totem arro

I had a pair of Arro's for a few months. They are very detailed out of the box and throw a very large soundstage with the right material. They go amazingly low for their size, and are attractive to look at. They're going for around US $1350 new, and typically for between $750 and $850 on Audiogon. Build quality is superb.

Granted that my pair weren't nearly broken in (Totem recommends 100 to 150 hours of break in time). Still I found them rather bright for my tastes. Also, the sweet spot in my room was frustratingly narrow... The proverbial ”head in a vise“ situation.

Ultimately, I sold my pair to a fellow Audiogoner (who, ironically, is now selling them on Audiogon himself... See http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1239573652&/Totem-Acoustic-Arro-(Black-Ash )

I fell in love with the Ohm Micro Walsh talls... Great bass, neutral tonal balance, and a soundstage do die for. And almost identical external dimensions to the Arro.

I like them very much.

I've heard them sound very competitive with larger conventional dynamic box design speakers from PSB and MacIntosh costing 3-4 times as much in fairly good sized listening room.

The OHMs and less expensive Magnepan mmgs are the only other speaks I know of in that price range that I am partial to.

rebbi, i like the speakers you mention also, but how can you downgrade a speaker that you never heard broken in ? i have owned two different pair of arro and you are correct, as totem suggest, give them some time. They are incredible broken in, too bad you got rid of them so soon. dwhitt

I purchased a pair for my father, and he likes them a lot. My mother also likes how small they are :)

I thought they have a very nice sound, although a bit lean on the low end. Seemed very balanced and a great all-around speaker.

If I ever need something for a small room, they're my first choice.

Thanks a lot everyone. Very enlightening.