Overall verdict
“This thing is nuts.”
“As far as performance, it definitely does that.”
“There is no replacement for displacement. This definitely has the displacement to be able to perform.”
“And as you can see from the measurements, it definitely does that.”
“If you want an Arendal sub, this might be the way to go.”
Bass performance
“The garage door is shaking.”
“This thing is nuts.”
“You do get usable bass down to 12 hertz.”
“16 hertz, I think it’s very usable.”
“There is no replacement for displacement. This definitely has the displacement to be able to perform.”
Measured performance
The reviewer’s own in-room measurement closely matched Arendal’s claimed extension:
“The estimated response in room that I’m getting here, you’re around 14 hertz. They claim 15 Hz. So looks about right.”
“There’s still a good amount of bass response here. Even down to 12 hertz.”
“Arendal has been very good about publishing frequency response measurements.”
“As you can see from the measurements, it definitely does that.”
Power and output
“They’re very powerful.”
“I almost felt like this is going to be too much for what we’re trying to do.”
“These might be too much for this theater setup that I have here.”
“The garage door is shaking.”
The review also highlights the published CEA-2010 data, noting a maximum of 106 dB at 12 Hz before reaching the distortion limit.
Dual-opposed design
“The actual box is not moving very much because it’s dual opposing.”
“The fact that it’s dual opposing means that you can actually put stuff on top of it. It’s probably not going to shake it off.”
The reviewer demonstrates the benefit of the force-cancelling driver arrangement while the subwoofer is producing extremely high output.
DSP and app
“I’m very thankful for [the app] to fine-tune this.”
“You have access to seven bands of parametric EQ, which I think is great.”
“I’m glad they have this app. This is very useful if you want to control stuff from your seat.”
“Nice touch, Arendal.”
Features
“I was surprised how many settings you could actually access.”
“Pretty much all of them that you could access on the app itself.”
“It is a lot and it’s very cool that you can do it.”
“If you have multiple subwoofers, you can group them together and control them all at the same time.”
Build quality
“This guy over here is on a different level.”
“They are using HDF, high density fiberboard, as opposed to MDF.”
“If you’re looking for something that is well built like this, and has all the bells and whistles…”
Design and appearance
“Overall, I think this is a very sleek finish.”
“In my opinion, this is a very sleek subwoofer.”
“I think it looks good with or without [the grilles].”
Value
The reviewer acknowledges the $3,400 price, but directly connects it to the construction, features, DSP and performance:
“A lot of people might say that that’s a lot, but if you’re looking for something that is well built like this, and has all the bells and whistles, has PEQ built in, has an app, it has the ability to tune it via screen on the back, that’s not something I’m used to seeing.”
“As far as performance, it definitely does that.”
Watch another review from Joe N Tell: 1723 Bookshelf S THX
