precision, the sort that is usually reserved for some of the most exotic and expensive loudspeakers in the world.  As Vince would humbly say, it is all an effort to give the business just a bit more honesty and quality.

 

DETAILED PERFORMANCE SUMMARY

 

Straight out of the box, I was already getting better sound than I could ever recall extracting from a pair of Model 1 Signatures. There is no need for me to riff on about the how’s and why’s. All that needs to be said is that they offer more of everything. Then again, when you consider The Ones $1000 advantage, this is exactly how it should be. Although the improvement over the Model 1 Signatures is to be expected, what I did not expect was The One’s talents with regards to off axis imaging and harmonic structure.

Bluntly put, this is one of the few conventional loudspeakers I’ve heard that can project a totally balanced and even keeled presentation across an entire listening space. You don’t have to sit directly in a designated sweet spot in order to enjoy a coherent presentation from these speakers. The sound they produce is enveloping regardless of where you are in the room. This is great news for folks who do not wish to be limited to a chair while listening to music.

The One’s are also among the only affordable speakers I’ve heard that are able to capture the interplay between a musician and his/her instrument with raw and realistic integrity. The way they capture subtle tonal inflections and then deliver them by means of a three dimensional soundstage creates a very vivid and harmonically engaging presentation that is hard not to enjoy. Throw in The One’s ability to effortlessly transition from gentle to bombastic passages through excellent dynamic contrast, along with a free floating boxless presentation, and you’ve got just about everything any music lover or audiophile tight on real estate could want.

General Character:    The One’s are scarily good at acting like a sonic chameleon by virtue of being able to adjust their tonal perspective per individual recording.  If the recording is laid back, so are they. If the recording is forward, the speakers will respond accordingly. That said, The One’s tend to leak vivid tonal shadings into the music, which elicits a presentation that rides the outer edges of the classic ‘mid hall’ denotation.

 

Treble: Articulate, Harmonically rich, and wonderfully extended, the treble is where The One really shines. The One is not designed to impress you with extreme detail and resolution. Instead, its focus is more on articulating tonal shadings with great distinction and accuracy. Typically, this is right where metal domes falter.  Sure, metal domes have zip, but they usually have no shimmer. This becomes particularly obvious with cymbals. Thankfully, this isn’t a problem with The One. In fact, not only are they among the first metal dome centered speakers I’ve heard that can capture the leading edges of a note without mucking up pitch definition and trailing notes, they are also the first metal dome centered speakers that I’ve found myself listening to for extended periods of time without the unpleasant side effect of feeling like my ears have been assaulted by ice picks.  To these ears, The One’s treble has grit where it needs to be, and is smooth whenever the recording calls for it.

 

Midrange: Extending seamlessly from the treble is a midrange that builds upon the foundation of speed, articulation, and dynamic energy. Unlike most Totem loudspeakers, The One’s do not possess organic bloom throughout the midrange. There is no bloat and warmth to help give the music an increased sense of ‘body’.  Instead, what you get from The One’s is an extremely linear and articulate presentation that hones in on capturing dynamic intensity and note articulation. While some Totem fans may miss the classic warmth of familiar designs, it doesn’t take much time to appreciate The One’s lack of obvious color throughout the midrange. In fact, it is this transparency which allows the recording to come through with its own voice.  It is important to note that this linearity does not come at the expense of giving vocals the appropriate amount of weight, or guitars a good sense of body. When you match up The One’s with the right electronics and stands, they will do an exceptional job at weaving together speed, linearity, and transparency, with exceptional body and tone.

 

Bass: Anchoring the entire presentation is bass performance that is just as agile, immediate, quick, and tuneful as the rest of the loudspeaker. Once again, The One parts familiar waters with its other Totem siblings by focusing less on bass heft and fullness, and more on linearity and speed.  All I can say is, phew, these things are fast!  No matter what music selection I threw their way, The One’s were always able to follow complex or quick bass riffs without showing signs of muddiness or congestion. That said, while The One’s possess great low end heft for their size, having no issues hitting a 50Hz tone with good authority when placed on appropriate stands, it is important to remember that they are still tiny 9lb monitors. Like most monitors, it seems as though they tend to lose their acoustic energy at around 60Hz, despite their ability to dig far lower than that.

 

Imaging: Holographic imaging has always been a trademark of the Totem sound, so it should come as no surprise to learn that The One’s do an exceptional job at maintaining their heritage. Indeed, The One’s forte lies within their ability to cast off a wide and enveloping soundstage that, when set up properly, can come scarily close to mimicking the interplay of live performers playing in a small venue. Yet The One’s do not possess the best image depth I’ve heard. Instead of shooting for the ‘lit from within’ approach that the more affordable Arro and Sttaf use to great effect, I noticed that The One’s opt to give you more of an immediate perspective into the music.  Since I already mentioned The One’s awesome off axis capabilities earlier in the review, there’s no need to expand further on that area. Simply put, it’s the best that I’ve ever heard from a conventional loudspeaker.

 

Dynamics: The One’s are tiny mini-monitors that are the size of a football and weigh only 9 lbs. Suffice to say, you aren’t exactly going to get chest thumping, Watt Puppy-like dynamics out of these things. With the obvious now aside, I can safely say that The One’s nonetheless currently stand as the only compact monitors to have ever flat out startled me while listening to music. The way these things can effortlessly deliver sharp dynamic peaks is stunning.  Although I try not to reference specific music titles in my reviews, I am going to make an exception this time around. I was listening to Patricia Barbers take on Nardis off her famous Café Blue album. When the drum work began towards the end of the track, I experienced a major ‘holy shit’ moment. It wasn’t because The One’s produced great visceral impact. They didn’t. Instead, it more had to do with their tone and speed, particularly with regard to how quickly they could transition from loud to subtle passages while at the same time capturing all the emotion caught in-between the notes.  Although The One’s may never win any awards for producing great dynamic heft and scale, their precision and focus mimics some of the best musicians in the world in that they always know when, and when not to strike.

 

What They Aren’t

 

Yet for all that The One’s can do, they aren’t without mentionable caveats. One of their biggest shortcomings stems from being unusually finicky about room placement and equipment matching. The bottom line is if you want to get optimum performance out of The One’s, you will have to invest attention to small details during the setup process. The good news is that once you get everything dialed in, the speakers will reveal only a few mentionable compromises.

One of the most obvious compromises is that they can sound a bit thin in the upper midrange and lower treble when matched with the wrong gear or set up incorrectly. Not only can this thin sound result in a very hollow presentation, but it will also draw your attention towards The One’s treble, which will suddenly take on the “look at me” sizzle that metal domes are known for. A good way to avoid this is to stay away from “tell it like it is” components from the likes of Bryston, Krell, upper end Sim Audio pieces, and gear of that sort. This is not to slight any of the aforementioned manufacturers, as they all make good stuff. It’s just that their stuff doesn’t form the best marriage with The One.

Another obvious compromise is that The One’s make no effort to hide or mask any shortcomings found in either the recording or in upstream components. While they may not be as brutally revealing or as transparent as studio oriented loudspeakers, I would not recommend The One’s to someone who is looking for a loudspeaker that smoothes over poor recordings in an effort to make them sound better.

Lastly, I must once again hammer home how important it is to keep in mind that The One’s are tiny 9lb monitors. While they have great bass extension and display exceptional dynamic prowess for their size, at the end of the day they are tiny speakers that lack the ability to showcase realistic acoustic density.

Tips and Suggestions

 

Since I already wrote a comprehensive comparison featuring The One’s in my review of the Lenehan Audio ML1 monitors, I feel no need to compare The One’s to yet another loudspeaker. Instead, I am going to use this space to list a few suggestions that will help you get the most from The One. Getting right to it:

·         Pay close attention to setup. Do not just throw these speakers on a stand, put them in a room, and then call it a day. Begin the setup process by paying attention to how Vince set’s up his speakers at audio shows. Do a Google search to get some visuals. See how close together he places his speakers? That’s exactly what you should do. Should you prefer The One’s in another position, that’s fine, but a good starting place is to set them up the way that Totem does.

·         Do not under any circumstance consider buying these speakers if you intend on mounting them, placing them on a wall, inside an entertainment center, or on a bookshelf. Just no.

·         As mentioned earlier, try to avoid mating The One’s with ‘tell it like it is’ components. A good rule of thumb here is to select gear with a warm sound and a low damping factor. You will find solid matches in Naim, Exposure, BAT, Blue Circle Audio, or anything that features a tube that doesn’t sound like garbage. Leben or Vista Audio would be good options to check into. Also, don’t worry too much about power. While The One’s respond well to high current juice, it is not necessary to get them to sound good.

·         Try to avoid using metal stands if at all possible. Even if you fill your metal stands with wood chips or sand, The One’s will still transmit the stands metallic character. Metal stands also tend to kill their bass response as well. Instead of going metal, I’d suggesting picking up something with a warmer, more natural flavor. Something like the Core Furniture Designs Model B should do nicely.

There you have it folks. If you can accommodate the above, than you should be in a position to take full advantage of what The One’s have to offer.

The Wrap Up

At the end of the day, $3595 is a lot of money to shell out for a small pair of monitors that can be chucked halfway across a football field. This holds especially true when you consider the fact that you can buy a set of nearly full-range ‘Forest’ towers for less money. The question then becomes, what kind of value does The One truly hold? Now I won’t dip into the cliché catechisms regarding those notions, but I feel that Vince Bruzzese addressed this point very well in a conversation I had with him regarding The One. The statement he made went something like this:  

 “If you get into a race-prepared Lotus and then compare it to something meant for domestic use, it’s a different experience. If someone knows how to drive the Lotus, you’ll get the ultimate performance, and that’s what you’re dealing with in The One’s. For everyday use, they may not be to everyone’s standards”

I couldn’t have said it any better myself.

If you have the patience to set The One’s up properly, then you will be treated to premium performance that is normally reserved for much more expensive loudspeakers. In my nearly four years of writing well over two dozen product reviews, this is only the second occasion where I did not return a review piece back to the manufacturer. I put my money where my mouth is on this one. These babies are mine!  As far as recommendations go, it doesn’t get any better than that.

 

Associated Equipment

 

Source: Lector CDP 0.6 MK III, E-Mu 1212M, McIntosh MCD-500, Naim CD5 XS

Integrated Amplifiers:  Karan Acoustics KA I-180, McIntosh MA 7000, Naim Nait XS

Cabling:  Morrow Audio MA3, Morrow Audio SP3, MIT Cable CVT Terminator2,

Other Speakers Used:  Martin Logan Vantage; Lenehan Audio ML1; Totem Acoustic The One; Wilson Audio Watt Puppy ; Mark and Daniel Maximus Mini; Snell B7 Reference