Ambassador Wim

HOW IS YOUR ROOM SET UP?

• 5m x 10m x 2.5m
• Living/dining room
• During the day, music, evening movies
• I sit straight in front of the center speaker about 4 meter distance

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

I had an old B&W THX system (FCM-8 etc) which was very good but started to show signs of aging.

Wanted to upgrade to more modern and best value for the money while still looking reasonable in the room. I like as neutral as possible and with clear bass.

WHERE DID YOU HEAR ABOUT US?

I read some online reviews written and video, but actually it was mainly due to AI (Gemini), with which I had a “discussion” over the different options which came up, B&W, KEF, etc. This took weeks/months, and Gemini suggested Arendal, and although better options came up, they always had a downside with either music or movies, and Arendal came up with the best option for both.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE ARENDAL SOUND?

Price to performance was high, THX ULTRA standard is important as it guarantees certain performance levels, distortion, and neutrality standards. Service and warranty also important.

In the back of my mind, of course, I also look at the business side of things. Arendal is a small and young company compared to the (marketing) budgets of the B&W and KEF’s of this world. I worked for Dell (Europe) when it was still building market share, and I know how it works.

YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH THE PRODUCTS?

Very well built and nice finish. It sounds more alive and dynamic than my old B&W THX system. The B&W is more industrial design, Arendal is more design as furniture and high-quality finish. The direct-to-consumer model has benefits (old Dell computer employee talking here), and could not demo it, so had to rely on knowledge (I’m electronic / computer engineer educated) and reviews.

Build quality is higher than B&W, sound is more dynamic, and has a better soundstage, although the B&W was high quality already. Design is way better than B&W.

Bass is good but not overpowering, it is tight. Overall, the system prefers movies, music is good, but there are better speakers (I like ribbon tweeters), but the choice was to have the best mix of music and movies. Dialogue is clear and crisp, and the soundstage is very good in movies.

The build quality is much better than anything I have seen for a reasonable price. I like my system very much and do not change components often, and now with the Denon (that is really top quality) and now Arendal, I do not expect to change much.

WHAT ELSE DOES YOUR SYSTEM CONSIST OF?

• Processor / AVR: Denon x8500HA (built in Japan, which is important to me)
• Subwoofer: Klipsch RP 1600SW
• Other: B&W scm8 (side high)
• Source devices: TIDAL for music and Nvidia Shield for movies (NAS)
• Future upgrades: I am thinking about replacing the SCM8, too, now. As to the SCM8 replacing that would be purely to have all speakers timbre matched, they also fire at an angle to the ceiling. But listening to my system now, I do not notice that they are a weakness in my system now. Since the last time I looked, 1723 side speakers were still available, so who knows.

HOW HAPPY ARE YOU WITH ARENDAL SOUND PRODUCTS?

I have too short with the system (5 days) to give a good indication for now, but so far worth the upgrade. I am thinking about replacing the SCM8 too now.

ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE?

I spent the week trying out things and also installing a new network system (fiber-based). I moved the 1723 from the stands to on top of my old B&W subwoofers, which is more stable. I also used EQ measurements now, so the system should perform optimally now. I watch some movies and my favourite concert Blu-ray, George Michael live in London, which has a good DTS HD soundtrack. I went to the concert, and although the concert had quite a different mix, it is a good soundtrack, and I have a reference point in my head.

It took me years of looking around, and the final leg was actually on my trip to Tokyo (that is why the request for the delay in shipping), and the great improvement of AI, which was a great help and on which I had a long discussion with that came up with the Arendal setup. I actually tested B&W speakers and KEF in Tokyo. The system is not finished setting up yet and fine-tuning, but 90% there.

I am not into exotic cable and connectors, as that is a lot of hot air in my (technical) opinion. Speakers distorted “sound” at least 1%, and then to pay for cables that give 0.0001% at best, or so, is a waste of money. Buy better speakers, then that is where the most gain is to be had. I use silver cables for front speakers (I bought those 30 years ago when living in the UK) and pure copper for side and back.

Setup details