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Recommend amp to drive Totem Winds?

I'm looking for recommendations for an amplifier (solid-state, integrated) that would be a good fit to a pair of Totem Wind speakers. I've heard that the Winds can be hard to drive, so I'm a bit concerned about what amps will/won't be up to the task.

The Winds are rated at 4 ohms impedence, 87 dB sensitivity, and 250 W maximum power. In general, is it OK to look for an amp that will produce slightly less than 250 W into 4 ohms? Or should I look for an amp that provides 250 W, or more than 250 W, into 4 ohms?

Brands/models I've looked at include:

Simaudio Moon i-3
Simaudio Moon i-7
Krell KAV 400xi

I'm certainly more than willing to consider others, of course.

Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions/opinions....

Cheers,
Barb
bdpetersen
10 responses Add your response
larryken
537 posts
 
You are looking for a high current design that doubles its power as the impedance drops....speaker mfg rating of max power handling is not that important...the key is the impedance and what level the speaker is stable at..nominal 4 ohms, nominal 6, 8 etc...I contact Totem direct and ask what they recommend..always best to consult the mfg with this kind of question.
Larry
riffer
362 posts
 
I would drop Vince Bruzzese a line and ask him what he recommends.

I think the i-3 may handle the Hawks, but not much more.
driver's avatar
driver
746 posts
 
I heard them at the CES with Ayre V-5xe & they sounded just fine, although I'm not a big fan of metal tweets. Bass was great, btw.
mdhoover
690 posts
 
The Winds also sounded quite nice with one of the larger Classe amps.
jh2os
244 posts
 
Barb, I am powering the Totem Wind with a Krell kav-400xi and it sounds great!

I would love have Totem's own Amber integrated, but as it is no longer available I'd have to wait for one to come up on the used market. The Amber was a joint venture with SimAudio. Sim stuff sounds good with Totem, but I would question if even the i-7 would have the 'uumph' needed to power the winds. I ran out of power with an i-5 on my Forests in a previous system.
gungun29
1 posts
 
Hi,

I upgraded from the forest to the winds. But I feel that the forests were more three dimentional, transparent, lively and had a tighter bass. So, I purchased the forests again and now I have both. I have decided to keep the forests and sell the winds. Any comments?
tom_hankins
850 posts
 
I've heard them with the Ayre gear(K-5XE/V-5XE) at my local dealer, and they were very nice.
jh2os
244 posts
 
gungun29, having previously owned the forests myself i had some of the same thoughts you mention above. unfortunatley, i blew several woofers on my forests which left a sour taste in my mouth with those speakers (which is unfortunate as i love their sound).

i have grown to love the sound of the winds, and as my system is used for both HT and music the winds fill both roles better than the forests did.
panderso
156 posts
 
If you have access to a Conrad Johnson dealer, the new CJ integrated would be worth consideration.

I remember vividly how wonderful the Winds sounded when I first heard them; they fairly reeled me into the room, like a fish on a line. I believe they were driven by Simaudio separates...

One dealer I have a high regard for had great success pairing the Jeff Rowland Concerto integrated with Totem Mani Sigs - might work well with Winds.

enjoy,
-paul-
audiobroke's avatar
audiobroke
50 posts
 
An integrated with the Winds? Mmmm. For me that might be a stretch. A lowish sensitivity 4ohm speaker will like a lot of current, plus most integrates are well below an appropriately budgeted amplifier for an $8k speaker. If you must though, get the most SS power you can. IMHO
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