Bookshelf Speakers — Totem Acoustic Element Fire V2

The Element Fire V2 is a compact monitor from Totem Acoustic, the Montreal company founded by Vince Bruzzese. It is the second version of the Element Fire and centres on the revised Torrent woofer, hand-assembled at Totem's Montreal base.

Key specs that matter

It uses a 178 mm (7 in) Torrent woofer and a 25 mm titanium dome tweeter with a 10 mm thick aluminium faceplate and finned aluminium alloy chamber. It is a two-way, reflex-loaded design made in Canada. Frequency response is 30 Hz to 22 kHz (-3 dB), sensitivity is 88 dB, impedance is 8 ohms, and Totem suggests 50 W to 250 W amplifiers. The cabinet measures 224 x 422 x 297 mm across, up and back, and a single cabinet comes to 14.74 kg.

Engineering and use context

In the Torrent driver, the magnetic structure keeps the voice coil immersed in the field over its full travel, and the V2 version adds a seventeenth magnet to the previous sixteen, stretching the concave magnetic cradle further. The copper plating around the magnet structure changed to a tri-laminate, the driver gained more damping and a larger dust cap, and it became slightly shorter, which strengthens the joint between voice coil and cone. Because the woofer's response is wide and flat, it runs full range with no filter, so no inductor or capacitor sits between the amplifier and the cone, and only the tweeter has a first-order filter. The titanium tweeter has its own finned alloy chamber for rear-wave damping. The cabinet has no parallel surfaces, which prevents internal standing waves from building up, and uses Totem's borosilicate damping. Bi-wire WBT platinum four-way connectors sit on annealed aluminium terminal plates, and grilles are magnetic. Totem states the speaker can stand as close as 15 cm to the rear wall and 60 cm apart, and recommends a break-in period of 200 to 300 hours. Finishes include multi-coat polyester in Dusk and Ice, and the Fire V2 carries a five-year Totem warranty. The cabinet is built slowly by Totem's own artisans, which the company links to consistent quality from pair to pair.

Pairing

The benign load works with solid-state and valve amplifiers, and a powerful amplifier helps the Torrent woofer reach its full bass extension. Totem positions it for a family living area, a dedicated listening room or a recording studio.

Alternatives

Totem's Model 1 Signature is the brand's long-running small two-way stand-mount speaker.