I have not tried Totem's cables. I've used Monster Cable, Romex, JPS Labs (twin runs of Superconductor, I think) and most recently, Joplin cables (true bi-wire) by Opera Consonance (got a good deal from a local A'gon member on them). The Joplins really made a tremendous difference over the JPS Labs which had been better than anything I'd used before. When I hooked up the Joplins, I found it necessary to completely elimnate toe-in. Went from speakers aimed just behind my listening spot to facing them almost straight ahead with very slight toe-in. The Joplins just seemed to convey a lot more (high frequency?) info and things got a little "bright" with all the toe in I had been using. Bass was recovered and tonal balance restored by facing them straight ahead. Just fyi...I've had the Forests for maybe 3 years now and only recently, after much trial and error, found a position that really seems to work in my listening area. Hope this is of use.
