I have been offered he Rainmakers and Model 1 Signatures. I will be auditioning them very soon but would love to hear comments from other members. Question - Will it better my B&W 602 s3 ? Musically
My System NAD 542 CDP Rotel 1062 Biamping with 1050 Cables Kimber 8tc Room Size 13 ft X 11 ft
Any comments would be appreciated.
Also i read it somewhere on the net that Rainmakers use some very ordinary Peerless drivers made in india ???? but on the other hand it has received some rave reviews. Comments please
I was also looking at some Dynaudio Models from Audience but looks like they dont support Biwiring ?? Do any of the Dyns on the Lower end like Audience or Focus support Biwire??
Shahrukh, I think you meant the Dynaudio Evidence Master.
Suarabh, I'm not sure about the Rainmaker's driver complement. That said, Totem do not make their own drivers. Some models use Dynaudio drivers and others use different brands. All the drivers chosen by Totem are built to order to Totem's specifications and tolerances. Also Totem choose the supplier such that Totem can guarantee a long period of driver availability. IIRC Totem pre-buy enough to be able to cope with driver replacements 15 years after ceasing production of the speaker in question. So long as the specs are met, it doesn't really matter where the they're built. After all, Peerless have a very good reputation for reliability and quality. Biamping Totems works well (I'm biamping my Mani-2s).
As Shahrukh mentioned, Dynaudio do not support biwiring of their speakers right up to the top of the range. Dynaudio claim that their crossovers are built to the finest tolerances using the best components at the price. They make fine speakers, so worth a listen if you can.
Frank i have seen elsewhere on the forum that you have some excellent suggestions regarding Totems, Dynaudio and Rotels.
Could you please advise me if Totem Rainmakers would be a good match with Rotel 1062 biamped with 1050 or would i be better going the Dynaudio way - had a listen to Audience 52 and loved them - cant go higher with Dyn audience at the moment and also believe if i go higher then Rotels might not Justify having the Focus 110, but if i go with the dyns i will have to get rid of my new RB 1050 as i wont be able o biamp.
Have you heard Totems driven by Rotel, are they well built as they seems pretty light, i have a choice of Rainmakers and Modem 1. Please advise - i like the 602 s3 but want a smoother sound and better imaging.
saurabh, forget the Mani-2s. They're a very difficult load. You really need a minimum of about 300wpc to get them going, and they need to be good watts.
The Rainmakers are light but in common with most Totems, this is because they work the strength into the cabinet itself by dovetailing all the sides. In effect, the cabinet is like one massive 3-D jigsaw. This lends far more strength to the cabinet than is usual (and takes 3 tmes longer to build). The Rainmaker is a good competitor to the Audience range. The Model-1 is in the next league up and is closer to the FOCUS range in performance. Both definitely prefer being biamped too.
On the subject of the Dynaudios not being biamped, you would not have to get rid of the 1050. You could run in pre/power configuration which takes the load off the integrated amp you have and allows the preamp section to have a cleaner dedicated power supply therefore. This can give better results in certain situations than the integrated option. In future you could upgrade to a dedicated preamp and run in proper pre/power which would give you a great deal more quality. I should point out that all these speakers will display significant improvements when/if you upgrade the system so these are not stop-gap components (whereas 602S3s definitely are in my view).
That was some insight i wouldnt have found about the totems, I am going to listen to the totems today and am spilt between Rainmakers or the Audience 52, i have heard the AU 52s and liked them sound wise and also there build and as you say i agree that they will keep me going even if i upgrade my CD player. i was actually thinking on the same lines and checked out preamps for rotels, which will open a whole lot of new possibilities for eg solid or tube, what make etc etc.
I shall keep you guys posted with my experience today with the rainmakers.
I have to say that though rainmakers had a good sound i wasnt very impressed. Sound was ok, imaging was ok as well nothing that stood up for me, have to mention that the mids were good.
However Model 1 does it all, it is amazing how good those tiny speakers sound with the vocals hanging out of the air, details are amazing so are the emotions coming out of the speakers. Stereo imaging is also easily above average but most of all you wanna listen to them on and on. But the downside would be power, i am sure they would start singing with atleast 150 good watts per side. the volume knob which was at 9 o clock for rainmakers for a decently high volume had to be turned to 11 o clock for a lower level for the model 1s.
However they were played on some very highend stuff, Frank would you know if they would match up well with Rotel amplifications.
also heard the new proacs 110, mids are excellent but were not run in completely so not fair for me to make a comment, but i can tell you right now that cant wait to hear them as well.
Looks like either Model 1 or Proacs 110, the Rainmakers and the Audience are third and fourth for now.
Can't lose with either the ProAc Studio 110 or the Totem Model 1. They are both fabulous speakers. The Totem images a little better, they have very similar soundstaging capabilities and I feel that the bass is a little fuller and more natural with the ProAcs. The Totems require considerably more power (good clean power) than do the ProAcs. I successfully run my 110's with a 40 watt per channel tube amp, I wouldn't even consider that with the Totems. Like I said you can't lose with either as long as you pay close attention to system synergy. Good luck.
Yes Peter you are right, even i was a bit surprised and the amp used were huge Rogue Audio monoblocks, not sure of the specs. But yes i still feel they need extra power much more than the Rainmakers - speaking from experience. Also had a feeling that the model 1s might be better suited to valve amplification than solid state - IMHO. AZ, i was a little dissapointed with the way ProAcs look - very very ordinary (i am sure someone is going to write "Sound matters and not looks"). Though ProAcs have very fine Mids the Totems had a emotional touch to there mids, however this can be because of the equipment used to play them. I can loan the ProAcs and see how it suites my taste but is rather costly in this part of the world which makes me consider the Dyn Focus 110 as well .
What i meant was i see the Suggested Retail Price (Not even the actual or street price) in the magazines in GBP, but for some reason works our much more than than the Exchange rate, patly i guess because of Shipping to this part of the world and partly addition of one more distributor in the chain make it even more dearer. But i see what you are saying Nuck as well, they are expensive to start of with. Hey Nuck. would you know if any of the choices will match up a Rotel Amplification with any advantage.
as i wont be able o biamp. 