Ambassador
Maciek

HOW IS YOUR ROOM SET UP?

The room has its pros and cons. Of course I’d love a dedicated audio room, but that would mean isolating myself from my family. And what we love about the 1528 is that even at low volume you feel the quality and the joy of listening at every step. The music is basically playing all the time. Usage is 90% music, 10% video.

The space is 5 x 6 m, plus an open kitchen of 3 x 5 m. The part that really works as the audio zone is roughly 4 x 4 m. The ceiling is exactly 3 m. It’s a modern building, silicate-block masonry on a slab foundation. The floor is 120 x 120 cm stone tiles, but there are three different rugs scattered around, and a sofa that does a solid job of damping. The left side is a huge 6 x 3 m window, covered with a thick curtain. The listening position is 3 m from the speakers, which are spaced almost 3 m apart. There’s only one thing I miss: I’d love to pull them 30-40 cm more away from the back wall. But I don’t want to end up at a divorce lawyer.

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

This one came out of nowhere… My dad wanted something from a different league. He went with the CLC65. The system synergy is brilliant. Mola Mola Tambaqi as the DAC. Plinius power amp. McIntosh preamp. PS Audio Powerplant. Nothing to add, nothing to take away. Everyone left my father’s place heartbroken that they didn’t have anything like that at home.

I “inherited” his Penaudio Serenade speakers. The Serenades played beautifully there, they’re a solid speaker. Pure hi-end. I was looking forward to that day like a kid with a new toy. I brought them home, fired them up, and I swear I had tears in my eyes, and not the good kind.

I always tell the truth, so I called my Dad and told him everything. He was very disappointed too. I couldn’t hide it, he would have told me at the first opportunity that I’m deaf. We’re simply very demanding about what we listen to. It went on like that for a few weeks: some “gymnastics” with silver XLRs, positioning. I rescued the situation a bit, but maybe I just got used to it.

Then we drove to my parents by the sea and Dad said he had a surprise for me. He only asked: Basalt or Polar? And that’s how the Arendals ended up in our home. Total delight. We haven’t tried them on my dad’s system yet, partly because of the weight, and partly because we simply started listening to music instead of the gear. Still, my dad is convinced to this day that the Arendals are easily on par with the CLC65, if not better.

WHERE DID YOU HEAR ABOUT US?

YouTube channels. For sure. Definitely New Record Day, Erin’s Audio Corner, Audioholics and Jay’s Iyagi.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE ARENDAL SOUND?

I read all the reviews, and I liked the direct-to-client model because of my professional past with audio systems. Pure value for money. The price point was definitely a catalyst, and you feel safe with the warranty. The 60-day money-back guarantee was also a factor. Still, you get to hear it in your own room. Normally, if you want to listen to something at home, you have to pay for it first and load it into your own car. Here a courier brings it to your door :)

YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH THE PRODUCTS?

I am totally impressed with the 1528 Monitor. Build quality is awesome. Surprisingly, compared to the competition, I’d place them closer to speakers at 15-25K Euros…

I’m absolutely thrilled with the overall sound, in every respect. I honestly have nothing to fault. Not a single thing. I’ve been in this business too long to get carried away by bass alone, even though it’s brilliant here. What I look for is class in the mid and high range, and that’s where Arendal is truly outstanding.

“Through the Hurricane” by Michael Blicher, Dan Hemmer and Steve Gadd. After 30 seconds I knew everything. Then came Kari Bremnes, “Tog vi ikkje tok”, and Dominic Miller, “Vaughines”. And to finish, Peter Gabriel, the first track from Long Walk Home. After 30 minutes, with tears of happiness in my eyes, I put on my running shoes and went out for a training run. When I got back, I believed it wasn’t a dream. But that’s just my sensitivity. When something works, I get goosebumps.

For me the shock isn’t the power of the sound from the Arendals, although at this price that is absolutely not the norm. The shock is the electrostatic-like midrange and treble, and how completely they disappear from the cabinet.

Roughly €5,000 of electronics, and it’s an unusually good match. Audiolab’s quite calm character balances the energy of the 1528’s midrange and treble, and there’s more than enough power. In bridged mode the 9000P has 380W per channel. What changes in bridge mode in terms of soundstage and overall balance is impressive. But most impressive is that the Arendals show every nuance. In my system right now you don’t hear the amp or the preamp. You hear the music. You don’t think about a warm tube sound because you simply have warmth, but at the same time loads of selectivity and untamed energy.

WHAT ELSE DOES YOUR SYSTEM CONSIST OF?

• Amplifier: Audiolab 9000Q preamp with DAC, plus two Audiolab 9000P in bridged mode
• Source devices: Mac Mini as a server
• Other: I spent 2.5K Euros on XLRs and speaker cables from… China. They blew away all the famous names from top brands at 3 to 5 times the money.
• Future upgrades: The new turntable is on the way.

HOW HAPPY ARE YOU WITH ARENDAL SOUND PRODUCTS?

I am really happy. 99%. I went for the Monitors rather than the Towers because my listening distance is too short for them, and for the same reason I didn’t go with Arendal stands. Instead I built my own, and placed this way the soundstage at the listening position sounds like a system with one more zero on the price tag. Each one is made of MDF filled with dried sand. Each 25 kg.

ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE?

I’ve spent almost 30 years in this “hobby”, close to 20 of them in hi-fi distribution, and built hundreds of high-end systems for clients. After my “audio time” I moved into sports events. I worked for IRONMAN for six years, and for the last three years I’ve been working for the Tour de France, running L’Étape Poland, L’Étape Dubai and L’Étape Slovakia. Still I have a lot to do there.

I wanted to be sure I wasn’t just infatuated, or talking myself into believing I’d bought a brilliant speaker. Last weekend the Audio Video Show in Warsaw settled it. At the show I listened to everything from sensible setups for normal people up to a system priced at well over 2 million Euros. Including the speakers competing directly with the 1528 Monitor at its price. I came home with my conclusions clear. In my room it just works. Anyone who hears it has no doubt they should buy them.

I have to admit I miss talking to people about sound and helping them find the right setup. Running a high-end showroom is hard. But you have to stay patient and treat everyone with the utmost care. I did it to bring bread home to my family. You are always selling your concept, and you have to sell what you believe in.

A visit at an ambassador’s home is a different thing, because the crowd has already been filtered. Let me relate it to the Monitors. You have to touch the 1528, look at the speaker terminals, try to move it. That builds incredible trust. And unfortunately, we also listen with our eyes. I’d encourage people to close their eyes and, as a tribute to the craft of music and audio engineering, play tracks that sweep the listener off the board, the way they swept me, an experienced guy. It wouldn’t be a fixed set of three tracks. I listen to an unbelievable amount of music, so it keeps evolving.

Thank you again for making such a good speaker. They’re outstanding. Simply outstanding.

Setup details