Floorstanding loudspeakers — Totem Acoustic Bison Twin Tower

The Bison Twin Tower is a three-driver, two-way tower from Totem Acoustic and heads the Bison series, which also includes the Bison Tower, the Bison Monitor and the Bison Center. It is hand-built in Montreal with drivers designed by Totem and produced to its specifications. The list price was USD 4,000 per pair at introduction, and the current maker price is USD 4,200 per pair.

Key specs that matter

A neodymium-powered 1.3 inch soft dome tweeter, its textile etched by laser, sits with two custom 5.25 inch woofers that use copper-clad voice coils. Totem rates the frequency response at 31 Hz to 29.9 kHz within 3 dB, sensitivity at 90 dB and nominal impedance at 4 ohm. A second-order crossover divides the band at 2.5 kHz. The cabinet is 187 mm wide and 975 mm tall, or 989 mm on its claw feet, and 260 mm deep, reaching 270 mm with the grille in place. Each speaker weighs 19.46 kg. Buyers can choose Black Ash, Black Walnut, White Oak or Satin White, with black grilles on the darker finishes and white grilles on the Satin White version.

Engineering and use context

Both woofers work across the same frequency range rather than being split into bass and midrange duties, and there is no crossover section between them, which is why the tower counts as a two-way design despite its three drivers. Running the pair in parallel is also what brings the load down to its low nominal impedance. The cabinet is a lock-mitred monocoque with full cross-bracing, and Totem states that lock mitring makes the box four times as rigid as V-groove assembly. It uses variable density fiberboard, borosilicate damping and veneer on both the inner and outer faces to prevent warping. The handmade crossover parts are crimped mechanically onto a fiberboard panel instead of a printed circuit board, with WBT silver solder used only where needed. Each speaker stands on three CNC-machined Delrin claw feet for decoupling, and threaded inserts allow optional spikes. The maker quotes 70 to 100 hours of break-in.

Pairing

The recommended amplifier range is 30 to 200 W. The high sensitivity lets moderate power drive the tower to useful levels, yet the low impedance means the chosen amplifier must remain stable into lower loads and supply adequate current. Two sets of gold-plated four-way connectors accept bare wire, banana plugs or spades and allow the woofers and tweeter to be fed separately. The Bison Center and Bison Monitor, or LOON Monitor speakers in the rear, extend the towers into a matched multichannel system.

Alternatives

The Totem Bison Tower is the more compact Bison tower, using a single woofer of the same size with an 8 ohm load and 88 dB sensitivity.