A cup of coffee with
Ambassador Blaine
from USA
A cup of coffee with
from USA
My room is a little smaller than I’d like at 10.5ft wide by 10ft deep, with 7ft ceilings. Acoustic panels are behind the speakers and behind the listening position. It’s a hybrid office/entertainment space dedicated mostly to stereo listening.
Listening position is about 7ft from the speakers that are pulled out about 14 inches from the wall. I know these speakers want more room to run with and hope to give them that soon.
I was looking for speakers that could bring nuance to the bass texture without lacking any of the weight behind the instrument like that trade off occurs with other speakers. The experience these have brought is nothing short of shocking.
I’ve brought them over to my friends house a few times for his larger room and these “bookshelves” stand ahead of many towers that have passed through his space. The midrange dynamics and harmonies these speakers reproduce while also playing down to subwoofer levels is seriously impressive.
I heard about Arendal through YouTube reviews like Nemo, and Jay’s Iyagi. Their overviews made it an easy decision to try. The notable points between Jays Iyagi and Nemo Audio Project was the descriptions of the bass textures and the “natural” sound profile that they had rather than sounding over analytical and the “ease of listening” where you can listen at louder volumes without having ear fatigue set in.
The matte finish of the speaker. I felt like would look good far longer than a high gloss finish. The 3rd and 4th order crossovers, as well as the quality of the crossover components for the 1528 series really made them stand out. The thick 2 inch “floating” front baffle looks incredible in person. From my experience you truly get incredible value.
There was 3 speakers in contention Sonus Faber Olympica Nova 1’s, Perlisten R5M’s, and the Arendal 1528 bookshelves. I primarily like to buy speakers used as I find you often find the best value that way so I had found deals that were overall around the same price and had demo’d both in listening rooms at Hifi stores. What made me choose Arendal was that I found that it didn’t compromise the sound in areas the others had.
I felt the Perlistens were a little bright on voices and high-hats, but had phenomenal bass and texture.
The Olympica Nova I felt had amazing sound with all the adjectives you could say, but lacked in anything under about 100hz.
Yes you could get a subwoofer to solve that, but going with the Arendals there was no subwoofer needed in the room to play lows down to about mid 20hz, yes they can hit lower due to in room gain, but if you wanted to get the pressurization you’re most likely hoping to get at that frequency. I would recommend a subwoofer. For me my space does not require it. So for the full frequency range having uncompromised sound is the reason I chose Arendal.
The sound quality is mesmerizing, I find myself getting lost in time as I continue to queue more and more tracks. The bass extension is deep and retains incredible texture, it has no problem going from deep bass EDM to nuanced plucking of a bass guitar in jazz.
The carbon graphene midrange has impressed me more than any other midrange driver has before, female vocalists don’t sound sharp but still drive forward presence with emotion and male vocalists can get that rasp and gravely detail shine through if that was the artists intent, other speakers I’ve had before had lacked that extra level detail these midranges achieve.
The lithium magnesium tweeter is also nothing short of magical. High hats are snappy and quick to attack but aren’t overwhelming or sharp.
The levels of in room dynamics these put out and have no audible resonance speaks volumes to level of build quality and attention to not cutting corners by using thicker HDF instead of regular MDF.
Before the move to Arendal I had originally had Sonus Faber Sonetto 1’s paired with a McIntosh MA252 integrated amplifier and McIntosh MDA200. The sound was textured in the midrange, but could get bright very easily with female vocals and high hats at an above average listening level and lacked any sort of low end extension after using the 1528 bookshelves as my new reference.
There have been a few tracks that truly shocked me: Black Samurai-Wyr gemi, Tor i Helheim-Myrkur, The plan- Travis Scott (from the motion picture TENET), March of the resistance (From Star Wars The Force Awakens)-John Williams, The Lonely Trumpet- Parov stelar. Those were the tracks that really showcased the depth of soundstage, dynamic range, room pressurization, and texture of midrange characteristics.
I am beyond thrilled with my experience with Arendal. The quality of the crossover components, build strength and attention to detail including the slotted dampening in the port tube exceed what was typically available at this price point. The sound is a direct result of those foundations and the driver choice has been nothing short of extraordinary. The emotion these speakers evoke is incredible.
I started developing critical listening skills from around the age of 12 when I was mixing vocals and adjusting instrument vocals for the local youth group through my church, this led me to break into the Hifi space initially through headphones. Brands like Hifiman, and Focal were dominant in my initial lineup. Since moving out of an apartment I transitioned fully to speakers, and the Arendals have been the first to blow me out of the water and impress me beyond what I’ve heard before, and have found their home here.
| Build year: | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Products: | 1528 Bookshelf 8 |
| Location: | USA |
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