Canada’s Totem Acoustic describes its Kin line as “a companion brand . . . born from a desire to engage a wider audience by offering affordable solutions to today’s audio-capable devices.” I think they’ve succeeded with their Kin One music system. Priced at $1199 (all prices in USD), the Kin One system consists of the Kin Amp and a pair of Kin One bookshelf loudspeakers. The amp, a class-D design with built-in phono stage and Bluetooth connectivity, is available separately for $799. The speakers can be purchased separately for $599/pair, so purchasers save $199 by buying the system as a package.
Description
The Kin One system can fit nearly anywhere. The Kin Amp measures 2.4″H × 10″W × 9.25″D, while each Kin One speaker measures 9.5″H × 5.9″W. The speakers have sloped front baffles. From the bottom front to the top rear, they each measure 6.25″D.
The system comes in a variety of colors and trims. The amplifier is available in satin-black and satin-white finishes. In addition to these, the speakers come in a dazzling pink, a lovely light aqua, or a bright orange. Customers can choose whatever combination of finishes they prefer. I requested and was sent a system with satin-orange speakers.
Rated at 100Wpc into 4 ohms, the Kin Amp is a little powerhouse. Specified harmonic distortion is 0.5% at 100W. At 1W, specified THD is 0.1% when the signal is low-pass-filtered at 30kHz.
On the bottom left of the Kin Amp’s front panel is a Totem logo that lights up when the power is turned on. On the right side is a 3.5mm headphone output jack. When headphones are connected, output to the speakers is automatically muted. In between is a rectangular dot-matrix display screen. The blue text in the middle of the screen indicates volume and selected source. A touch control on the left side of the screen lets you cycle through inputs, while two controls on the right let you raise and lower volume.
On the far left of the rear panel is a pair of RCA input jacks that can be switched for phono or line-level operation. Above the phono/line switch is a ground terminal for use with a turntable. Beside that is the Bluetooth antenna terminal and, just below that, a 3.5mm line-level input jack. To its right is a subwoofer output, which is low-pass-filtered at 220Hz, and an optical S/PDIF input with a maximum resolution of 24-bits/192kHz. Next is a 3.5mm input that bypasses the preamplifier section, intended for use with a streamer in custom installations. Then come the speaker connectors, which accept banana plugs, spade lugs, or bare wire. Those are followed by the main power switch (the remote can put the amplifier into or out of standby mode), a three-prong IEC power inlet, and finally, a mains-voltage selector switch.
The supplied metal remote control has buttons for standby/on, mute; track-skipping and play/pause (for use with Bluetooth devices), source selection, volume up/down, bass up/down, and treble up/down; and a button to return the tone controls to their flat settings. The Kin Amp supports the premium aptX and aptX HD Bluetooth codecs. It will put itself into standby mode when no signal has been detected for 60 minutes.
Each Kin One loudspeaker houses a 4″ midrange-woofer featuring Totem’s MHEX (Multiple Strata Hex Cone) technology and a 1″ titanium-infused soft-dome tweeter. As the speakers have rear ports, Totem recommends placing them 3″ to 24″ from the front wall. The speakers have rear threads for wall mounts, and for this application, Totem recommends that the speakers be installed close to the ceiling. Specified frequency response is 65Hz–22kHz, ±3dB, “with proper positioning.” Nominal impedance is 6 ohms and sensitivity is 89dB (presumably at 2.83V/1m, although this is not specified).
The speakers are covered by a five-year warranty, the amplifier by a two-year warranty, and the supplied remote control by a one-year warranty. The amp and speakers each come with thorough owners’ manuals, in English and French.
Setup
The speakers come in one box and the amplifier in another. In their respective cartons, the amplifier and speakers are nestled in heavy foam forms and wrapped in very nice fabric coverings. In the amplifier’s container is a box of accessories, including a pair of Totem Tress twined speaker cables equipped with banana plugs on both ends, an optical cable, an analog stereo cable with 3.5mm TRS plugs on both ends, and a heavy-duty power cord.
I placed the Kin One speakers on 24″-high speaker stands. The tweeters were slightly below ear level, but the sloped front baffles pointed them more directly at my ears. The speakers were about 5′ apart and 6′ from my listening position.
I connected the speakers to the Kin Amp with the supplied cables, and then connected my source components. My Cambridge Audio Azur 650C CD player was connected to the amplifier’s optical input, my Music Hall Stealth turntable to the RCA phono inputs, and my Denon TU-680NAB tuner to the 3.5mm line-level input.
Totem recommends breaking the speakers in for 50 to 100 hours before listening critically at high levels. I followed this advice, playing music from a local classical FM station at moderate levels for a week—more than 100 hours in total. Other than a slight opening of the treble, I didn’t notice any major change in the speakers’ tone during that period. But I did find myself wishing for a little more low-end oomph, and to that end, boosted the bass slightly using the remote.
Listening
Now it was time for some serious listening. I started with a favorite CD: a performance of Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story Symphonic Dances by David Zinman and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (London 452 916-2). There are plenty of hard staccato notes in the opening movement, marked Prologue—lots of bass-drum thwacks, lots of brass. The Kin One speakers didn’t deliver all the deep bass this track contains, but they did give a good clue as to how this track would have sounded through larger speakers. The intense strikes on drums and other percussion instruments were reproduced very adeptly with absolutely no slop. The strings sounded beautiful and silky. The brass instruments, which are featured prominently in this movement, sounded fairly bright but not overly so. I was impressed by the reproduction of the piano, xylophone, and triangle—they all sounded completely real. For their size, the Kin One speakers performed admirably on this demanding track.
Next up was some big-band jazz: Count Basie and his Orchestra playing Neal Hefti’s “Li’l Darlin’” from Count Basie’s Finest Hour (Verve 314 589 637-2). The sound was, in a word, sweet. The saxes, which carry the melody throughout, couldn’t have sounded finer. They were smooth and mellow, playing as one. The muted trumpet solo near the end stood out on the upper-right side of the soundstage with its tremendous clarity and delicate vibrato. The little Kin speakers reproduced the walking double-bass line with enough impact that I could hear how it anchors the song and propels it along.
It was time to bring out some heavier tunes. I chose “Alone” by Heart (Capitol DPRO-79024, radio-station promotional CD). I wanted to see how loudly the Kin One speakers could play without showing strain, and I found out: not loudly enough to fill my 8′H × 22′W × 14′D listening room. However, when I backed off the level, they sounded fairly good. They were a little bright—Ann Wilson’s voice pierced the air, as did the lead guitar. What this cut showed me was that the Kin Ones need a subwoofer to deliver deep bass. However, they created a broad soundstage with some depth. Interestingly, Wilson’s voice and that of the backing singer were spread across nearly the entire distance between the speakers. That provided extra punch to the vocals, which, so long as the level wasn’t too great, sounded crisp and clean.
As I found the Kin One system simply irresistible visually, I thought it would be fitting to play Robert Palmer’s “Simply Irresistible” from his 1989 compilation Addictions, Volume 1 (Island 91318-2). The heavy drumbeat of the song reinforced how the Kin One speakers need a subwoofer to deliver convincing bass in a big space. They sounded pretty bright, but I think the addition of a sub would have greatly moderated that effect. Despite the lack of bass, I couldn’t help but tap my feet—I found the sense of rhythm this system produces exceptional. As with Heart’s “Alone,” the soundstage stretched from speaker to speaker.
Time for some vinyl. I put Gordon Lightfoot’s 1970 LP If You Could Read My Mind (Reprise RS 6392) on my Music Hall Stealth turntable and dropped the needle on his legendary cover of Kris Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee.” This is a very intimate recording, with Lightfoot playing lead guitar while Ry Cooder joins in on bottleneck guitar. In the background, someone is slapping their knees to add percussion. The placement of the two guitars was very stable, there was nice depth to the performance, and the detail of the knee-slaps was nearly perfect. Lightfoot’s voice was well centered and nicely mellow. The treble was subdued, but that may have had as much to do with the age of the record (50 years) as with the equipment. In all, it was a very enjoyable listen.
When I listened to Paul Simon’s “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” from his 1986 album Graceland (Warner Bros. 1-25447), also on vinyl, the Kin One speakers couldn’t reproduce the deepest percussion sounds, but they hinted at the octave below as they played the second harmonic. The vocals sounded smooth but intense. The accompanying trumpet and saxophones were placed just to the left and right, respectively, of Simon, and had satisfying bite and texture. Given the size of the speakers, I was impressed by how impactful the percussion and drums surrounding Simon sounded. The pacing of the sound was well-nigh perfect, and despite the lack of deep bass, I greatly enjoyed listening to the tune through the Kin system.
I wanted to try the Bluetooth feature, so I paired my Motorola Moto G 5G smartphone with the Kin Amp and cued up “Temptation” by Diana Krall from her album The Girl in the Other Room in the YouTube app. Emerging from the front center of the soundstage, Krall’s smoky, seductive vocals sounded delectable, with her breathy inflections highlighted but not exaggerated. The instrumental accompaniment, which includes an electric guitar off to the left and double bass just to the right, then later Krall on piano in the center and a Hammond B-3 organ to the right, was just as satisfying. I was most impressed by the way the Kin system presented this track. Even the double bass was solid throughout, which surprised me greatly.
Conclusion
Totem Acoustic’s Kin One system is an attractive and very capable setup. The Kin Amp is quite versatile, with a capable phono stage and a generous range of inputs. But at a dollar south of $1200, it’s not inexpensive for a beginner or second system.
While this little system struggled at times in my large listening space, I have no doubt that it would perform wonderfully in a dorm room, den, office, or any other setting where someone desires a compact sound system. Once the speakers were broken in, I was amazed at how much high-quality sound such small boxes could produce. However, I think they sound best with acoustic music, jazz, and classical. For rock, they could use the reinforcement of a subwoofer.
As much as I like the speakers in the funky orange finish, if I were buying the system for myself, I’d opt for satin black or satin blue. Overall, Totem Acoustic’s Kin One music system is highly desirable and extremely listenable.
. . . Thom Moon
thom@soundstagenetwork.com
Associated Equipment
- Digital sources: Cambridge Audio Azur 650C CD player; Motorola Moto G 5G smartphone
- Analog sources: Music Hall Stealth turntable with Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge; Denon TU-680NAB AM/FM tuner
- Interconnects: Manufacturer supplied for turntable; Dayton Audio for tuner; StraightWire for CD player
Totem Acoustic Kin One music system
Price: $1199
Warranty: Five years, parts and labor, on speakers; two years, parts and labor, on amplifier; one year on remote control
Totem Acoustic
9165 Champ d’Eau
St-Léonard, QC
H1P 3M3
Canada
Phone: (514) 259-1062
Fax: (514) 259-4968
Email: info@totemacoustic.com
Website: www.kinbytotem.com
