Ambassador
Mahesh

HOW IS YOUR ROOM SET UP?

My system is set up in a 13 x 11 x 9 ft living room, with the sofa as the main listening position facing the screen. The room is an open living-room environment rather than a dedicated theater, so I’ve focused on getting the speaker placement and acoustics as right as possible within the space. I use Arendal 1723 Tower S THX speakers across the front stage (LCR), with Arendal 1723 S speakers handling the surround and 1961 height channels, and the system is primarily used for movies and immersive home theater. I really enjoy how the 1723s maintain clarity, dynamics, and a controlled presentation even in a relatively compact living room.

I have added bass traps in the corners and thick acoustic panels behind the sofa and around the LCR listening area to help manage reflections and improve the listening experience. For the screen, I’m using a Valerion 100" fixed-frame projector screen with 1.3 gain. My goal is to create a cinematic experience in my living room, with a soundstage that feels immersive and balanced rather than simply loud. I’m still learning and refining the setup, but the combination of the Arendal speakers, careful placement, and acoustic treatment has made the experience much more rewarding.

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

This is my first home theater after years of dreaming about building one, so my goal was to create a cinema-level experience at home. I wanted speakers that could deliver exceptional clarity, effortless dynamics, and a very controlled presentation, especially for movies, while also having the headroom to reproduce the impact and scale of a real cinema.

Before this setup, I was using a Bose Smart Soundbar. While it served its purpose, the experience is nowhere close to what I’m experiencing with the Arendal system.

WHERE DID YOU HEAR ABOUT US?

I first discovered Arendal Sound through the H T Hobbyist YouTube channel while researching speakers for my first home theater. What caught my attention was that Arendal seemed to approach speaker design from an engineering and performance perspective rather than just focusing on appearance or specifications. The combination of THX certification, robust construction, controlled directivity, high output capability, and the low tweeter crossover made me want to learn more and eventually hear the speakers for myself.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE ARENDAL SOUND?

I kept seeing Arendal come up in home theater forums and YouTube reviews with people saying the performance was way out of proportion to the price, and once I dug into the specs and measurements I understood why, that’s when I started paying attention. What sealed it for me was the direct-to-consumer model: cutting out the retail markup meant I could get THX-level engineering and build quality at a price point that would’ve gotten me a much lesser system through traditional retail channels. I also liked that the company is genuinely engineering-driven rather than marketing-driven, the way they talk about design decisions (cabinet bracing, driver choice, crossover work) made it clear these are speakers built by people who actually care about the sound, not just the packaging. The 60-day trial and customer care support after the sale removed any risk in buying without an in-person demo.

YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH THE PRODUCTS?

I’m running 1723 S Towers as my LCR, 1723 S Surrounds, and 1961 speakers for height channels. Dialogue is clear and centered, bass has real weight without getting muddy from towers, and the height channels genuinely add a sense of sound coming from above during Atmos content. Build quality is solid across all three models — dense cabinets, clean finish, nothing feels cheap. Overall it sounds balanced and consistent whether I’m watching at low or high volume, which is what impressed me most.

I was surprised by how tight and controlled the bass was straight out of the box, with no boominess or need to fiddle much with settings to get it sounding right by just using the 3 towers. I can only imagine how this will sound with the 1961 Subwoofer 1V, which is my next target. Overall, the biggest surprise was the level of detail and precision was beyond what I was picturing.

Top Gun: Maverick — the Darkstar hypersonic jet scene. What stood out to me wasn’t simply how loud the scene could get, but how immersive it felt. The sense of scale, the movement of sound, and the way the system conveyed the intensity of the aircraft made me feel much more connected to what was happening on screen. The speakers delivered the scene with such clarity, dynamics, and control that I could appreciate the details without feeling overwhelmed by the volume. That was the moment I really appreciated the difference between simply hearing a movie and feeling immersed in it.

The biggest difference is the clarity, dynamics, separation, and sense of scale. Dialogue sounds more natural and intelligible, action sequences have much greater impact, and the surround and height channels create a far more convincing sense of immersion. What I appreciate most is that the system delivers this performance effortlessly, without needing to rely on excessive loudness to make movies exciting. It has genuinely changed my expectations of what a home theater can sound like.

WHAT ELSE DOES YOUR SYSTEM CONSIST OF?

• Processor / AVR: Denon AVR-X4200W
• Amplifier: SpeakerPower
• Source devices: Apple TV 4K, PS5
• Other: 5.0.2 configuration, with Arendal 1723 S Towers LCR, Arendal 1723 S Surround speakers, and Arendal 1961 Heights for the overhead effects; Audio Cables: SVS and Transparent and XRCA Analog RCA
• Display: Projector: Xgimi Titan Noir Max; Valerion 100" fixed-frame projector screen with 1.3 gain
• Future upgrades: Adding two 1961 Subwoofer 1V

HOW HAPPY ARE YOU WITH ARENDAL SOUND PRODUCTS?

Extremely happy. Arendal completely changed what I thought was possible for a first home theater build. The engineering speaks for itself: clean, detailed, powerful sound without any of the harshness or fatigue I expected from budget-conscious research online. Every time I sit down for a movie night, I’m reminded I made the right call. I’d recommend Arendal to anyone building a system, first-timer or veteran.

ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE?

Building this system was a real learning process, going from zero home theater experience to a full LCR + surround + height setup taught me a lot about how much room setup, calibration, and speaker quality actually matter together. Arendal’s community and support made that learning curve a lot less intimidating for a first-timer; having direct access to knowledgeable people from the Ambassador program instead of a faceless retail experience made a real difference in getting things dialed in correctly. Now movie nights are genuinely something I look forward to, and I’ve already had friends ask about the system after visiting which, for someone brand new to this hobby, feels like proof I made the right choice.

Setup details