What receivers/amplifiers do you use to drive you Arendal setups?

[Kristoffer Svendsen]

I’m curious, What receiver/preamp/source and/or amplifiers do you use with your Arendal speakers? Have you tested brands that worked better than others? I’m curious to know what you guys are using!

I’m using a Yamaha RX-A2060 to power a pair of 1961 Monitors and a 1723 Sub 1v and it sounds great! I might add a dedicated amplifier down the line if I get something bigger, but I definitely don’t feel like I’m missing much with my current setup.

[Michael]

I have a Marantz Cinema 50 running a 5.2.4 configuration. Thinking of adding a 3 channel external amp like an Emotiva for the LCR, as I don’t think in the end the Marantz is pushing out enough power for the 1723 S towers and the 1723 Center I’m using. Thoughts?

[chris-lukowski]

I’ve heard great things about pairing Emotiva amps with Arendals. My question is what you’re rubbing for your surround speakers. Might be worth getting the 5 channel XPA-5 Gen3 and let your AVR just run your Atmos speakers.

[Michael]

@Chris from everything I’ve read, the Marantz is fine for the remaining surround sound and atmos, as the LCR channels going to the Emotiva would be shut down on the Marantz thus channeling more power to the surround sound speaker channels. The surround sound and atmos don’t get a ton of traffic during movies, so I think the Marantz would do just fine. Besides all that, for what the Marantz cost, I think it should some of the work

[Michael]

The real issue is, the 4 ohm 89db Arendal speakers are much hungrier power wise than the 8 ohm surround speakers. The main benefit of external amp would be for playing 2 channel music loudly when my wife isn’t home

[RobertV]

I have the Cinema 40 and have an Emotiva for my front three channels. I didn’t really notice that much of a difference but I really didn’t listen to the 40 that much before adding the amp I have the 1723S towers and 1723s center.

[Luis Vazquez]

I’ve been happy with my Cinema 50 driving my 1961 speakers, but I’m curious if anyone has tried the Monolith amps… they are made by ATI in the US and have traditional toroidal based power supplies, in some instances two of them.

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[Michael]

@Luis, did you change the impedance on the cinema 50 to 4 ohm or did you leave it at 8 ohm? I’m reading that changing to 4 ohm may not be needed. I set it to 4 ohm, but thinking of setting it back to 8

[Lukas]

@Michael definitely leave it at the 8 Ohm setting. If you set it to 4 Ohm the amp will limit power, so it does not get too hot. You will have much more power and better control in the 8 Ohm setting and the amp will still maintain a good temperature.

[Luis Vazquez]

@Michael I never changed the setting; 8ohms is default.

[Michael]

Changed it back to 8 ohm yesterday. I do see the amp running a little hotter, but no big deal. Not sure if I can tell the difference, it just sounds good. Also, not sure I really need an external amplifier, but I WANT one. That’s pretty much the reason for all of this expensive equipment. We could all probably get by with just a bluetooth speaker, (shudder) but what would be the fun in that.