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Totem Forest and Budget Amplifiers

I have a wonderful set of Totem Forest Speakers and I need advice on a budget friendly integrated amp (less than 1K) to carry me over a year or two until I can afford to upgrade. I've been through two amps so far, a Rotel 1080 which was a little too bright for me and a Jolida 1501 which to me was too forward and less appealing than the Rotel. I listen at pretty low "bedroom" levels so I may be able to get by with a lower powered all tube setup such as the Jolida 302/502 or Primaluna. Not opposed to SS but was thinking all tubes as a change. I listen to mainly vocalist and piano

Thanks in advance for the advice.
tigermark89
hifiharv
351 posts
 
I've been very happy with 15 watt tube mono's on the Forests. However, I would caution you that this combo needs to play above "bedroom" levels to sound right. So, you may need even more power for your situation. Funny, how low volume listening can actually require more power to achieve realistic dynamics and tone. How about that Cayin A50T? Under $1500 new and if I can believe what I hear about it, not much of a compromise either. Occasionally one will pop up here for almost half off the new price. Never heard or read a bad thing about it.
tigermark89 OP
1 posts
 
The Cayin A50 is one that I had looked at, would you consider this comparable to the PrimaLuna. The Primaluna is under consideration because of the Self Biasing. I want to experience the full tube sound but I'm not sure about the biasing requirements.
hieule5
115 posts
 
I heard that Unico is a good tube amp and they sound nice together with Totem.

Vista Audio I34 is said to be a capable amp. The bigger model I34 I am told can produce 35 watts per channel and is sold for $980 brand new. This is an American firm based in New York that makes mostly tube amp.

Rotel is not a warm or mellow amp like the cheap NAD or cheap Cambridge Audio. I am very sensitive with the high and for this reason I never care much for Rotel. Rotel is just too harsh for my ears.

Good luck.
hieule5
115 posts
 
Totem Forest is a floorstander and its efficiency of 87db is rather low for any floorstander its size. You should check with Vista Audio to see if their tube amp can drive your Forest at your comfort listening level.
transnova's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
transnova
294 posts
 
I've heard the Totems sound very nice with affordable tube integrated amps (from JAS,Raysonic,and Soundquest)as well.
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