"....The high frequencies are uncrisp, rolled off severely, muted, and just lacking generally, especially on contemporary works (jazz, rock). I don’t hear cymbals, hi-hats, or rich, crisp snare drums (yeah, I’m a drummer). Listening to my favorite disks is a deeply disappointing experience, Though classical sounds ok to fine...."
hmmmm.... something is very wrong here IMO.
i owned both the ARROS and FORESTS (original before they dropped the Dynaudio drivers and swapped in Chi-fi ) simultaneously in a prior system , and a rolled off or muted top-end firceither was never ever in the cards.
in fairness optimum performance in the FORESTS required bi-amping with an addition of a separate 100wpc hi-current power amp to the integrated amp, and swapping in Totem's own silver plated OCC speaker cables to match what's inside.
I found them to be fussy with ICs and speaker cables but not so bad as you described the output.
im stumped ....
hmmmm.... something is very wrong here IMO.
i owned both the ARROS and FORESTS (original before they dropped the Dynaudio drivers and swapped in Chi-fi ) simultaneously in a prior system , and a rolled off or muted top-end firceither was never ever in the cards.
in fairness optimum performance in the FORESTS required bi-amping with an addition of a separate 100wpc hi-current power amp to the integrated amp, and swapping in Totem's own silver plated OCC speaker cables to match what's inside.
I found them to be fussy with ICs and speaker cables but not so bad as you described the output.
im stumped ....