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Hello from new community member and please share your musical journey

Arkmann
Active Member

Hello to the Arendal community!  Just ordered the 1723 Tower S Speakers for my 2 channel listening room setup after trials with other towers, online research and recommendations from Lukas.  Love talking and reading about all things music including equipment while listening to music.  It’s a great hobby especially after a long day at work during the long winter months in the Boston area.  Would love to read what your musical journey has been that brought you to joining the community.  What’s your setup?  What equipment have you tried and didn’t like or upgraded from?  What’s been your experience with Arendal?  Looking forward to hearing from you! Thanks

All replies (17)

Aksel Åsheim
Community Member

Wouldn’t call myself part of this community quite yet, still didn’t make any purchase and only 2nd post in here after recently finding out about the brand.

My first “real setup was the following:

Front: B&W PM1 fronts
Center: B&W CM
Surround: B&W M1
Subwoofer: PV1D
Receiver: Denon AVR-3808

Later replaced the receiver when I upgraded my TV:
Receiver: NAD T758
Amplifier: NAD C 275BEE

M1s was supposed to be temporary as well but never replaced  them before I sold my apartment due to a international transfer to France in my job.

Since then I added a wife, two dogs and moved from 75 square meters when cancelled my next transfer and I had to accept a local position due to the situation in the market. Since the wall between living room and kitchen couldn’t even fit the TV (put it on legs) I had to sell my setup.

Now I moved back to Norway in a rented apartment with Sonos Beam for movies. Otherwise I use my trusted Sony WH-1000XM3 or ADI-2 DAC FS / Sennheiser HD700 setup at my PC desk. I know HD700 gets a lot of hate but I actually quite like them for PC gaming. Clear sound and can wear them for extended periods without any discomfort.

It’s a basement apartment with 2m roof height, a huge fireplace strategic placed on one long wall and a floor standing heat pump mounted on the other side. Of course slightly shifted so there is no optimal place for couch or TV.

Before finding Arendal Sound I was curious about the KEF LS50 and later leaned towards their Q / R series. Sadly R series only came in gloss so would most likely have ended up with the Q series. Being Norwegian I will most likely end up getting Arendal Sound now as I’m impressed with what’s going on here.

I will most likely wait until we purchase an apartment to make a commitment to what I want, as it depends if I will fit it into the living room (will be hard to get even 5.1 through with the wife) or a media room. Then size of that room etc. That being said, I might just say **** ** and get a 1961 bookshelf/monitor (undecided) and Sonos Amp next year just to get started. Anything will sound better than Sonos Beam.

Arkmann
Active Member

Thanks for sharing.  Best of luck with purchasing a new apartment and getting the new equipment you want.  Read positive reviews of the 1961s.

Neil H
Community Member

Hi Arkmann

I just love listening to music in a low lit, quiet room,  and listening for every instrument, with detail. The highs and lows filling the room and my ears awash in soothing sounds. There’s times I’m so relaxed I just fall asleep no matter how loud the music. This is an experience so many of us enjoy. What a hobby, what a lifestyle we can enjoy. Enjoy every moment of it Arkmann, the time passes quickly.

Arkmann
Active Member

Thanks Neil you too and Yes it does

Luis Vazquez
Active Member

I’ve been in the wonderful hobby for 25+ years now.  Here’s a high level view into my journey…

  • As a young adult, my first audio system was one of those all in one Fisher systems within a “rack” style component stand. Don’t recall how it sounded, but it lasted for years…
  • Once married, mid 1990s, we purchased a large rear projection TV and once it was delivered and placed next to the old Fisher audio system, I started to wonder if I could connect the two as the TV’s built in speakers were horrible.  After a quick trip to Radio Shack, I was able to listen to TV via the Fisher system and that’s where it started… I was bitten by the audio / home theater bug.
  • Shortly afterwards, I donated the Fisher system and purchased a Fosgate prologic surround processor, Rotel amps and B&W DM630 speakers.
  • As technology evolved, so did my system… VHS to Laser Disk, Forgate Processor to a  Marantz Processor, Rotel to Acurras Amps, B&W DM630 to B&W Nautilus 804 speakers, DefTech surrounds, Laser Disk to DVD, Marantz Processor and Acurras amps to Emotiva UMC-1 processor and Emotiva Gen 1 XPA amps, etc etc…
  • I eventually retired the rear projection TV and purchased a Plasma TV, Emotiva XMC-1 and XPA Gen 2 amps.
  • Purchased a projector and 100″ screen and eventually went with DIY speakers and a pair of 18″ subs for home theater.
  • We enjoyed the protector, plasma TV and Emotiva separates for close to 10 years.  We moved in 2019 and I sold everything.
  • COVID hit shortly afterwards and I had an itch that needing scratching… so in my home office, I put together an audio system with GiK acoustic panels, a Schiit Audio Freya, pair of Vidar amps in mono with Wharfedale EVO 4.4 speakers.  I used a Cambridge CXN v2 streamer for Tidal and Qobuz with a Rega P1 to spin vinyl… I couldn’t be happier.
  • Well… until I was bitten by the bug again… I sold all the audio components and went back to home theater.  Painted the room a darker color, purchased a Marantz Cinema 50, Panasonic 820 bluray player, LG C2 77″ OLED and after trading various emails with Lukas and Kristoffer, I purchased the 1961 towers, center, surrounds, heights and 1v subwoofer.  I few months after my delivery, I purchased a second pair of heights and another 1v subwoofer.

All in all, it’s been a fun and extremely enjoyable ride.  I am truly happy with my Arendal purchase and looking forward to enjoying the setup for years to come.

Attachments:
Luis Vazquez
Active Member

Here’s is DIY speaker and subwoofer… for some reason it wouldn’t upload before.

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Arkmann
Active Member

Luis thanks for sharing and thanks for the pictures!  Love that you have different music setups in different rooms.  I had a rack system like that when I first got married in out 1st apartment and the stand is now in my hot tub room with a Pioneer receiver, Scott CD player and Polk outdoor speakers to deal with the water and humidity in the room.  I upgraded my 1723 S towers to the 1723 towers in my music room.  My family jokes that I’m obsessed with music and equipment but like you stated it’s a wonderful hobby!  Enjoy!

Luis Vazquez
Active Member

Thanks @Arkmann…

The only time my family didn’t enjoy one of my systems was the recent 2 channel setup; they would get bored of trying to listen to music critically and simply wanted to enjoy the sound.  It was one of the main reasons for going back to home theater… as a family we always enjoyed watching movies together… from various cartoons when the children were toddlers, to watching their first scary movie.  We have laughed, cried, and been scared together as a family… wonderful memories for sure.

Here’s a couple of pictures when I compared SVS Ultras, Ascend Acoustic towers and my B&W 804s in my previous home.  Needless to say, the B&WS stayed and the rest were returned.  Although the B&Ws sounded significantly better than the DIY speakers for audio, the DIY speakers had effortless dynamics for home theater.

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Arkmann
Active Member

Same experience with my family.  They just wanted to enjoy watching movies and didn’t care about critical 2 channel music listening.  That’s one of the reasons I setup a 2 channel system with the 1723 towers in my basement listening room.  They are happy with the Sonos Beam 2 with a mini subwoofer in the TV room.  They want minimal equipment that’s simple to use and not too loud.  I occasionally stream music with that system at low volume and everyone is happy.

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