Ethan

HOW IS YOUR ROOM SET UP?

I live in an apartment with a smaller living room -- My layout is in a typical living room environment with furniture and an armoire where my TV and center channel speaker are located -- My listening position is a sofa in front of the TV -- I use this room for sports and movies, and occasional music.

My setup is probably more compact than most in that I have a lot of furniture and decorations that go with my speakers. I don’t have a dedicated listening room / movie room, i.e. I use my living room. Most of my pictures are full of decorations, too.

My room is a condo living room which is compact as I think the photos show (it’s 16.5 ft x 13.5 ft x 9 ft ceilings).

WHAT WAS YOUR GOAL WHEN LOOKING FOR NEW SPEAKERS AND SUBWOOFERS?

I wanted a premium speaker setup and a speaker company where I could buy, buy once, but continue to upgrade my setup as the years go by. With Arendal I have found the speaker company that will get all my business. In particular I wanted a speaker system that would make movies / 4K movies via disc really shine.

WHERE DID YOU HEAR ABOUT US?

I believe I heard some YouTube reviewers talk about Arendal, and how the value to performance was incredible.

Audioholics, Cheap Audio Guy, Andrew Robison... When I’m researching, these are the three channels I trust the most.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE ARENDAL SOUND?

Price to performance was everything I wanted, and the speakers were black, which was very important to me. I don’t need or want speakers that are brown, white, or any other color.

I watched a lot of YouTube videos, did web searches, and tried to do my research before I picked a speaker brand. As many know, the choices are varied. Arendal kept coming up as an over-performer for a reasonable price. I couldn’t afford $10K individual speakers, but if I could get $10K sound for less, I was going to do that. With Arendal I get the best of both worlds, incredible sound for a reasonable price. The reviews were great, I took the plunge, and I’m a lifelong Arendal customer now.

YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH THE PRODUCTS?

The speakers have been great, I used the 1723 S series. My only complaint is the center channel, I wish Arendal made a smaller but longer center channel speaker.

The speakers perform really well as “large” or “small” with my AV receiver.

The sound quality is superb with music and movies, especially when I do turn up the volume on music. Movies on 4K disc are incredible (much better than streaming - which I think is part of the issues with the center channel, but my placement of the channel is different also based on my setup which I’m sure isn’t ideal). Overall I love my Arendal speakers and plan to move them to new positions in the future when I move etc.

With Arendal speakers the sports sound is much more encompassing and feels like a bigger volume of sound which I like. Music is absolutely amazing. I have a 300-disc CD player (Sony) which I play mainly movie soundtracks, and what I like about this kind of music is the Arendal speakers are very crisp and precise on this type of music. The subwoofers really add to the effect, and I’m so glad I got them from Arendal too. I have used both the small and large effect with my AV (Sony ES5000) and both are equally good, but the small effect uses the subwoofers more, which I like.

WHAT ELSE DOES YOUR SYSTEM CONSIST OF?

Processor / AVR: Sony 5000ES (11.2 setup)
Source devices: Panasonic 4K player, 300-disc CD player (Sony)
Subwoofer: 1961 Subwoofer 1V (2)
Other: 1723 S THX (4), 1723 S THX Center channel, Sony surround speakers (2), Sony Dolby Atmos speakers (4)
Future upgrades: I will eventually upgrade my Sony speakers to Arendal when I get the chance.

HOW HAPPY ARE YOU WITH ARENDAL SOUND PRODUCTS?

I am very happy with my Arendal speakers, I will buy more. The only complaint I have is the center channel is big, it’s usable in my system, but I’d love an Arendal thinner, longer, center channel.