System edited: Well, got rid of the Bryston B60 and Signet floorstanders. Now I have Unison Unico 80W and Opera Mezza monitors. Just breaking in the Opera's now. Out of the box the midrange and highs are sweet and enjoyable. Expected imaging and "beathiness" aren't there, but hopefully that will change with burn-in and placement. The Unison I had before, but it was a faulty piece. But without being able to audition pieces in high-fi stores, I decided to go back to it, as I really enjoyed its expansive and lush sound. Will be adding MacBook (just bought) and Paradisea USB tube DAC (on its way), and getting rid of my CD player and CD's. And after that I am all set for a while with a baby on the way. (At least thats what I tell myself.)
Silverline Prelude got great reviews from Stereophile and 6 Moons Review.
The sub/sat combo is a great idea. But you want to have standmount speakers that have 6.5 woofers at least to make it easier for the sub to keep up with the sats. If you already have good stands, Usher S520 and a good REL subwoofer will be a non fatiguing combo.
The Sttaf is a good pair but don't forget to check out Dynaudio Audience 72. They are that good.
Totem Sttafs are magical. If you like the Arros, you'll love the Sttafs. They will do rock much better. They are also very easy to drive. A good upgrade.
If you're looking for higher efficiency speakers that might go louder with less wattage, maybe audition the newer Klipsch reference line. I've heard several of the smaller bookshelf models and they sounded quite good for the price...certainly competitive with Polk, I would say.
Some of these are rear ported and some are not. Rear ported designs in general sound best if not too close to the rear wall.
The only way to get half decent full range sound somewhere near your price range may be to toss in a sub with smaller bookshelf speakers or monitors.
Ohm Micros might still be worth considering. They do not require a lot of power I believe and have decent low end in most smaller to medium size rooms, I believe. They are omni designs but attentuated in the wall facing directions which means placement closer to the rear wall to help fill in the bass may be possible.
Another option I own and can recommend strongly for your price range is to pick up a pair of used Triangle Titus 202 monitors for under $500 and add a decent powered sub. The Titus' are very efficient, front ported for easy placement and ultimate flexibility, and sound outstanding from low to high volumes with any kind of music.
I run this combo currently off a vintage 25W Yamaha receiver in my second 2 channel A/V system and the sound for both audio and video is top notch!
I finally had a chance to hear the Totem Arros this past weekend. They were set up on a high powered McIntosh SS system and I could a/b them against some larger and more expensive Totems, PSBs, and larger Mc Intosh speakers.
The Arros were very competitive with all of these other speaks, but the system as whole did not have the wow factor (detail, bass extension, impact and dynamics) that I associate with my Ohm based system.
Granted, part of this was setup, in that all the speaks were lined up very close to the rear wall, and it was a good sized showroom.
Bass was OK but not great. Sound stage was wide but not deep as a result of close placement to the wall (which undoubtedly helped bass).
The Arros sounded surprisingly good at higher volumes with the 500w/ch SS Mc amp used. I was thinking that that was a lot of power to throw at such small speaks, but they seemed to really like it.
Your description makes me wonder if maybe the Arros are less efficient and not at their best in larger rooms with smaller or moderate power amps, like more efficient designs might be?
Most Polks I've heard do not seem to require a lot of power to run well, so perhaps these will work out better.
Thanks for pointing out the Ohm's. Looks intriguing. Like I said, I am in the middle of finalizing an order for Polk Lsi-15's. But I am definitely going to keep these Ohm's in mind.
Ohm Micro Walsh ($1000) would be similar in size to Totem Arro and might work. Ohm 100 or 200 Series 3 would be a step up for a room that size in terms of room filling bass. You'd need to call Ohm and talk to John Strohbeen to get a better idea. You might be able to pick up a pair of 100 Series 3s in refurbished cabinets for a few hundred more than micros. New 100s or larger 200s would run more, probably in the $1700 and up range, but with proper amplification these could take you to another level that would be hard to achieve at that price with any conventional box design.
The Ohms are omni designs, but they are attenuated internally in the wall facing directions which makes them easier to place closer to the walls than would be possible with most true omni's.
Ohm Walsh speakers (www.ohmspeakers.com) have the same good imaging, detail and large soundstage characteristics as the Arros but have a "bigger" sound, a more extended low end and more impact overall. They can take the watts and go as loud as well as anything out there.
Well, funny you all should say .... I just had the Arros but sold them. I really did love their sound, but there were a couple of problems:
1) They didn't fill the room as much as I would have liked, I listen to a fair amount of rock.
2) They are very "sensitive" ... I probably don't have the best electicity in my house, and they would "crackle" at times, more so when at louder volumes. I had a dealer check them out and he said they were in perfect working order.
The obvious answer would be to try out the staff- they can move a little more air, and are less sensitive, I believe. Moving up from there would stretch my budget.
Unfortunately, trying out speakers at/from a high-fi store isn't feasible, so I just try to get as much info/opinion I can online.
I just purchased Quad 22l2's, but they are not the answer; they sound nearly identical to my Signets. (But are much prettier, WAF.)
I am about to now purchase Polk lsi-15's at a great price, and will be putting up the Quad's for sale on Agon.
I would agree with Underdog on this one. I had owned the Arro's and liked them very much. You are limited as to the size of the room they will fill and their bass only goes down so far. But they are tight speakers, image well and really don't do anything poorly. For about the $750 they sell for used, they are tough to beat.
