Sound

The Totem Acoustics Element Fire V2 lets every element of the system be heard. The amplifier, the dac and the cables all have an impact on the reproduction. Key words we see are soundstage, imaging and speed.

The soundstage of the Element Fire V2 is the most beautiful we have experienced in our room. Super wide with depth and height making a 3D experience completely possible with the right music. The sweetspot is also very wide so you won’t get a stiff neck when listening to this speaker.

Imaging is excellent and the interaction between tweeter and driver is seamless which provides speed. The bass doesn’t go as deep as some competitors, but the quality is exceptionally high. In addition, non-measurable elements such as experience and engagement are very high. Time after time we rediscover gems from our collection.

Listen

The British David Gray only delivers quality and his latest album “Skellig” is no exception. Rock-solid songs, solid arrangements and a lot of variety are the ingredients of his latest drilling. Gray’s rasping voice comes through clearly and shows that intelligibility, even at lower volume, is excellent. The piano on “Laughing Gas” possesses sufficient weight and is full of emotion and captivates from start to finish. We hear this even more clearly on the track ‘Can’t hurt more than this’. The Totem Acoustics Element Fire V2 performs this album with inspiration and passion and above all very right and accurate.

Charlotte Day Wilson delivers delightful, complexless pop music on “Strangers.” Although this is far from an audiophile album we think the production is excellent. Day Wilson has a beautiful voice and the sophisticated songs make that voice shine. It is never over the top. The beats on the album seem to go on endlessly. It doesn’t go realy deep but the quality of the bass end is exceptional. What detail and speed. Small elements in the mix come through effortlessly and make for wonderful listening. The sparse instrumentation shows a singer with confidence and the Totem Acoustics Element Fire V2 especially puts the voice in the picture. The song “Mountains” builds slowly and takes you on an adventurous journey.

“Dubs For Oh La La” by Comité Hypnotisé is Belgian and perhaps the surprise of 2021. This project by Tim Vanhamel is a blissful album to rediscover again and again. It is at once experimental but accessible. As the title half betrays, this is a dub album but one that we have not heard before. This complex music doesn’t become mush or get bogged down. Each part can be heard separately but at the same time remains nicely a whole. The bass sounds wonderfully clean, tight and defined. What a wonderful album this is!