Small Home Theater – 1723 Monitor S vs 1961

[Luis]

Hello everyone… looking for additional suggestions and help in deciding between the 1723 Monitor S and the 1961 Towers for a small home theater setup.  The room is 10’11” x 15′ 7″ with 10′ ceilings; for the last 2+ years, the room was used as a dedicated 2 channel listening room; I attached a computer render of the room in its current state; plan is to reuse the acoustic panels.  The desk will remain in the room temporarily.

After trading a few emails with Kristoffer from Arendal, we came up with the following options for LCR:

1. 1961 Monitor and 1961 Center
2. 1961 Towers and 1961 Center
3. 1961 Towers and 1723s Center
4. 1723s Monitors and 1723s Center

Regardless of the decision for LCR, he recommended the following speakers to complete the rest of the system:

• 1961 1v (possibly 2)
• 1961 Surround Speakers (2 pairs – sides and rear)
• 1961 Height Speakers (1 pair mounted on the ceiling)

I’m leaning towards options 3 and 4 as I’m feel the larger center would provide the most benefit; however, I’m looking for additional suggestions / help from the community.

The 1961 1V has been purchased along with a Marantz Cinema 50 AVR; currently enjoying them within the room.

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[Mikael]

I also have the CXN v2 in my living room 2ch setup. Its a great piece of hardware! The only thing lacking in my opinion is a HDMI port with ARC. But sound/build quality, usability and feature wise its very tough to beat and I doubt most people actually need “more” (especially considering its current price)

I’m an advocate for external amplification for the LCR. I’d imagine it extends the lifespan of the AVR since it doesn’t have to work so hard/run hot all the time, since most of the heavy lifting is done by the dedicated power amp/amps.