Arendal Sound 1723 Series Speakers

Gut instinct should be telling you something. I’m not a big advocate on the ‘give them 50hrs’ thing. Not in terms of the speakers changing per se, I think it’s more a case of the ears adjusting.

So what does your gut say to you ?
I can remember being in my local Audio-t store a few years ago , they had a whopping great pair of PMC's playing at quite low volume. Asked the sales guy about them and he replied that they were being run in for a customer that had spent around 8k on them . No mein of 50 hours though .

Maybe there is an element of truth to some run in time , who knows . But as you say , over 50 hours perception could easily sway.

Ultimately , I think it's a case of having a demo on whatever speaker in question . Make a choice and go for it. Hopefully I can get a demo on the 1723"s.
 
I used to have Q900’s. Some years ago though.
Mighty pair of floor standers and they do go low , 32hz. My REL T9 augnments them very nicely . Just had Kef repair my Uini-q drivers as the HF's blew following an amplifier malfunction, that ended up in a replacement amp under warranty. They do sound good I must say.

I see the Arendal come pretty close to that ,35hz with the port bungs removed. Are all the woofers active on the 1723's or do they have ABR's ?

Also , I see that the 1723's are rated at 4ohms with maximum input of 400 watts but couldn't help noticing on a picture of the binding posts that the top two are labelled 8ohms. Could someone explain this, excuse my ignorance .

Being honest , the 1723's seem to have a lot on offer . Cosmeticly they're stunning and the apparent build quality does grab attention.

My short list is Kef R11's, Arendal 1723 towers and Focal Aria 968. Time to get demo'ing. The Kef's are going to have to really stand out to justify an extra 1k.
 
Mighty pair of floor standers and they do go low , 32hz. My REL T9 augnments them very nicely . Just had Kef repair my Uini-q drivers as the HF's blew following an amplifier malfunction, that ended up in a replacement amp under warranty. They do sound good I must say.

I see the Arendal come pretty close to that ,35hz with the port bungs removed. Are all the woofers active on the 1723's or do they have ABR's ?

Also , I see that the 1723's are rated at 4ohms with maximum input of 400 watts but couldn't help noticing on a picture of the binding posts that the top two are labelled 8ohms. Could someone explain this, excuse my ignorance .

Being honest , the 1723's seem to have a lot on offer . Cosmeticly they're stunning and the apparent build quality does grab attention.

My short list is Kef R11's, Arendal 1723 towers and Focal Aria 968. Time to get demo'ing. The Kef's are going to have to really stand out to justify an extra 1k.
depending how important movies are to you and being the most important speaker I would seriously consider adding a new Arendal centre speaker as well
 
depending how important movies are to you and being the most important speaker I would seriously consider adding a new Arendal centre speaker as well
Give or take , were about 60 / 40 movies to music. So yes centre channel is very important . Though my 600c does perform well. If I go with the Arendal's then the 1k saving on the R11's would be well on the way to paying for a new centre ....... At least that's how I'll put it to the wife :D

I really would like to see the towers in the flesh as the quality of the build looks stunning in the photos.
 
Depending on where you are in the country, there may be an owner close or reasonably close were you could go and have a look at them. If anyone is willing of course.
 
Is there a UK distributor or do Arendal take care of their own sales ?
 
Does anyone know the distance from the top of the 1723 S Bookshelf speaker to the centre of the tweeter? And would you have the option to purchase 3?
 
Does anyone know the distance from the top of the 1723 S Bookshelf speaker to the centre of the tweeter? And would you have the option to purchase 3?

I’m not aware of any owners at the moment so you’d probably have to ask Arendal for the measurement. And you’ll most certainly have to ask them for the answer to your second question. They’re usually pretty quick with replies, same day in most cases.
 
I’m not aware of any owners at the moment so you’d probably have to ask Arendal for the measurement. And you’ll most certainly have to ask them for the answer to your second question. They’re usually pretty quick with replies, same day in most cases.
Ok thanks, I'll get in touch with them.
 
I'm Home Alone tonight and I've got The Predator lined up for a viewing. I know my 1723 Surround Speakers are bloody good but from the clips I've played, they'll be getting to work on this movie :D
 
Not a LFE filtered movie, so should give your sealed subs a good workout as well ;)
 
I had a bit of an issue with dialogue at times. But after listening to some other stuff, it was just on that movie.

As to the movie itself . . . It's an absolute pile of crap in so may ways.
 
I had a bit of an issue with dialogue at times. But after listening to some other stuff, it was just on that movie.

As to the movie itself . . . It's an absolute pile of crap in so may ways.

I’ve noticed this sort of issue with a number of films when listening around -4 to -6. Off the top of my head the two most obvious ones are Man of Steel and Edge of Tomorrow.

It’s almost like the sound engineers have artificially boosted the speech, which is then audible when listening loud, especially when you have such good speakers.
 
Anyone know how these compare to Monitor Audio Golds? They're about the same RRP
 
Anyone know how these compare to Monitor Audio Golds? They're about the same RRP

I haven't heard those myself so I can't offer a comparison unfortunately.

I've had mine for just on 2 years now and I'm still liking them a lot.
 
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I read lots of chatter about how a speaker system should ideally blend in. So when listening to music or movies we shouldn’t really be able to detect that, that sound is particularly coming from that speaker and that it’s more radiating from that area. I have to agree with that philosophy and who wouldn’t tbf.
This all adds up to creating an illusion of sorts. Which makes sense if we are trying to create a sort of bubble of sound and we are in the middle of that bubble. So we don’t or can’t pin point the source of the sound.

Another ideal is having those speakers out of view. Most however can’t achieve this as we are in a normal room viewing environment. And some do actually prefer to see the speakers and have them as part of the room.

Mine aren’t hidden away. And for those that may have seen pics of my room, as soon as you walk in, these boys are right in your face. And they look like they are going to hurt you. But, fire everything up and you are greeted with a sound that doesn’t appear to come from the speakers but more radiates from the front of the room. When listening to some music tracks in stereo, I would swear there are other speakers in there somewhere. When movie watching, I’m in that bubble of sound. My set up is 5.1 but that bubble often creates speakers that aren’t actually there.

Other variants and brands are available :)
 
The wife went to bed early last night and I listen to a bit of music late on. For me the sound is always that little bit purer then, few washing machines etc. to colour the electrical supply. Sounds crazy I know but it always seems noticeable to me.

The next track span up which happened to be 'Never Enough' from the Greatest Showman (I blame the kids|). I decided to wind it up a little and it was just incredible. Closing my eyes it was as if she was in the room sitting between the speakers, it was as the film says utterly captivating.

With the KEF I had before they often argue that the UNI-Q design creates a huge sound stage and image, which they do. But the Arendels just take it to another level in soundstage and image for me and such a clear and free sound but detailed and dynamic all at the same time; just enjoyable.

For me I can see them sitting there for many years to come personally.

They just make me smile and enjoy music in a way I've never done before.

For Movies its just the icing on the cake. I had ATMOS speaker up-mixing on until recently and I though I'd try it off. Its so much more pure without it on and as you say the side speakers give a wall of sound from the triple design that comes to you with such a wide sound. Still directional for those that think might not be, but together with the centre it creates a movie experience that just brings a smile to your face.

Not for a single moment have I regret taking a punt on them.
 
Biggest compliment I can make to these speakers (coming from a person who suffers a bad case of upgraditis!) is that I have recently installed an acoustic transparent screen, with my front LCR now completely hidden away, with the only access to them if I do some dismantling of my now new setup.

In other words, unless these speakers blow up, they’re staying for good!!! I will never say that about any of my other equipment apart from my subs and my lumagen pro. :thumbsup:
 

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