Subwoofer decision: PSA V1812 or Arendal Sub 3 for movies.

PSA V1811/ V1812 or Arendal Sub 3 for movies.

  • PSA V1811/ V1812

    Votes: 15 75.0%
  • Arendal Sub 3

    Votes: 3 15.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 2 10.0%

  • Total voters
    20
I've had the Arendal Sub3 along with a PSA S1500 and now dual PSA S1811's. The Arendal weighed a lot more and was better built with a nice finish (although easy to mark) whereas the PSA's are a bit more industrial looking. Personally I think the finish on the PSA's is more robust and child/animal resistant.

All sounded great in my room but the PSA's do dig deeper and sound less restrained than the Arendal Sub3 did for movies. I felt that the internal EQ/DSP was holding it back and reigning in it's performance to some degree.

The S1500 was very punchy and I also ran it in combination with the Sub3 and they sounded excellent together. Lots of punch and slam. Unfortunately the S1500 developed a fault so that slightly put me off my plan of dual S1500's so I went to dual S1811's instead. These have plenty of slam and punch along with low end (down to 9hz in my room).

Knowing what I know now in terms of how subs work in my room and how their orientation affects performance (shouldn't, but it does) I'd be tempted to go back to a pair of dual driver Subs.

The Arendal Sub2S would likely be my first choice due to it's size (thereby increasing placement options) and that Arendal would have appeared to have tweaked their low end performance.
 
Thanks Jase,

Agree regarding the Arendal Sub2S, it seems they have tweaked the sub.

Yesterday, I sent them an email related with the Arendal Sub3 against the Sub2S but still waiting their response.
 
This is probably a stupid question but what makes the ipal so good?
They’re basically just the badder versions of the DS series. More XMAX, higher sensitivity, higher power handling, although the 1ohm nominal loads makes them a no-go for most amplifiers.

They are really designed for pro audio use, combined with power soft ipal amps, to provide a feedback system I think.

They are similar in performance to the new Eminence 21.
 
They’re basically just the badder versions of the DS series. More XMAX, higher sensitivity, higher power handling, although the 1ohm nominal loads makes them a no-go for most amplifiers.

They are really designed for pro audio use, combined with power soft ipal amps, to provide a feedback system I think.

They are similar in performance to the new Eminence 21.

Thanks Liam, looking forward to reading what @Saul Goodman makes of them :smashin:
 
The PSA subs are made in the US aren't they? Arendal are Europe? Norway/Sweden???

How does the warranty on these work? Are there UK distributors that can authorise repairs etc?
@Rickyj at Kalibrate is the UK distributor should any issue's arise.

I had a faulty on off switch repaired swiftly with no issues.

Yes, we deal with repairs in the UK/EU for the PSA range. We have some more 'parts' coming over with the shipment arriving in July so that we have parts on hand should the need arise.
 
I'll be writing the review up in the next couple of weeks... honest!
No problem, You had the S1512. They are talking about the S18ipal (due with us this month). One of it's bigger brothers, if you are interested.:smashin:
 
No problem, You had the S1512. They are talking about the S18ipal (due with us this month). One of it's bigger brothers, if you are interested.:smashin:

Wouldn't you be better off sending them to a reviewer that does objective reviews/measurements? Maybe @Tom @ PSA could get some arranged for the US based reviewers also?
 
Wouldn't you be better off sending them to a reviewer that does objective reviews/measurements? Maybe @Tom @ PSA could get some arranged for the US based reviewers also?

Happy for suggestions, who that may be in the UK?
 
The PSA subs are made in the US aren't they? Arendal are Europe? Norway/Sweden???

How does the warranty on these work? Are there UK distributors that can authorise repairs etc?

All of our cabinets are built and finished in Ohio. All amplifiers are also built, programmed and bench checked here in Ohio. All subwoofer drivers come from Italy. (B&C). Final assembly, QC, boxing on everything is handled here in Ohio as well.

We will be introducing a product line with some(and eventually possible all) of the above produced in china at some point. But all current products will continue to have the same USA "dna" as they do now(as well as the same Italian neo drivers).

Tom V.
 
I know a couple of people that have the capabilities, I will ask and let you know..
I hope you're good friends with Russel.
 
.
I hope you're good friends with Russel.
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I was thinking of you 😁 (Also someone I went to school with, but he's too busy to do it)
 
Do you think you could get an PB 4000 or 16 Ultra physically in the room?

I have 2 SB2000 and find they give a good showing in movies but prefer the sealed in music
 
That would have been a good call if he was still around.
His reviews were about the only ones I really took note of, no doubt helped by the fact we actually met. It's a shame he's become disenfranchised with the audio world, but it's understandable.
 
His reviews were about the only ones I really took note of, no doubt helped by the fact we actually met. It's a shame he's become disenfranchised with the audio world, but it's understandable.
Is he not with Arendal anymore?
 
I don't know to be honest. I'm not active like I once was but I've seen the Arendal threads continue but not seen anything from Russ in quite a while. I spoke to him maybe a year ago, probably longer truth be told, and he seemed to have lost his mojo for the forums in much the same way I have so I've not been expecting to see him around, but we don't keep in touch or anything either so I've no idea if he still comes on from time to time or whether or not he's involved with Arendal.
 
Do you think you could get an PB 4000 or 16 Ultra physically in the room?

I have 2 SB2000 and find they give a good showing in movies but prefer the sealed in music

Dual sb2000 would be another option to consider. They don't seem to get a lot of forum chatter but it is a solid price/performance/size balance. IIRC they would be very similar overall to the 1s sub for example but with deeper extension. But I don't know what the pricing for either is from region to region.

Tom V.
 
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