Upgrading to Arendal

[Demetrius James]

I’m considering upgrading my current home theater. My theater is 12′ x 7’7″x 30′. It’s  located in the basement. I have a Marantz AV7702ii, Outlaw 7140 amp, Outlaw 5000 amp, Definitive Technology 8060 towers, Definitive Technology CS 9040 center, Definitive Technology SR 8040 surrounds, 4 Roger Sound Lab c34e for atmos, & 2 HSU vtf15hmk2  subs. My plan is to switch the Definitive Technology speakers out & to with the Arendal 1723’s as well as switching the subs out for a JTR RS2. My first question is will the 1723’s be not just an upgrade but a major upgrade from the Definitive Technology speakers?And the second is will the Outlaw 7140 be enough amp for the speakers. 90% of use is for movies but I’m sure that could change with the right speakers.

[Brandon]

Hi Demetrius,

I would most certainly say the 1723 series will be an improvement over the Definitive 8000 and 9000 series in 2 ways:

1. The sound will be very linear and less harsh (metal hybrid softdown – deftech) vs (poli-softdome – Arendal). Def Tech can be very bright and needs quite a bit of eq to tame. The 1723 is less bright and has a very good / consistent off axis response that is easy to EQ.

2. Also the Sound profile will be quite different as the Def Tech speakers are bi-polar and reflect sound off the front wall to make the sound stage bigger. This can cause issues if you don’t have the best room environment. The 1723 Speakers are direct firing and have the waveguide-based tweeter, so you won’t have as hard of a time getting them placed perfectly. This will sound more life-like and natural.

For your other question: The Outlaw 7140 is rated at 225 watts per channel at 4ohms. That will be plenty of power, especially since it is dedicated power, to getting the 1723s to sound plenty loud in your space. There shouldn’t be any issues getting to reference with that kind of power.

Hope this helps!

[roman-tissera]

That’s quite a change going from speakers with built-in subs to none. Why the change?

[Demetrius James]

To be honest with you I  unplugged the power cords on my tower speakers over a year ago and don’t notice a difference with my subs. As far as the rest of my system I really like my speakers but they just don’t get loud enough for me with music  & I’ve already blown my center channel once before.