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Arendal Sound

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DLxP

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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.
That's really interesting - thanks! Didn't they even attempt to justify measuring it in the wrong orientation? They know full well that the majority of users won't use it vertically - which only really works with an AT screen.
 

HooStat

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Yes. This is their response when I asked them about it:
"Thanks for getting back to me. While I understand your position I personally have never seen any company release off-axis horizontal measurements for center channels. The dispersion sideways will be the same as shown, however there will be some peaks and dips throughout the frequency range as the drivers acoustic center's are shifting away from each other when moving to the side."
 

MZKM

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I personally have never seen any company release off-axis horizontal measurements for center channels.
Ascend does it for the Sierra Horizon (non-RAAL). However, they to only show the bookshelf version measurements when looking at the center measurements for the CMT-340 & Sierra 1. However, at least Ascend has vertical info so you can guess what it would be flipped (however, the crossover is a bit different), Arendal only shows horizontal. I'd rather they not show it rather than show the upright performance, or at least state a caveat.
 

q3cpma

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Yes. This is their response when I asked them about it:
"Thanks for getting back to me. While I understand your position I personally have never seen any company release off-axis horizontal measurements for center channels. The dispersion sideways will be the same as shown, however there will be some peaks and dips throughout the frequency range as the drivers acoustic center's are shifting away from each other when moving to the side."
That's fallacious and they know it. First, the number of companies releasing measurements at all is very small and second, you have to remove pro audio brands (because they don't make center channels) from this already small number, making it very small.
Looks like smoke and mirrors to me.
 

HooStat

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I replied and showed them Harman and KEF and Ascend (vertical on the bookshelf). And I pointed them to this website. Perhaps they will send Amir a speaker.
 
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DLxP

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I suppose what this shows is that if a company releases measurements they shouldn't expect to be able to keep secret the measurements they're less happy to display. A company's ethos is either one of transparency or it isn't. Partial transparency just highlights the things that aren't being shared, and causes speculation about the reasons for that.
 
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I realise that's totally unrealistic of course, and even companies unusually transparent about their measurements still don't share measurements for all their speakers. From what I can tell, KEF seem to be leading the way with this at the moment; the R Series white paper was quite impressive.
 

HooStat

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A company's ethos is either one of transparency or it isn't.

What frustrated me about this was that they provided a measurement, but did not indicate that it applied ONLY to the vertical orientation. You have to compare the monitor version of the speaker, and the center channel version to see that they are identical. If @MZKM had not brought this up, I would have missed it.

Someone had mentioned Aperion audio, and they have a nice 3-way speaker. But I think I am back to looking at the KEF R2c. I think the coaxial design is optimal for horizontal dispersion and moderate size. Also Revel 208 looks great, as well as Monitor Audio Silver. I wish there were more measurements available for Monitor Audio.
 
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DLxP

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It sounds like you're in a very similar position to the one I've been in lately. I was very seriously looking at Arendals (1723 S), KEFs (R7 or R11) and Revel (F206/208) and their related center channels. In the end, I found a cracking deal on a pair of F206s so went with them. I very nearly took a punt on Arendal though, as I do think their build quality is particularly good. I own their Sub 3 and it's built like a tank and about as heavy!

I kept hovering over the KEFs but despite their outstanding measurements and the theoretical advantages of coax, I couldn't get over the fact a lot of people are underwhelmed by the R series when they buy them (I know there's speculation in the R3 thread about the reasons for this). Revel just seemed like a safer bet. Now I have to figure out which center to buy!
 
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DLxP

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I would absolutely recommend their subs. Especially ones like the Sub 3, with 2* 13.8" drivers - that's a lot of surface area.
 

Zoide

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They're a bit out of my budget though. I've been looking for a used 1961 1S deals, but otherwise: what would you recommend?

The SVS SB-2000 is very expensive here in Europe, and the P12-300SB-PR is now impossible to find (apparently they can't get the parts since COVID started or something).

Thanks
 
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DLxP

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I've only owned the Sub 3 so can't comment directly on the others I'm afraid. From what I hear they all share the same build quality so it's really just down to what size you need for your room & budget.

I'm not sure where in Europe you are, but there are are often a few used ones around (this site's pretty good: https://www.hifishark.com).
 

sigbergaudio

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Interestingly I did some new measurements to experiment with some stuff in the bass area today, but I did a full range measurement and noticed that the somewhat strange response at the top end was now completely gone. No dip around 8-9k and also no rise above 10khz. It's now actually pretty flat all the way from 2-20khz.

As far as I know I haven't done much different with the setup/configuration, and I even tried several positions without being able to reproduce the previous humps.. Not sure what happened, but thought it may be worth sharing.

So here the pink line is my current response with the 1723 Tower S (blue was the graph I posted previously for reference).
This is 1/6th smoothing in both measurements.
1601370960058.png
 

ROOSKIE

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Interestingly I did some new measurements to experiment with some stuff in the bass area today, but I did a full range measurement and noticed that the somewhat strange response at the top end was now completely gone. No dip around 8-9k and also no rise above 10khz. It's now actually pretty flat all the way from 2-20khz.

As far as I know I haven't done much different with the setup/configuration, and I even tried several positions without being able to reproduce the previous humps.. Not sure what happened, but thought it may be worth sharing.

So here the pink line is my current response with the 1723 Tower S (blue was the graph I posted previously for reference).
This is 1/6th smoothing in both measurements.
View attachment 85315
I have had several tweeters responses change a bit.
I do believe 100% in driver break in so I chalk it up to that.

PS by saying I find driver break in to be real I am not qualifying 500hr break ins or substantial changes, I am qualifying some experienced minor changes. Especially in terms of slightly changed bass and slightly changed treble. Some systems seemed to have more obvious changes and others essentially none.
 

JRiggs

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It sounds like you're in a very similar position to the one I've been in lately. I was very seriously looking at Arendals (1723 S), KEFs (R7 or R11) and Revel (F206/208) and their related center channels. In the end, I found a cracking deal on a pair of F206s so went with them. I very nearly took a punt on Arendal though, as I do think their build quality is particularly good. I own their Sub 3 and it's built like a tank and about as heavy!

I kept hovering over the KEFs but despite their outstanding measurements and the theoretical advantages of coax, I couldn't get over the fact a lot of people are underwhelmed by the R series when they buy them (I know there's speculation in the R3 thread about the reasons for this). Revel just seemed like a safer bet. Now I have to figure out which center to buy!

A lot of people? Really? Underwhelmed?
 
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