Arendal 1528 high end speakers

[Sly fox]

It's expensive, yes.

The performance and quality justify the price.

Have you heard them?

 

[pras1011]

I have the Slim 8. They are not slim. They are nice but due to poor quality control, there are tiny marks on the body and the speaker cone.

 

[Sly fox]

I have the Slim 8. They are not slim. They are nice but due to poor quality control, there are tiny marks on the body and the speaker cone.

Don't expect that at that price.
Considering the bookshelves, just waiting for more measurements/reviews from audioholics before I make a decision.

 

[Oddball]

I have the Slim 8. They are not slim. They are nice but due to poor quality control, there are tiny marks on the body and the speaker cone.

I am sure that you can replace them. But will be a pack hassle.

Any other input?

 

[Vacceo]

Considering the recent Saranna speaker presentation, now I can understand Thorbjørn Sigberg consideration with these speakers. Price aside, which is no small thing, I think both archive a quite comparable performance with completely different methods.

I can also see why Arendal´s engineers mentioned that active speakers are not out of the picture in the future.

 

[Pearljam5000]

New review

 

[Oddball]

OMG, so what the hell is Gene actually saying?

 

[jonfitch]

The Arendal 1528 Slim 8 looks very interesting. Very similar size and design to the Revel Ultima Gem 2, which scored 8.5 w/ sub from the official Revel spinorama measurements. I wonder if the 1528 Slim 8s will manage to measure competitively with it. If so it's a huge price difference ($3500 vs $9998, $11396 with the stands that are more or less required).

I have the Slim 8. They are not slim. They are nice but due to poor quality control, there are tiny marks on the body and the speaker cone.

Funny enough Revel Ultima 2 series which uses a similar driver layout has really bad QC too, their drivers all have different colors and tiny random marks on them, despite the fact that the MSRPs are way higher on these and these were MSRPs from 2006.

 

[jhaider]

Funny enough Revel Ultima 2 series which uses a similar driver layout has really bad QC too, their drivers all have different colors and tiny random marks on them, despite the fact that the MSRPs are way higher on these and these were MSRPs from 2006.

You must have different Gem2s than I do. Obviously the Be tweeter looks different from the Ti midrange and woofer, but otherwise don’t really see what you’re claiming.

That said, I like that Arendal is taking up this very useful form factor.

 

[pras1011]

Is ASR going to be reviewing the 1528 in the future?

The Slim 8 are a great form factor but they are still massive.

 

[Vacceo]

OMG, so what the hell is Gene actually saying?

And again, no data on the vertical dispersion pattern.

 

[Count Arthur]

I really like the Monitor 8, but they need to make a version with wood veneer:

 

[sigbergaudio]

Vertical dispersion can be quite difficult to collect on a large floorstander.

 

[Vacceo]

Vertical dispersion can be quite difficult to collect on a large floorstander.

Sure, but Gene is not new on taking measurements, even with difficult gear.

 

[MarcT]

I really like the Monitor 8, but they need to make a version with wood veneer:

View attachment 447595

Roger that. That looks so much better!

 

[MarcT]

I really like the Monitor 8, but they need to make a version with wood veneer:

View attachment 447595

Regarding this, how hard would it be to DIY some sort of veneer like in your image on these speakers?

 

[Count Arthur]

Regarding this, how hard would it be to DIY some sort of veneer like in your image on these speakers?

I've never actually tried it, but I wouldn't have thought it would be too difficult, and you'd only have to do the top and the sides, you could leave the back and the bottom. I would definitely have a few practice runs on something before attempting it though, or possibly finding someone that has done it before.

 

[MarcT]

I've never actually tried it, but I wouldn't have thought it would be too difficult, and you'd only have to do the top and the sides, you could leave the back and the bottom. I would definitely have a few practice runs on something before attempting it though, or possibly finding someone that has done it before.

Thanks. Yeah, I fear those gray speakers would be a no-go in my house, as our sound system is in our family room.

 

[Oddball]

I am still a bit confused about the big 1528 center. Not that I am really interested, but it does continue to strike my fancy and I have not written it off.

I was not able to find any measurements for the center itself. Looks like Audioholics have measured the big towers and called it a day although the title includes center review. For sure there must be differences, at least some. Anybody that has found the measurements for the big center?

Another complaint of mine was that speaker was not able to be tilted with the solutions provided. It looks like Arendal did listen to that and provided threads under the speaker so it can be mounted to their custom 1528 stands. That is definitively good news but not really interested in their stands that still fail to provide angled solution despite the price. Does anyone know what is the Fi of the thread in these speakers so one could deploy a more custom tilting solution?

Don't really want to bother Arendal as have done much of that in the past and this is just a casual inquiry.

 

[ta240]

Sure, but Gene is not new on taking measurements, even with difficult gear.

I think James Larson does all their fancy speaker measurements. I'm not sure where he is located in relation to Gene but these speakers seem to be in the middle of their "next big thing" tour so maybe they will make it to James or Erin.