Home Theater Audio at CES 2011, Part 2

Posted by: Chris Martens at 6:06 pm, January 26th, 2011

Totem Acoustic

While Totem’s CES demo room focused primarily on two-channel speakers, the firm had its amazing Tribe V (say “five”) L/C/R speaker ($5000/pr.) and companion Tribe Subwoofer (with 500-watt amp, $1695) on display. The Tribe features four small-diameter but ultra-long-throw “Torrent” mid-bass drivers, plus the same tweeter that is used in the firm’s new “Element” high-end floorstanding speakers. In short, the big Tribe V has excellent design DNA.

But here’s the kicker: the tall, slender Tribe V is arguably one of the most capable on-wall/stand-mount speaker you could ever hope to find, with sumptuous mids and high, and the kind of low-end performs that more or less defies belief (in truth, most users would never feel any need for the matching Tribe sub, except in cases where the system was used in very large rooms or where absolutely thunderous bass output is required for watching action films at raucous, theater-like levels (or beyond).