Totem Mani 2 Sig. vs Dynaudio C1

As a former Dyn C1 owner I can only comment on those. I have heard some Totem speakers used Dynaudio drivers. But Dynaudio never sells their current production driver, and if those in the Totems are Dynaudio drivers which driver are they? From the Focus/Contour or Confidence series?

That said my room is very similar to yours and had them set up on the long wall. They worked very well and I even had a Rel B3 with the crossover set to 36hz to add the lows the C1's can't do. So they go pretty low on their own. If you should decide on the C1's make sure you get the Stand2/4/6. They make a difference.

That said there are 3 versions of the C1's. The originals sounded the best at the higher spl's. The MKII/Sig had a crossover redesign along with an upgrade to the internal wiring and a new coating on the Esotar2 tweeter. Since I owned both the original and the Sig's I will say the MKII/Sig sounded much better at lower listening levels, BUT they won't play as loud as the originals before bottoming out. The newest are the Platinum's which only offer a cosmetic difference over the MKII/Sig.

Best of luck whatever you decide

Great, thanks Xti16 - all good info.
Now, can anyone comment who has had experience with both the Mani 2 sig. and Dyn C1?
-Bob

I cannot comment from experience on the C1's but I can tell you that the Mani-2's deliver in spades! If you look at specs for each, the C1's are 45Hz +/- 3 dB and the Mani-2's are 29 Hz +/- 3dB. I wouldn't hesitate for one second to state that the Mani-2's deliver as promised, and it's not bloated or muddy bass, it is exceptionally deep bass. For those interested in knowing... the Mani-2's use Dynaudio 17W75-XL drivers (2 in each speaker configured in an isobaric arrangement) for bass. Simply amazing for the size, I don't think anything exists today that has topped these in that regard IMO.

I can say with the utmost confidence that you will not need a sub if you go with the Totems!

Good luck in your quest.

Philip

The bass response you will get depends on the room to a large degree. Some rooms seem to amplify and muddy the bass, while other rooms just seem to cancel it out, leaving you with a thin sound. IMO, in the normal domestic environment, it's largely a matter of luck. That said, the Mani 2's are wonderful speakers with very good bass response and a realistic midrange that sounds wonderful on vocals. But they are very power hungry and, if you want to turn them up, I would say 250 watts minimum.

I see you have a 180 watt SS amp, but that in itself means little. The Mani 2's are a very demanding load and you need a very high-quality amplifier with a stiff power supply to drive it to its potential. If you call Vince at Totem, he'll be very honest with you about whether your amp is adequate. Best of luck.

I too owned the Totem Mani-2's and can vouch for the quality and quantity of bass - - no subwoofer required! They should energize your room just fine.