A cup of coffee with
Ambassador Mrinal
from Singapore
A cup of coffee with
from Singapore
The room is 25 ft X 25 ft, square-ish. This is an ideal room proportion, so there is no issue with dynamics or harmonics. The 1528s are set up on either side of a 100-inch LG mini-LED TV. The 1528 center plus is in the middle. The subwoofers are moved into the near corners. We have a large 10×13 carpet, and the listening position is a 7-seater leather recliner couch, which is 5m away from the TV for the family to lie down and enjoy!
Curtain drapes are heavy, dual-layered with Japanese folds, so enough to absorb and prevent glass reverb.
We moved into our newly constructed house, and we were to set up a custom-made HT and had wall wiring done, you can see wall terminations.
But then we moved to Arendals. And I am happy we did because I have had many HT systems in the past and feel they feel underpowered. Hence, this move to 1528T8 was good. I was using Marantz 7702mk2 and MM7005 amplifier. Then the 7702mk2 pre broke down, and we purchased the AV10.
At that point, the BHK Pre and Eversolo DMP-A6 were powering the stereo.
Then I added the centre 8 +, on advice from Gunnar, as I was not aware it was a 1528 sideways!!
This center speaker, in my opinion, is always underestimated. I have avoided in-market center speakers as too small for the job. With the 1528 center 8 + , the power for delivery is there. I am powering this with an available D-Sonic 1500 W RMS 1500-M3a Monoblock amplifier. It works fine, although I might be better with changing this out in due course.
This system with 3 speakers was great!!!! There was no plan for any more additions. Did not need anything – we were extremely happy!
We did buy a 100-inch TV , I also have projectors of 120 inches, but the TV provides better brightness to scenes.
Now, when the AV7702mk2 broke down and enters the AV10, with 4 dedicated subwoofer outlets available, I wanted to add subwoofers.
My choice was REL, but these are very pricey now. So Gunnar suggested the sub 1723 2S. I had no experience with these, so we bought 2 to try.
On how I found you, or you found me: Entirely through the internet.
Interacting with your sales team.
On other speakers I considered along the way: I liked the Ivy Egglestones, I love the Klipsch Cornwalls ( just acquired recently), I like the Monitor Audio PL500IIs and Perlisten s7T LE. They all have their positives and negatives. For HT that I was primarily chasing, I need something like Focal Maetros. I was about to buy Focal Utopia Evo, but that day, for the $ thought in comparison was KEF and Arendal. I tried Arendal and am so far pleased.
The Focals could have been good for stereo clarity, but what I am chasing is fullness of volume and without strain.
The system uses AV10 Marantz as the pre-amplifier processor, this serves both HT and Stereo purposes. The Subwoofers are connected directly to the AV10. The primary 2 stereo amplifiers are PS Audio BHK 300 monoblock-amps. The center channel is driven by a class D D-Sonic M3-1500 , monoblock 1500W amp. The 2 subwoofers are XLR connected as is the entire system.
Great experience with speakers.
With the subwoofers, my initial experience was not good. There were delivery issues: rolled/broken/opened boxes upon delivery. Then on day 1, after 4 hours, one of the subwoofers showed a fault. The other worked fine, but both were difficult to initiate the signal from AV10.
After a week to two the replacement arrived. We again had difficulty connecting to AV10.
Don’t know why. We did everything as one is expected to do.
After almost giving up, voila!!!! All of a sudden, the 2 subs started working! There was no test tone from AV10, and then the test tone started.
Since that day, we have left the subs as is, no playing with them.
I also wanted to check out the electric mains as to why the first subwoofer developed a fault in 4 hours. The electrician has been in once with no fault found. But I am apprehensive to plug into the wall until another check is made.
For now, in an as-is position, the subs are working fine, although I know the previous sub that blows sounded deeper, placed at the other end of the room.
The BHK Pre and the Eversolo have since been taken out of the chain. Why? Because feeding a Preamp into another pre- amp made no sense, also, the AV10 has its own streaming capability. So for now the chain is AV10 into BHK 300’s and D- Sonic m3a-1500 and 2x 1723 2S subwoofers.
The sound is controlled, the subs are set to 90 Hz. I might lower this to 80Hz, the feed from AV10 is going to the subs with the filter bypassed in the subs.
The stereo system with 2 1528T8 and the 2x subs is a treat. This is tight and whole in density. I can say, you play loud, but it does not feel loud, that means it is good. We have been playing at 90 dB, and it’s not loud, that is good harmony.
The 1528 with BHK Pre are fantastic.
The speakers are awesome.
The subwoofers are moved into near corners, creating much higher bass, and as a result the sound is more whole and full.
Neighbors are warned!!!
These are big and heavy. They are a necessary 2-man lift.
| Build year: | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Products: | 1528 Tower 8, 1528 Center+ 8, 1723 Subwoofer 2S |
| Location: | Singapore |
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