Arendal 1528 high end speakers

[DutchJay]

I guess it depends on use. If you have one row of seats or a main listening position, the 1723 are probably fine. If you have multiple rows or need 20 or more degrees of "good" vertical dispersion, then I can see where you might have problems with certain things like dialogue audibility or breakup at the crossover frequency and inconsistent "sound" due to lobing inherent to MTM designs. Your 1723s measure really good for the vast majority of use applications. I know I'd be hard pressed to replace them for the new design without measurements from James, Erin, Amir etc.

I mostly sit in the MPL and dont have multiple rows indeed. On top of this I use Dirac Bass Management to correct the curve and integrate the sub and it sounds amazing. Super detailed, really good imaging and soundstage, plus the bass is super tight and impactfull. I indeed highly doubt if changing the fronts will bring me a lot. But reeding reviews and marketing always makes you doubt ; ) Guess none of you know this feeling right??!!

 

[DutchJay]

I'm getting suspicious about the delay as well btw, erin, audioholics and at least one more youtube reviewer I know have been sitting on the smaller versions without any news for weeks now without posting their reviews....

 

[JATC]

I'm getting suspicious about the delay as well btw, erin, audioholics and at least one more youtube reviewer I know have been sitting on the smaller versions without any news for weeks now without posting their reviews....

Erin won't be reviewing them. He posted pictures of them on his Patreon before they were officially revealed and someone posted them on Arendal’s community forum. I am assuming Arendal made him send them back. He mentioned on a recent livestream that he isn't reviewing them and wasn't really interested in doing a review either.

 

[PGansz]

Erin won't be reviewing them. He posted pictures of them on his Patreon before they were officially revealed and someone posted them on Arendal’s community forum. I am assuming Arendal made him send them back. He mentioned on a recent livestream that he isn't reviewing them and wasn't really interested in doing a review either.

We could infer this but I must say if Arendal pulled the plug on Erin, I get them being upset about it, but it would be petty to "punish" by pulling the speakers back. Ultimately a lose lose instead of a lose-win.

 

[PJ 1]

I mostly sit in the MPL and dont have multiple rows indeed. On top of this I use Dirac Bass Management to correct the curve and integrate the sub and it sounds amazing. Super detailed, really good imaging and soundstage, plus the bass is super tight and impactfull. I indeed highly doubt if changing the fronts will bring me a lot. But reeding reviews and marketing always makes you doubt ; ) Guess none of you know this feeling right??!!

TOTALLY know the feeling ALL. TOO. WELL. I guess I'm not that suspicious though. I think Arendal went all in with the 1528 series and I don't think they expected all the problems with customs everyone is having. There could also be some issue with manufacturing that changed their design. They might have requested the reviewers send the samples BACK because something changed with their manufacturer and they don't want a review on a non-production unit. Maybe they're just waiting until they can get the final production units to reviewers. Who knows other than Arendal. I'd say give them a few more weeks before we move to "something's up". Manufacturing is hard and getting "dreams" through to production always involves compromise no one expects. Arendal has a very good track record by all accounts so I'm willing to wait a little longer.

 

[Qmotion]

I've been patiently waiting since July of 2024. I'm still waiting.

 

[JATC]

Erin won't be reviewing them. He posted pictures of them on his Patreon before they were officially revealed and someone posted them on Arendal’s community forum. I am assuming Arendal made him send them back. He mentioned on a recent livestream that he isn't reviewing them and wasn't really interested in doing a review either.

Update to my post,Erin recently stated that Arendal is sending him the 1528 tower and he also posted a poll to vote between the monitor and bookshelf to also review. So it looks like he and Arendal worked things out!

 

[Pearljam5000]

Notification about “External YouTube Video Link Dropping”

Forum Wide Notification: We are strongly discouraging random YouTube and similar “Video links” being posted without some detailed type of description as to what you want to highlight, or what you think is important to our community. Another words, what in the video do you want to...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Well, I wrote what it is
I'm not sure what I can add about it

 

[NTK]

Well, I wrote what it is
I'm not sure what I can add about it

What you wrote fell far short of what are asked for in the forum notification. I suggest that you should read it carefully.

 

[PJ 1]

Audioholics just dropped their review of the Monitor 8s: https://www.audioholics.com/bookshelf-speaker-reviews/arendal-sound-1528/#toc-h2-3. Seems like a no-brainer if you want loud, accurate speakers under $10K built like a tank using very high quality parts. Add in the 10 year warranty, free shipping, 60 day audition period and IMHO, a person would be crazy to not at least consider them. The one drawback is the sheer size. But you can't have deep bass and tremendous dynamic range without compromises. Great review as always from them and James Larson.

 

[Everett T]

Audioholics just dropped their review of the Monitor 8s: https://www.audioholics.com/bookshelf-speaker-reviews/arendal-sound-1528/#toc-h2-3. Seems like a no-brainer if you want loud, accurate speakers under $10K built like a tank using very high quality parts. Add in the 10 year warranty, free shipping, 60 day audition period and IMHO, a person would be crazy to not at least consider them. The one drawback is the sheer size. But you can't have deep bass and tremendous dynamic range without compromises. Great review as always from them and James Larson.

Very impressive standmounts for sure! That deep bass certainly will have some small rooms ignoring subs.

 

[MarkS]

The one drawback is the sheer size.

And weight. A 100lb standmount makes no sense to me.

 

[Jimbob54]

What you wrote fell far short of what are asked for in the forum notification. I suggest that you should read it carefully.

Exactly . @Pearljam5000

I'll give you a tip . Give us time stamps for things like :

Measurements
Comparisons
Pros and cons
And ultimately tell our membership the conclusions and why . If I have to watch the vid to find that out, it's getting deleted . Thanks

 

[Vacceo]

Email Matt Poes at Poes acoustics. He sells KEF and the Reference 5 was something I was interested in. Don't quote me but the KEF didn't have the dynamic range of say a Perlisten and likely, the 1528 Tower. Cleaner response but lacked that dynamic "wow" that the others provide in sheer volume. I think the KEF Reference line are the best looking speakers around. For the smaller speakers like the 1, s4b, and 1528 Bookshelf 8, I would think for not much more size, the 1528 Monitor 8 is a happy compromise in size and power. But won't know for sure how "improved" they are over the 1723 line until James Larson finishes his review. Totally different designs between MTM and TMW etc.

As with any engineered product, there are tradeoffs. If you do not need that extra dynamic range because your listening room is smaller, the limitation is a non issue. However, for larger spaces, it may be a deal braker

Audioholics just dropped their review of the Monitor 8s: https://www.audioholics.com/bookshelf-speaker-reviews/arendal-sound-1528/#toc-h2-3. Seems like a no-brainer if you want loud, accurate speakers under $10K built like a tank using very high quality parts. Add in the 10 year warranty, free shipping, 60 day audition period and IMHO, a person would be crazy to not at least consider them. The one drawback is the sheer size. But you can't have deep bass and tremendous dynamic range without compromises. Great review as always from them and James Larson.

I'm quite surprised the data on the vertical axis is commented but not provided.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Exactly . @Pearljam5000

I'll give you a tip . Give us time stamps for things like :

Measurements
Comparisons
Pros and cons
And ultimately tell our membership the conclusions and why . If I have to watch the vid to find that out, it's getting deleted . Thanks

I thought people wanted to watch video reviews of products in gernral.

 

[Jimbob54]

I thought people wanted to watch video reviews of products in gernral.

They might . But they aren't getting linked here without a decent summary per the guidance

 

[Vacceo]

Very impressive standmounts for sure! That deep bass certainly will have some small rooms ignoring subs.

I can see the massive output as a great plus with Dirac ART.

My only complain is their lack of vertical graphs for the response, even if it seems quite close to a coaxial.

On your comment about standmounts, due to toe in, Ikea can provide a small bookshelf that gives you half a meter above ground and even the functionality of stuffing it with books.

 

[Shimrra Jamaane]

As I predicted months ago having a 6 of those monitors would be an absolute beast of a setup.

 

[PJ 1]

As with any engineered product, there are tradeoffs. If you do not need that extra dynamic range because your listening room is smaller, the limitation is a non issue. However, for larger spaces, it may be a deal braker


I'm quite surprised the data on the vertical axis is commented but not provided.

If you are referring to the dynamic range of the speaker in a given space in perceived volume, then I disagree. Music is mixed differently than movies for cinema, movies for streaming, and movies in the near field. Matt Poes has a great explanation on his Youtube channel (which I won't link to out of respect for the new ASR rules) which describes how "loudness" has evolved and mixes are different for various content. Essentially, dynamic range is limited or compressed to raise the overall volume. I don't care if my room is 3x3 or 20x20, I want as much dynamic range that I can get from a loud speaker.

 

[dagfinn]

View attachment 394665
1528 Bookshelf.

Uh… It seems like the designer loses and engineer wins this time.

Can't help thinking they have a lot in common with these, Bang Olufsen S80.2 from 1983.

Beovox S80.2

Beovox S80-2 speakers gave neutral sound reproduction with the added realism afforded by depth definition and perspective. There was a 7,5cm mid-range/phase-link unit combined with a 20,5cm woofer and 2,5cm dome tweeter to provide a wide frequency response and no audible phase distortion...

beoworld.org