Totem Forest or Acoustic Zen Adagio

Ive owned both...and am currently using the adagio.The pluses on the forests are a very sharp image.The soundstage is wonderfull.(using sim gear)ive found that the metal tweeter was just a little too much for my tastes in music(jazz,ecm).The forests were very imppressive but the frequency extremes bothered me(lots of bass,hf).The adagios are much more relaxed and musical...not that the forests arent,adagios are just right sounding..more matured sound,not so in your face.Both are excellent,but the adagios are staying in system for awhile!(imho).

Both are very good for the buck. Depends on your taste in sound. Take a look at Abosolute sound article on the Adagio june/july 2006. I heard them at 2007 Rocky Mountain Audio festival. They were sold the first day there. They were matched with Halcro gear. Very good sound. The second day there, Robert Lee set up the larger version of the adagios. Same thing, very very good sound however a little over powering for the size of room. Maybe a tweek or 2 hear or there would have balanced the bass and toned down the slight boominess.

I have heard totem at 2007 ces and the rooms sound was very good. There were a lot of people visiting that room. There is something about the highs and mids that capture your ear about the totems. Its also amazing how much bass they get out of those slim speakers.

As most would say..hear them in your room and with the rest of your gear is the best way to tell if at all possible.

First I would like to thank everyone for their input. I have to agree with Digsmithd, both the forest and mani-2's metal tweeter can be a bit bright. The other thing that concerns me is how tall the forests are. I think they are only 36" tall. Last time I heard them i noticed that you had to be in the sweet spot for the sound to be good. I know most speakers have a sweet spot, but I don't want a speaker to sound totally different when I leave my listening spot. I have read that the adagios still maintain the same sound even when listening of axis from the typical sweet spot.

To Distortion, I could'nt agree more about SC. I'm in columbia and the nearest "real" dealer is in Charlotte NC. It is really disappointing that there isnt a stronger market for highend equipment in SC.

Because I have zero experience with the Adagio's - I am unable to offer an insight as to how these two well received products compare.

I am chiming in to note that the Totem Forest retains exceptional off-axis dispersion. As usual, all thats needed is a bit of attention towards setup. With the Forests, the trick is to keep the speakers relatively close together with only a very minimal amount of toe-in. Do that, and you'll enjoy full and uniform sound no matter where you are sitting in your listening space.

Good luck in the hunt!

Axis smaxis....ive owned them both.I have placed them in the same spot.No contest...if you can buy the adagio,more refined.dont labor over it.It comes down to trade offs with all speakers.Both reccomend no toe-in.The adagios win in long term satisfaction of no metal bs.Trust me i have owned alot of speakers and am a working musician.the forests are good,but they do sound hi-fi after the decirnable amount of time,they are very analytical and offer what the adagios are better than the forests are.Which is a very refined speaker,everybody has there wagon to say get on.I have had both,no contest(imvho)