AAYER

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
3.75 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $8900.00 from Stereo Exchange

Summary:
These speakers are a dream. I listen to jazz and in the price range there is nothing better. I was set on buying a pair of B&W 803Ds until my audio salesman asked me to do a side by side test with the Winds. I couldn't believe my ears. The Winds beat the B&Ws hands down. I bought a pair and haven't stop listening (except for when work, girlfriend and sleep necessitate) since I installed them in my apartment. The sound reproduction is uncanny - more realistic than the 803Ds imho - with better bass response and attack. The highs are there too - but not so high (as with the diamond tweeter) that you get listening fatigue. I have them bi-wired to a McIntosh 6500 integrated and a Sony 24bit /192Khz DVD/CD player. I'm approaching the end of my break-in period and let me say they get better and better with time. Also unlike the B&Ws you don't have to drive the pants off of them to get them to perform. I'm cruising around 2 watts most of the day and rarely feel the need to crank the amp.
Though I am not a review hound, I felt the need to contribute my 2 cents about the Winds - as there is a dirth of info. on the web about these speakers. I dare say Totem needs to pick the pace up in marketing as many will overlook these speakers or never give them a chance as they are virtual unknowns to all but the most die-hard audiophiles.
Let me end by saying the Winds are so good that I find myself re-evaluating my "favorite" songs as the speakers are so accurate any flaws or fakery in the recording process become quite evident.

Strengths:
Realism, Bass Response, Highs, and overall fidelity. Amazing Jazz speakers.
Outstanding vocal reproduction:

Weaknesses:
None really - but the speakers seem to be too articulate to keep up with blunt rock recordings and hip/hop - pop without soul. The Winds reveal flaws in some of today's overproduced recordings.

Price a bit high - and getting higher in the Bush league economy.

mdritchi

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 7.00 votes

Price Paid:  $4700.00 from sound

Summary:
I helped my friend buy these and am extremely jelous. He wanted to improve on his Paradigm Studio 100s V2 and I knew that these would be perfect for him. The are absoloutly fantastic speakers.

The thing that these speakers do really well is tonality. They reproduce the full soundscape with extreme detail. I find many recordings with a female and a male voice to be the best test of tonality. A particularily good track for this is Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli -- Time to say goodbye. On a poor systems the voices are blended. On a good system the voices take turns being strong. With the winds it was remarkable. Each voice was clear all by itself. It kept the voices separate. What this means is that these speakers are able to accuratly reproduce all of the overtones of intruments and voices perfectly. This is essentially the characteristic that makes a piano sound different then another intstrument.

Another favourite track of mine is on Dianna Krall's stepping -- Stepping out. There are some very interesting sounds in this track that this speaker excels at. I have heard this track over 100 times on many systems and this is the first time I noticed a small laugh in her voice as she said 'your story is so touching'. I now here it on other systems but this slight nuance handled perfectly by the winds, it jumps at you. Another excellent sound is from the soft brushing of the cymbils by the drummer. This is one of the hardest sounds for a speaker to reproduce. Often it just sounds like static. On the winds, with the proper source the circular/to and fro nature of the sound was revealed. Again, this indicates a new level of detail for me in this track.

The only issue with these speakers for some people would be their inefficiency. They are not nearly as efficient as the Paradigms and I felt them wanting for very loud rock music. Hooked up to a Bryston 3bst they were not capable of producing the really loud sound that the more efficient paradigms produced. Even with more power I felt that these were not 'Party' speakers, but were rather more suitable to dedicated listening.

All in all these speakers are absolutly fantastic. I am a little upset because now there is not much chance of me being able to keep up with the Jones.

Strengths:
Tonality, Imaging, treble, bass

Weaknesses:
Ineficient

Similar Products Used:
Vandersteen, Martin Logan, Energy, Kinima

Price Paid:  $4700.00 from Soundstage

Summary:
I helped my friend buy these and am extremely jelous. He wanted to improve on his Paradigm Studio 100s V2 and I knew that these would be perfect for him. The are absoloutly fantastic speakers.

The thing that these speakers do really well is tonality. They reproduce the full soundscape with extreme detail. I find many recordings with a female and a male voice to be the best test of tonality. A particularily good track for this is Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli -- Time to say goodbye. On a poor systems the voices are blended. On a good system the voices take turns being strong. With the winds it was remarkable. Each voice was clear all by itself. It kept the voices separate. What this means is that these speakers are able to accuratly reproduce all of the overtones of intruments and voices perfectly. This is essentially the characteristic that makes a piano sound different then another intstrument.

Another favourite track of mine is on Dianna Krall's stepping -- Stepping out. There are some very interesting sounds in this track that this speaker excels at. I have heard this track over 100 times on many systems and this is the first time I noticed a small laugh in her voice as she said 'your story is so touching'. I now here it on other systems but this slight nuance handled perfectly by the winds, it jumps at you. Another excellent sound is from the soft brushing of the cymbils by the drummer. This is one of the hardest sounds for a speaker to reproduce. Often it just sounds like static. On the winds, with the proper source the circular/to and fro nature of the sound was revealed. Again, this indicates a new level of detail for me in this track.

The only issue with these speakers for some people would be their inefficiency. They are not nearly as efficient as the Paradigms and I felt them wanting for very loud rock music. Hooked up to a Bryston 3bst they were not capable of producing the really loud sound that the more efficient paradigms produced. Even with more power I felt that these were not 'Party' speakers, but were rather more suitable to dedicated listening.

All in all these speakers are absolutly fantastic. I am a little upset because now there is not much chance of me being able to keep up with the Jones.

Strengths:
Tonality, Imaging, Very tight base, highly extended hi-end and low end.

Weaknesses:
Inneficient

Similar Products Used:
Energy, Vandersteen, Martin-Logan, Kinima