Arendal Sound

[DLxP]

I wondered what people thought of Arendal Sound speakers. I'm newly in the market for some home theater speakers and these are quite high on my list of options.

I've seen a few posts about them - e.g. @Ilkless has praised their approach, and it looks like @sigbergaudio owns their 1723 Tower S. I'm considering their 1723 series - possibly the 1723 Monitor S.

The measurements look good on the Arendal site. They're all here: https://arendalsound.eu/graphs-data/

The 1723 Monitor S, which I'm looking at, has these measurements on the Arendal site (unsure what smoothing's been applied):

I've come across the following measurements from publications, of the 1723 Monitor S and other Arendal speakers. For the Monitor S, it looks like there's a dip in the 2-3kHz area, which I'm a little concerned about, but that could be EQ'd out, potentially.

The 1723 Monitor S (from here):

The 1723 Monitor S (from here):

The 1723 Tower (from here):

The 1723 Monitor (from here):

The 1723 Monitor (from here):

 

[hmt]

Could that fizzyness above 10KHz due to the grille?

 

[DLxP]

I'd be very surprised if any of these measurements were taken with the grille on

 

[SIY]

Could that fizzyness above 10KHz due to the grille?

I don't know these speakers, but I see similar stuff in almost every waveguide-loaded tweeter I've tested.

 

[hmt]

Ok seeing those off axis measurements this dip vanishes so it sould be the waveguide.

 

[sigbergaudio]

Yes, I have their 1723 Tower S. Arendal is quite popular in Europe and needless to say in Norway (where they're from). They're most popular among the home cinema / movie crowd, and perhaps less so among the music/stereo crowd. The people behind Arendal Sound used to be the European distributor for SVS, which I guess says a bit about where they're coming from when it comes to sound focus.

Personally I think the speakers do a good job for both music and movies. They have an effortless and dynamic sound, and compared to many other speakers they don't tend to get harsh or overly bright even at quite loud levels - while still maintaining a relatively clear and good upper frequency range. They're also good in the midrange for male/female vocals. I'm sure you will find speakers out there with better clarity / resolution in the higher frequencies, but I don't find them lacking. They're also somewhat plain in the design department compared to more high-end brands like say Sonus faber and the like, but overall they look good (subjective of course).

From a design perspective their first speakers were the 1723 Towers with 4(!) 8" drivers in each speaker, so it's quite clear that their design goal is biased towards impact and realistic sound pressure for movies as opposed to violin concerts. In addition to their speaker ranges, they also have a quite broad subwoofer range that are popular among the cinema crowd too.

 

[sigbergaudio]

Here's full range 1/6 smoothed measurement in my living room (with and without Audyssey), and as you can see the dip and then rise around 10k is present here as well. Not something I notice in practice as problematic though. Actually more of a peak than much of a dip.


EDIT: Perhaps obvious but this is of course a measurement with subwoofers, the speakers don't go this low by themselves.

 

[MZKM]

The horizontal measurements for their center channels are the same as their MTM bookshelves (when it should be vertical, as it’s rotated 90°). That‘s a bit shady which makes me wonder what they are hiding.

 

[DLxP]

The horizontal measurements for their center channels are the same as their MTM bookshelves (when it should be vertical, as it’s rotated 90°). That‘s a bit shady which makes me wonder what they are hiding.

I did think that a bit suspect. I'm actually considering the center channel so I may email them to ask about it. In fact, I will, and when I do I'll ask them what smoothing they use and whether they'll share unsmoothed graphs. From reading around, they're fairly open about measurements, so hopefully I'll get some useful info.

Yes, I have their 1723 Tower S. Arendal is quite popular in Europe and needless to say in Norway (where they're from). They're most popular among the home cinema / movie crowd, and perhaps less so among the music/stereo crowd. The people behind Arendal Sound used to be the European distributor for SVS, which I guess says a bit about where they're coming from when it comes to sound focus.

Personally I think the speakers do a good job for both music and movies. They have an effortless and dynamic sound, and compared to many other speakers they don't tend to get harsh or overly bright even at quite loud levels - while still maintaining a relatively clear and good upper frequency range. They're also good in the midrange for male/female vocals. I'm sure you will find speakers out there with better clarity / resolution in the higher frequencies, but I don't find them lacking. They're also somewhat plain in the design department compared to more high-end brands like say Sonus faber and the like, but overall they look good (subjective of course).

From a design perspective their first speakers were the 1723 Towers with 4(!) 8" drivers in each speaker, so it's quite clear that their design goal is biased towards impact and realistic sound pressure for movies as opposed to violin concerts. In addition to their speaker ranges, they also have a quite broad subwoofer range that are popular among the cinema crowd too.

Very interesting - thank you! I'm also based in Europe and on a forum I frequent (AVForums) they're extremely popular. I think the distributor you're referring to was L-Sound, which also used to distribute ATI if I recall.

You're right about their sub range. I actually own one of their subs - the Sub 3, which is about the same size and shape as a washing machine, with dual opposing 13.8" woofers. It works quite nicely with movies

 

[sigbergaudio]

Very interesting - thank you! I'm also based in Europe and on a forum I frequent (AVForums) they're extremely popular. I think the distributor you're referring to was L-Sound, which also used to distribute ATI if I recall.

You're right about their sub range. I actually own one of their subs - the Sub 3, which is about the same size and shape as a washing machine, with dual opposing 13.8" woofers. It works quite nicely with movies

That is correct, and yes they distributed ATI as well.

They have a user group / fan club group on Facebook if you're looking for input by other owners: https://www.facebook.com/groups/770234190021948

 

[HooStat]

I did think that a bit suspect. I'm actually considering the center channel so I may email them to ask about it. In fact, I will, and when I do I'll ask them what smoothing they use and whether they'll share unsmoothed graphs. From reading around, they're fairly open about measurements, so hopefully I'll get some useful info.



Very interesting - thank you! I'm also based in Europe and on a forum I frequent (AVForums) they're extremely popular. I think the distributor you're referring to was L-Sound, which also used to distribute ATI if I recall.

You're right about their sub range. I actually own one of their subs - the Sub 3, which is about the same size and shape as a washing machine, with dual opposing 13.8" woofers. It works quite nicely with movies

I am interested in the answer to this as well. I need a center channel and this might fit the bill. Assuming its horizontal dispersion as a center channel isn't compromised.

On a related note, does anyone know where they manufacture their speakers? I tried to find it on the website, but they didn't mention it.

 

[hmt]

They build them in China.

 

[HooStat]

They build them in China.

That makes sense. Since they talk so much about their Nordic quality and craftsmanship, and don't actually mention where they build them, it must be farmed out.

 

[sigbergaudio]

That makes sense. Since they talk so much about their Nordic quality and craftsmanship, and don't actually mention where they build them, it must be farmed out.

They do build in China, but it's right there on the website, it's not hidden. https://arendalsound.eu/born-in-norway/

 

[HooStat]

They do build in China, but it's right there on the website, it's not hidden. https://arendalsound.eu/born-in-norway/

Funny, I spent 10 minutes trying to find the information. It was too obvious!

 

[HooStat]

Actually, I went back to their website and I could not find a hyperlink to that page from their home page, which explains it. It is obviously there, of course. It must be linked some other way.

 

[sigbergaudio]

Actually, I went back to their website and I could not find a hyperlink to that page from their home page, which explains it. It is obviously there, of course. It must be linked some other way.

I get automatically redirected to the Norwegian page when I go to the .com-site, so not sure how it looks there, but it's on the front page of .eu, pretty far down:

 

[HooStat]

OK. It is about 3 pages down on the home page. I have to scroll pretty far to find it. I was looking at the top-level menu. I am not a fan of the endlessly scrolling page design, but now it makes sense.

 

[DLxP]

I get automatically redirected to the Norwegian page when I go to the .com-site, so not sure how it looks there, but it's on the front page of .eu, pretty far down:
View attachment 84789

Their metaphor's a bit confused if they're designed in Norway and built in China ... it should probably be 'Conceived in Norway, Born in China ... '.

 

[HooStat]

The horizontal measurements for their center channels are the same as their MTM bookshelves (when it should be vertical, as it’s rotated 90°). That‘s a bit shady which makes me wonder what they are hiding.

I asked them about this, and they told me via email that they do not have measurements for the horizontal orientation. That seems strange given that they sell it as a center channel and show it on their website in the horizontal orientation. Really bummed me out because I was strongly considering them for LCR and dual subs. Now I have to look elsewhere.