It’s time for a confession. While I still get excited about unboxing any piece of gear that has crossed my threshold for review—I get to play with toys for a living, after all—when it comes to electronics, that excitement normally centers on ergonomics, design, vibes, that sort of thing. With speakers, though, there’s a bit of anxiety involved. Surprises can be either a good or bad thing depending on my mood, and electronics don’t have much in the way of surprises when it comes to performance. Speakers, on the other hand—well, they all sound a bit different, don’t they? Some more different than others.
Give me an integrated amp from a well-established brand, and I’m likely going to have some nits to pick, but I’m not likely to be shocked by any aspect of its sound. With transducers, though—well, some of them are Monitor Audio Silver 300s, and some of them are Atlantic Technology AT-3s, you know?
Where does Totem Acoustic’s new Loon Monitor ($1299/pair, all prices USD) fit on that spectrum? I literally have no idea, hence the trepidation. On the one hand, Totem is a Canadian brand, and I love me some Canadian speakers. And a lot of people I know and respect dig this company’s stuff. On the other hand, Totem is known for not having a house sound, per se, and even people who love the brand are up front about the fact that each of the company’s speakers has a distinct flavor.
But I’ll say this: just based on the presentation and packaging, I’m already impressed. The reliance on thick, dense expanded polyethylene foam instead of crumbly, messy, ineffective expanded polystyrene is a big plus for me, although I know those of you who regularly read my unboxing posts have gotta be getting sick of me hammering that nail.
These things are so well padded that they feel incredibly secure in a box that doesn’t have a ton of space beyond the size of the speakers themselves. It’s efficient and effective, and it saves on transportation costs. All important considerations for weirdos like yours truly.
With the speakers out of the box (but their grilles still wrapped in air-foam paper), we get our first good look at the Loons’ cabinets, including the delicious asymmetry of the veneers (American walnut in the case of my review samples; other options include black ash veneer and a satin white finish). Look closely where the grille magnetically affixes to the cabinet, and you can also get a first glimpse at the Loon’s lock-mitered edges, which give it a bit of extra pizazz you wouldn’t necessarily expect in a speaker at this price.
The air-foam paper bag, by the way, provides good protection in the unlikely event that the grille slips off during unboxing or setup, preventing full contact between the magnets and the speakers’ finish.
Here we get a closer look at the speaker side of one of the grilles, as well as a closer look at the Loon’s 5.75″ woofer, which delivers the bass that Totem describes as “deep and tight, yet not exaggerated, with an excellent impact and decay.” That remains to be seen, of course, but I’ll dig deep in my full review.
An even closer look at the woofer reveals how the light catches the natural fibers of the cone. You also get a sense of just how little baffle there is between the woofer’s surround and the side of the cabinet.
And here’s a close-up of the 1″ laser-etched soft-dome tweeter. Really happy to see this, as a soft-dome tweeter makes the most sense for a speaker anywhere near this price point. The sum total of the driver hardware and the way it’s all integrated into the design of the cabinets make the Loons a really gorgeous pair of speakers with the grilles off, which is how I plan to run them for the most part.
A quick turnaround reveals that even the back edges of the speaker are lock-mitered. Interestingly, it’s this back shot that I feel gives you the best sense of the Loon’s scale, as its bass-reflex port is a good reference. The port size is 1.25″ with a 1.5″ opening. That means you’ll want to place the speakers at least that far from the wall behind them, although Totem recommends a range of 6″ to 3′.
Lastly, we take a look at the Loon’s binding posts—two pairs, in fact, with removable jumpers, so you could biwire or biamp these. What I really like about the binding posts, though, is that they include rubber stoppers instead of the typical hard plastic, which makes them much easier to remove for those of us who prefer banana plugs.
So with that, there’s nothing left to do but sit down for some serious evaluation. Keep your eyes peeled for my full review, coming soon.
. . . Dennis Burger
dennisb@soundstagenetwork.com
