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Rega/Totem combo wow!

Was out of town for work last week and managed to stop into a hifi shop downtown after work one evening.  I forget the name of the place but it was right in Cincinnati (audible elegance i believe).  I had always wanted to hear a rega/naim amplifier.  Long story short, they had a rega brio and elex r hooked up to a pair of Totem Rainmakers (which is a nice compact speaker for my space) and I have to say that I was really impressed by the speakers even through the lower powered brio.  The gentleman switched from the Brio to the Elex to hear the difference.  And yes, there was a difference. The Elex provided more bass and a little smoother sound to my ears but both amps sounded superb and although the Totems are 4ohms, I was more impressed with the little Brio handling them quite well.  I haven't really heard many people talk about totem speakers on too many threads but like I said, there seemed to be a really good match there between the regas and the totems.  Has anyone else had a similar experience with these two brands playing together and if so what were your thoughts?
mgrec42
viridian's avatar
viridian
4,184 posts
 
I didn't say the Naim was better; you should listen to both and make up your mind. I do prefer the build quality if the Naims, YMMV.

Your AQ wires will work just great with the Naim Nait. In the old days, the Naim amps did not have an output inductor in the amps, instead relying on the inductance of the Naim speaker cables to stabilize the output stage. A very elegant, if somewhat limiting, solution.

Those days are long gone and the last few generations of Naits are unconditionally stable. Now they may sound better with one brand of wire, or another, but that is true of all amps.
mgrec42 OP
9 posts
 
Sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like you said the naim was better. I listen at low volume levels mostly. Never really push past the 9 o'clock position. Unfortunately the dealer doesn't have the 5si on display to demo. As far as low volume control goes, might have to do some more research. Any idea on which amp performs better at lower volume levels? I know that's almost impossible to answer.
nutty
1,928 posts
 
Another plug for Audible Elegance! Several weeks ago I listened to a few setups. A Rega Apollo-R > Primaluna Integrated > Totem Acoustics Hawk wired with Cardas Parsec interconnects and speaker cables. It was very nice. And it is a great system for money. Zach, Mark and everyone were very accommodating. 

N
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,645 posts
 
I don't have personal experience but I recall reading that Parasound amps sound good with Totems as well and their Halo line of integrateds get good reviews. Might be worth an audition. 
viridian's avatar
viridian
4,184 posts
 
The Nait 5si mates a passive preamp to a high-gain power amp. iMHO it is not particularly distinguished at very low volume, YMMV.
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