Напольная акустика — Totem Acoustic Forest

The Forest is a two-way reflex floorstanding loudspeaker from Totem Acoustic of Montreal, intended by the maker for stereo listening as well as multichannel and home theatre systems. Its bass and midrange driver later became the basis for the woofer of the Signature One monitor, and Totem also offers a Forest Signature version of the tower. Totem currently prices the Forest at USD 5,400.

Key specs that matter

One 6.5 inch woofer with a 3 inch voice coil covers bass and midrange, and a 1 inch chambered aluminium dome handles the treble. Both drivers are proprietary units customised by Totem. The crossover point is 2.5 kHz with second-order slopes of 12 dB per octave. Totem rates the frequency response at 30 Hz to 20 kHz within 3 dB and sensitivity at 87 dB, and the nominal impedance of 8 ohm falls to a minimum of 6.4 ohm. The internal volume is about 25 litres. Each speaker measures 196 mm wide, 871 mm high and 269 mm deep and weighs 20.5 kg. Buyers can order Satin White paint or a black or mahogany wood veneer.

Engineering and use context

Totem joins the enclosure as a lock-mitred monocoque made of variable density fiberboard, with an aerodynamically rounded front baffle, an angled rear panel, extensive internal cross-bracing and an angled floor that keeps internal surfaces from running parallel. Totem lines the interior with a large amount of borosilicate damping. The hardwired crossover is an exclusive design assembled by hand on a fiberboard board rather than a printed circuit, and its joints use WBT silver solder. A Delrin decoupling claw isolates the cabinet from the floor. With a single large-coil woofer doing the work of two drivers, a slim tower reaches deep bass without a separate bass unit. Totem suggests placing each speaker 0.3 to 1.8 m from the rear wall and spacing the pair 1.2 to 3.7 m apart.

Pairing

Totem recommends amplifiers delivering 50 to 200 W. The impedance curve presents an easy load, so most solid-state integrated amplifiers in that band drive the Forest without stress, and higher-powered valve designs are also a possibility. Bi-wireable gold-plated connectors on the back accept a doubled cable run for owners who want to separate the woofer and tweeter feeds.

Alternatives

Totem also makes the Forest Signature, a related and costlier tower with an aluminium and titanium dome tweeter, a 28 Hz lower limit and a 50 to 225 W rating.