Totem Speaker system User manual

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CONGRATULATIONS
We sincerely thank you for having granted Totem the special place in your living environment. These
speakers are designed to redefine your musical understanding and open up corridors of new experiences.
We hope you not only enjoy but experience Totem as your guide to a new and rewarding listening
environment! You will without a doubt experience a Totem moment.
OUR VISION
Totem Acoustics’ mission is to develop loudspeakers capable of reproducing a truly musical and involving
performance. Our goal is to provide designs that are both affordable and real ‘soul movers’ for the music
lover and surround lover. Music of any period, country or style is accurately and emotionally rendered with
a powerful focus that is yet soul stirring.
Each speaker is a ‘piece de resistance’ that attests to the profound sound staging that can be reproduced
by flexible and innovative engineering.
Listen and believe...
In a world of infinite possibilities, find your own.

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TOTEM LIMITED WARRANTY
Please register online at www.totemacoustic.com within two weeks of the purchase date.
Keep your original bill or receipt obtained from your Totem Authorized Dealer.
The Totem speakers must be purchased from an TOTEM AUTHORIZED DEALER.
All Totem products are created with the utmost care and quality in mind. If ever a problem should arise
Totem’s speaker are covered by a five (5) year limited warranty, (excluding subwoofers) starting from
the date of purchase. The Totem limited warranty applies to products in normal home use only. The
warranty is void if serial numbers have been altered or removed. The warranty is void if products show
signs of abuse. The warranty is void if the speakers have been tampered with.
The speakers requires at least 85-90 hours of actual music playing time as a minimal break-in period.
During this time, refrain from playing them at very loud levels. You will notice a definite gradual improvement
in the cohesiveness of the music reproduction as this occurs.
Retain the sturdy carton and all packing material; if needed, it will prove invaluable for damage-free
transport or storage and upgrade purposes.
We reserve the right to any future change or modification without notice. If you have any further queries
or require any classifications, feel free to contact your Totem Authorized Dealer.
For further assistance contact your TOTEM AUTHORIZED DEALER
or visit the Support Section of Totem website at www.totemacoustic.com.

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MANUAL
INNER SPIRIT
HIGH PERFORMANCE HOLOGRAHIC ARCHITECTURAL LOUDSPEAKER
Thank you for choosing Totem Acoustic. Please take the time to fully read this manual prior to beginning
set-up. The manual will clearly guide you to achieve the best possible sound that these newly acquired
Totem speakers are capable of providing.
UNPACKING
Totem Acoustic keeps to a strict quality control regimen and all factory-sealed products leave our facility
in perfect condition. If there are any damages visible or concealed they have occurred in handling and
must be reported immediately to your Totem Authorized Dealer.
Carefully remove the speaker(s) from the box(es); take caution as the size often deceives the actual weight.
Save all custom cartons and packaging foam for future use. They are rather expensive and may come in
handy for future upgrades.
PRODUCT FEATURES / SPECIFICATIONS
Totem designed and fabricated
Totem propriety DST Revelator woofer
Paintable dent-proof grill and surfaces
Unique all aluminum metal enclosure with special wood-laminated interiors
Concave faceplate geometry for super long-throw and wide dispersion
Brass- bodied extreme grip speaker terminals
High-quality hard-wired Totem crossover
87 dB efficiency
Easy impedance 8ohm load
INNER SPIRIT
Width Height Depth Frequency Response
12 3/8” / 31.5cm 16 3/8” / 41.6cm 3.75” / 9.5cm 50 Hz – 25 kHz ±3dB
For further assistance contact your TOTEM AUTHORIZED DEALER
or visit the Support Section of Totem website at www.totemacoustic.com.

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SPEAKER PLACEMENT
Before installing your speakers you should consider the placement carefully, taking into effect the location
of electrical, plumbing and other fixtures. Contact your authorized Totem dealer for assistance if you are
not sure of the best location in your particular room environment.
INSTALLING IN CEILING
When placing your Totem speakers in the ceiling, they should ideally be located above the primary
listening area. In a room with low ceiling, it may be necessary to place additional speakers throughout
the room to get the desired spaciousness. Contact your authorized Totem dealer for assistance.
INSTALLING IN WALL
When placing your Totem speakers in the wall, optimal sound will be achieved when your speakers are
mounted at ear level or slightly higher on the wall and the usual listening area is no closer to the wall than
the distance between the speakers themselves.

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MOUNTING SURFACE PREPARATIONS
FINISHED CEILINGS AND wALLS
Prior to the actual installation of the Totem speakers, it will be necessary to run cables to the speaker
locations. See your authorized Totem dealer for more information on cable installation. After the cable
has been properly installed, you are ready to mount the speakers. Following the simple steps listed below
will result in a professional looking installation.
1- Determine the best area to mount your Totem speakers. This area of the ceiling or wall should be free
of obstructions such as electrical conduit, HVAC ducts, or water lines. This can best be determined by
noting the placement of fixtures and gaining access to an attic or crawl space for further analysis of
the location such obstacles.
2- Find the studs/joists nearest the desired speaker mounting location. We highly recommend using
a good stud-finder tool for this procedure. If you are lining up the speakers to some other object or
moulding in the room, make sure you consider the size of the baffles flange which extends beyond
the mounting hole.
3- Mark the hole. A punch out template for setting the hole is provided in the box. Position the
template in the desired position and pencil an outline on the wall or ceiling.
4- Cutting the hole. Caution: This is the most important part of the entire installation. If you are not
certain that no obstructions exist behind the desired mounting area, you should start by cutting a
small hole in the center of your penciled mountinghole with a drywall saw, cutting at a 45 degree angle
towards the inside of thehole. Cutting the small hole at this angle will make drywall repair much
easier, using the piece cut out. Once you have determined there are not obstructions in desired
mounting location, start cutting the finished hole at a 90 degree angle to the wall surface.
5- Add insulation. If the area in the ceiling or wall is not already insulated, add an adequate amount of
insulation material to fill the cavity. If the insulation material used is faced with foil or paper, position
the foil or paper away from the speaker.

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SPEAKER INSTALLATION
The unique integral 4 foot mounting system incorporated in you Inner Spirit allows for a quick installation
by following these easy steps.
1- Remove the grill by pushing the mounting foot that is attached to the screw, down toward the grill to
pop the grill out of the baffle.
2- Attach the speaker cable (observing the proper polarity with your amplifier). Make sure the left
channel of the amplifier is connected to the left speaker channel and the right amplifier channel to
the right speaker channel.
3- Make sure the mounting feet are turned inward to clear the opening, and insert the speaker into the
ceiling or wall. Position the speaker into the hole.
4- Push the grill firmly into the slot in the speaker baffle.
Note: The flange of the speaker is designed to flex and conform to any small imperfections in
the wall surface. Tighten the 6 screws on the front of the baffle only enough to make the flange
become snug against the ceiling or wall. As you tighten the screws, the feet will automatically flip
into an outward position thereby clamping the drywall between the feet and the flange.
CAUTION: OvER TIGHTENING MAy wARP THE bAFFLE, CRACK THE wALL, CAUSE THE FLANGE TO
DISTORT, AND MAKE THE GRILL DIFFICULT TO INSTALL.
PAINTING INSTRUCTIONS
If you plan to paint your Totem speakers, we recommend that it be done prior to installation.
If you plan to paint your speakers sometime in the future, it is best to remove them by simply reversing
the steps for Speaker Installation listed above.
If it is absolutely necessary to paint the speakers while they are still in the wall, the paint masks provided
in the carton must be installed in place of the grill while the flange is being painted in the wall.
The grills can also be painted. However, great care should be taken not to clog the holes as this will
greatly reduce the sound quality of the speakers.
Totem recommends only light spray painting using 5 parts thinning agent to 1 part paint. Do not paint
the grilles while they are attached to the speaker.
If it is necessary to paint the under grill material, follow the same procedure used to paint the grills.

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CONNECTIONS
All connections should be made with the equipment turned off.
Totem delivers all speakers with installed jumpers. For a standard single wire connection simply leave the
jumpers in place. Be certain to connect the positive red (+) terminal of the speaker to the positive red (+)
output terminal on the amplifier. Be certain to connect the negative black (-) terminal of the speaker to
the negative black (-) output terminal on the amplifier. The speakers will sound out of phase (bass loss and
image distortion) if there is an error in your connection. Totem Speakers can be bi-amped and bi-wired,
please consult your amplifier manual for detailed instructions or contact your Totem Authorized Dealer.
TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE
No sound: Verify that your pre-amp and/or amplifier, and receiver are plugged into the AC PLUG and are
turned on. Verify that the wall AC outlet is functional and that your system is not on mute.
Sound from one speaker only: Verify the balance control on your system. Swap speaker sides to verify
if speaker is functional. Verify power cords on all sources. (Amplifier, preamp, receiver, CD, DVR)
Lack of bass or image: Verify the polarity of speaker connections.
Caution: For a bi-amp connection jumpers MUST be removed.
Single wire Bi-wire
Remove jumpers

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SPEAKER ABUSE PREVENTION
To ensure an optimum listening experience, protecting your Totem speakers from damage despite a
partnership with even the most advanced amplifiers in the industry is an achievable yet delicate balance
to achieve. Please be attentive to the following guidelines to obtain the foremost acoustical musicality
from your Totem speakers, whilst preventing any serious prejudice. (Please refer to your Totem Authorized
Dealer for amplifier recommendations)
AMPLIFIER DISTORTION
The most common source of speaker damage results from amplifier distortion. Your amplifier may run out
of clean power upon listening at loud levels. A direct consequence of such an overuse is distorted power,
producing a greater quantity of distortion than its rated output power. This provides a threat of damage
to any loudspeaker.
The greater the amplifier power, the safer the loudness potential. A 50 watt/channel amplifier, if driven
above this 50 watt/channel limit, will naturally produce multiplicatively more distortion than at 50 watts.
A 120 watt/channel amplifier will have substantial distortion above 120 watts, but will not allow any
significant distortion below 100 watts. To conclude, more amplifier power provides cleaner power and
less possibility for damage.
VOLUME
Volume controls on the amplifier/ receiver/preamplifier are very misleading. Please note that the volume
control does not address power-output, but simply adjusts the audible level of music. It is the type of music
being played that has an incidence on the amount of power used at a given volume level. Less dynamic
music utilizes lesser amplifier power than more dynamic music does. With most music, the amplifier
reaches its maximum power between the 11 and 1 o’clock position on the volume dial.
Distortion is inevitable when the amplifier is pushed above its rated output level, which may result in
speaker damage. This occurs with any type of speaker. This type of damage constitutes abuse and may
not be covered by warranty. Be attentive to the instant distortion commences, turning the volume control
down to prevent speaker and/or amplifier damage.
LIMITS
Be wary of providing more power than is appropriate for your speakers and damaging them. Although
a more powerful amplifier may provide better sound, it is very important to utilize speakers within their
power-range rating to prevent damage.
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION
All Totem products are designed to comply with international Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS).