To bring it all back down to Earth, I have had, and greatly liked, my Totem Arro's for almost 2 decades. But I suspect, that like the Rainmakers, they will show deficiencies on the instrument bench. And I wonder if I should switch to Revel's or another brand that measures up. So all this psychoacoustic discussion seems to bear especially on Totem speakers.
Some upgrades, like replacing my stereo amp with the Denon 3700, and taking room measurements using a decent mike and the REW program, tuning the amp with Audyssey, and adding a cross over to the subwoofer have all improved the sound.
It seems that you are wondering aloud if you should replace your speakers, which you “greatly like.” Here, you are kind of getting at the reason for this website. The vast majority of people are listening to their favorite music on inferior equipment and doing fine. HOWEVER, the argument goes, true music lovers care about hearing the truth of the recording - what the artists, engineers, producers, etc. intended for us to hear. (This is, of course, complicated by questions about the equipment and recoding space and techniques used for each recording, but I digress). The truth is that Totem speakers are not as accurate as other brands - they appear not to be trying to be: even the top-of-the-line Element speakers make design choices that - while no doubt pleasant to some listeners - do not align with current science. You would be hearing more accurate versions of your favorite music with Revels (or other similarly measurement-driven brands), but there is some risk. As your ears have become accustomed to the distortions introduced by your Arros, a more neutral speaker might sound worse to you - less dynamic, exciting, fun - AT FIRST. It may take some time for you to adjust to the “improved” sound, and it is even possible that you will never get there, that you will continue to miss your Arros. This is why listening is so important. Dr. Toole is probably literally the most knowledgeable person regarding music reproduction ON THE PLANET (no joke), but there are many incredibly smart, informed people on this site who disagree about specific speakers. It actually gets comically hostile on a regular basis, with two or more members shouting insults at each other about 2 different speakers or brands that 98% of listeners would hear as identical. So you need to judge for yourself. Personally, I would consider a switch to Revel speakers as a huge upgrade, and the research of Dr. Toole and others suggest the majority of listeners would agree, but you have a unique brain and hearing system, and that counts. Don’t forget that we lose the ability to hear high frequencies over time, so a speaker that you or I might find pleasant (I am 56), might sound very harsh in the treble to a 22-year-old. Also, listening in a store is - unfortunately - far from ideal, as room interactions affect the sound in a very significant way. If you could hear the Revels and your Arros in the same room, with the same equipment, that would be the next-best option (after hearing them in your home with YOUR equipment, of course). My advice would be to try to find a place that sells Arros, and also more neutral speakers, and hear for yourself. If you really can’t find a way to like the more neutral sound, come back here - there are many brands that measure better than your speakers, and some of them will sound better to you than others. KEF, JBL, Ascend, Sigberg - the list goes on. And since no speaker measures perfectly, each brand - each model - makes different trade-offs in their design choices (output, bass extension, directivity, cabinet rigidity, cost, etc.). Some of those choices will agree with you more than others. Most of us really enjoy the process of comparing and contrasting speakers. Happy hunting!
EDIT: There is a thread on this site with recommendations for passive floorstanding speakers, organized by price. It is by no means comprehensive, but might be useful to you:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-recommendations-for-usa-by-sweetchaos.28296/
totemacoustic.com
