My Home Theater in France – WAF completed

[aurelien]

Hi all,

just a small contribution to share my experience with Arendal speakers.

Previously, i had mainly focal speakers (726 serie then 926 serie) but i was not completely satisfied, especially in the trebble that felt “irritating” for me. After spending hours on forums, reviews.. in France websites, i felt on a comment about Erin Audio (erinsaudiocorner.com) who was recommending Arendal 1961 bookshelf as a front speaker.

i’ve never heard of ARENDAL before that (mostly unknown in France) and after that, i was really amazed of ALL positive reviews on ARENDAL speakers, including subwoofers, for EVERY reviewers, in Europe and US. and the reviews are positive from Technical point of view (REW data…) and subjective point of view.

My set up now (5.1):

1723 S TOWERS (changed from Focal 926)

1723 S Monitor (as center, changed from Focal CC900)

1723 1S Subwoofer (changed from SVS PB-1000)

Back surrounds = Yamaha Music Cast 20 (others surrounds or ATMOS speakers are not WAF)

 

it’s not a dedicated room but i’m really really happy to enjoy my movies as never :)

Lot of things could be improved but it’s the best that i managed my wife to accept (space, design…)

 

Cheers

Aurelien S.

 

 

 

 

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[Lukas]

Very interesting solution for the Center, Aurelien.

Have fun listening!

[Luis Vazquez]

Welcome to the community and agreed… interesting center solution.  Wife approved is a plus!  Enjoy!

[aurelien]

Thanks!

Yes, i could not put a 1723 S center horizontally (TV would be too high, it’s already high) so i had to buy a custom-made cabinet to put the 1723 S monitor as center to keep the tweeter as high as possible.

the cabinet has no back but the 1723 S monitor is working on sealed mode for the moment (just put it on my set up, didn’t have the time to make tests yet).

OTHERS ELEMENTS on SET-UP:

AV Amplifier YAMAHA A2080

2 x CROWN XLS 2002 (1 for 1723 S Towers and 1 for 1723 S monitor)

PS5 as 4K ULTRA HD bluray player

Nvidia Shield Pro

 

i wish ARENDAL would make In-Wall and In-ceiling speakers for surround/ATMOS solutions ;)

PS: flowers and photo on speakers and subwoofer are wife :) :)

 

[Luis Vazquez]

Thanks for sharing the rest of the system details!  I used a pair of Crown 2502 amps to power DIY subs in my previous system… they were dead silent and had plenty of power.

If you haven’t done so, please comment on this “wish list” thread:

Arendal Sound wish list

[shlomi-shoil]

Hi, nice setup!!! Enjoy :)

What the dimensions of the room?

I got too the focal aria 926 and matching center.

I hope in the next year I will replace those and complete the arendal setup.

Can you write what are the main differences between those speakers?

[arkmann]

Thanks for sharing your system.  Looks good enjoy!

[aurelien]

hi Shlomi,

room is about 3 x 4 m (12m²)

from a “feeling” point of view (no measurements, no data comparison, only a feedback for my room with my current AV system), the main difference with the aria 926 is the smoothness on the high frequencies/trebble. i found them more enjoyable than aria 926 (that were kind of “little painful”, especially with women voices on movies for example). 1723 Towers S seem clearly better for me on that part.

The other main difference is the “sound stage” or the capacity to be “arounded” by the sound. Clearly a main difference VS the aria 926 on my room (i could localize more the sound with the aria).

 

Regarding the center, it’s a BIG change as the aria CC900 didn’t sound great on my room (i didn’t find the issue, even with calibration, placement change,…). i’m using a 1723 S Monitor as center (vertical way) and it perfectly fit with the 1723 S towers (i found the 1723 S monitor unit in the outlet, only to buy only 1 pc).

 

Last comment on the subwoofer. I was doubting a lot about the 50 hrs to enjoy it the most….but after 50/70 hrs of use, it’s as the 1723 1S subwoofer was awaken! i changed it from a SVS PB1000, of course not on the same price range but clearly a big improvement on the precision of the bass (the SVS PB1000 was making vibrations with the cabinet/objects/.. and the bass sounded “muddy” and “imprecise” sometimes).

[shlomi-shoil]

@aurelien sablonniere thank you for the detailed answer.

I have also a problem with the focal center, it is sound very localized and tiny. Hope in the next few months to replace it (maybe the L+R will also replaced at the same time).

As regarding to the sub, I got the 1723 2s and really liked it both movies and music.

 

Shlomi