Most of the music lovers, hi-fi enthusiasts, and even experienced audiophiles don’t have a room that allows you to put the speakers in the right place. Limitations are room dimensions, furniture, significant other, and others. Apart from that, many of them don’t have acoustic treatment, which is very important if your goal is to have an excellent sound experience from the listening position. Even the most expensive audio equipment can sound bad in some rooms, and on the other hand, a hi-fi system with a modest price can sound excellent in the same room. This was the starting position for a living room where I listen to music and watch movies. Every room has its own sound signature, and mine is no different; and having that in mind, it has its own limitations even with the acoustic treatment.
The room is quite big, 10×4,9 m. The part with the sofa and listening position is 6×4,9 m, and the second part is divided by the 1,8 m tall shelves. Above the shelves and behind the sofa are the acoustic panels up to the ceiling. The right side is the wall, also with panels, but the left side is partly open. There is a gap for entering the room, after the 2,5 m wall, which is not treated yet. There are different shelves after that as well, so it is an open space, but with dividers.
The back of the room is 4×4,9 m, where I work and spend most of my time during the day, and listen to music almost all day long. This is the room that you might think is meant for floor-standing speakers, and that was the starting point of my search.
The critical listening is at my sofa, 4 m from the center axis between the speakers, but I enjoy listening to them most of the time during the day at my desk, which is 8 m away from the speakers.
WHAT WAS YOUR GOAL WHEN LOOKING FOR NEW SPEAKERS AND SUBWOOFERS?
I was looking for real quality speakers up to 4000 EUR, which could be second-hand, used, as well, but I kept all options open. As a part-time DJ since the early nineties (which was always the love for music, but several years of professional occupation, besides architecture), most of the money went on buying vinyl, besides a good setup, which included near-field monitors, but nothing really serious. Since my childhood, I always wanted to have an excellent hi-fi setup, but that started to be real as a part of my life 20 years ago.
The only pair of new speakers that were bought as new were JPW Sonata Plus monitors, and they served me very well. I always had second-hand speakers, Dali, T+A, KEF, and Dynaudio. 1723 towers are actually the first pair of the new ones I bought since 1992.
WHERE DID YOU HEAR ABOUT US?
I actually don’t remember where exactly I found the information about Arendal, but I am sure it was around a month before Jay Iyagi put his review of THX 1723 on his channel. My thoughts are that the algorithm did its job based on my online research.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE ARENDAL SOUND?
One of the main problems over here in Belgrade, Serbia, is that most of the local hi-fi dealers and distributors don’t have a room where you can audition any gear, and they surely are not going to give you the opportunity to try it at your place. I still don’t quite understand how most of the dealers represent many brands in the untreated rooms at hi-fi shows. It is all mostly based on personal experiences, well-known brand names, and the price tags that go along with them.
The THX 1723 were highly positioned on my list of desired speakers fitting the budget, and after Jay was so impressed with them, even though the gear he owns and reviews is much more expensive, I decided to give it a try, and who cares about the well-known brand. The specifications are excellent, very well built using HDF boards, aesthetically well designed, and there is no middleman, but direct sales. What more could you ask for, especially myself with the tight budget at the moment.
YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH THE PRODUCTS?
After I ordered them, the delivery date was planned to be while I was away on a longer business trip, and the room I described was still not ready for use. Then I thought I should ask my online friend, Srboljub, who actually has a dedicated YouTube channel for reviewing HIFI and audiophile equipment. At the time, he was not as popular as he is now, but still respectable among the audiophiles worldwide. He doesn’t have an opportunity to review floorstanders because of the inconvenience of his apartment and room, where he does the reviews, so he didn’t want to miss the opportunity. His review of THX1723 is, correct me if I am wrong, the second online review, which has 53K views, which is quite impressive. He was very pleased with the speakers, and I was pleased about that.
Before I took them from him, we had a chat with a glass of wine and listening to music, and he said that he didn’t mention a very important fact in the review, which is that towers have a very wide and long dispersion of sound. I found out what he meant very quickly after I put them in my room.
Positioning the speakers is always my favorite, but after a while, I thought it was time for an upgrade, and even though I always wanted to have some ProAc response like D48R or ATC SCM50, my first thought was to get 1528 towers, obviously.
And that could change as well, as I took very seriously the advice from your colleague Gunnar, who suggested getting bookshelves instead of towers, and to combine them with subwoofers. I didn’t think in that way, just because the room is big, but it seems like the right way to achieve better bass at my listening position.
WHAT ELSE DOES YOUR SYSTEM CONSIST OF?
At the moment, my setup is the following: Roon Nucleus Plus server and endpoint (wav and flac files) going through Eversolo DMP A6 with LPS as a streamer only (mostly TIDAL), Denafrips Pontus 15th DAC, Goldnote CD1000 MKII player, Benchmark LA4 preamplifier, and Benchmark and AHB2 power amplifier (various different cables and Audioquest power conditioner). The next upgrade is Eversolo T8 dedicated streamer only, which will arrive in January next year.
I thought of getting another AHB2 power, which can be used in bridged mode, with plenty of power, but then again, some other ideas appeared as well, such as maybe getting a high end integrated amplifiers like Mark Lewinson 5805, NuVista 600, Soulnote A2, Luxman L509X, Soulution 330, Gamut D150, Audia Flight FLS 9 or 10, Rogue Audio Pharaoh, Lavardine ISX, Hegel H400 or H590 or a wet dream, Boulder 866 (I would have to sell all the gear in order to get this one).
HOW HAPPY ARE YOU WITH ARENDAL SOUND PRODUCTS?
I am really enjoying the towers since I got them. There are always lots of things to do in order to improve the sound experience in my room. The very low bass frequencies are more audible and felt in the stomach at the back corners, even in some parts of the apartment, completely away from the speakers, like the bathroom, for example. I don’t mind that, as I find it inspirational. And that is why we love this hobby. I am not obsessed, and I know “those guys”, which is completely fine with me, but to each its own. I like to experiment with the sound, but not too often, as life is short and it is better to use time for listening and enjoying music, compared to testing the equipment frequently.
Everybody is talking about endgame setup, but I am not sure I have seen anybody say “I’m done!”
