The Norwegian startup Arendal has completed its model range with a series which fits best in not too large rooms – 1961.

By Jamie Biesemans. Read the original review HERE.

The Norwegian Arendal managed to convince last year with the 1723 surround speakers. This year, with the 1961 series, it presents a slimmer speaker line that fits better in a modal living room. But does it still sound good?

Arendal 1961 series speakers

For the second time in a row, Arendal wins an EISA Award for best surround speaker family. That is quite a remarkable achievement, at least for a relatively unknown brand that operates from a corner of Norway. In part, this recognition comes because there aren’t that many speaker builders who really focus on surround. But also because Arendal Sound works in its own well-founded way and succeeds in building scientifically designed products that sound good but do not carry sky-high price tags.

Value for money is excellent

The above is absolutely true for the speakers we are going to review in this review. For the review we will work with models from the new 1961 family of Arendal. These are speakers that are a bit more compact and cheaper than the 1723 line that we reviewed last year – but which are built according to the same principles as the more expensive series. The cheapest members of the 1961 family are the 1961 Bookshelfs at 699 euros / pair, the most expensive are the Towers at 1,499 euros / pair. Anyone who builds a home cinema will find everything he needs, because the line still includes the 1961 Height (699 euros / pair), the 1961 Center (499 euros), the 1691 Surround (799 euros / pair) and the 1961 Monitor (a larger upright speaker from 899 euros / pair). At Arendal they also love subwoofers, as you would expect from a home theater company. That is why there are also two 1961 Subwoofers, the smaller closed 1S at 799 euros and the larger 1V with bass port at 999 euros.

Internet-only

Arendal Sound is not a brand that you will discover at your local store. From the town of Arendal in the south of Norway, the brand sends its speakers to customers who buy them online. A direct sales model, comparable to what the much larger Teufel does. Yet Arendal is not a smaller version of that Berlin audio giant. Where it offers a full line-up of audio, the Norwegian company sticks to a modest number of products aimed at the traditionally minded home theater enthusiast who builds his dream cinema with an AV receiver and a lot of speakers. It is also unique that Arendal is very open with its measurement data and admits without hesitation that its products are built in China. Most speakers in this price range are manufactured in the Far East, but this is often not really emphasized because some consumers see «Made in China» as a disadvantage. Arendal is less affected by this.

These are serious speakers built and finished to a high standard.

When we unpack the many 1961 models that Arendal has shipped (everything except the Monitors!), we don’t exactly have the impression that they are low-budget products. The designers still call them premium – and that’s right. Due to the use of High Density Fiber wood, all speakers are quite heavy and they also look relatively high-end. They are completely seamless with no grooves or transitions between pieces of wood. Small details such as the solid speaker terminals, the included spikes kit and the seamless integration of the drivers in the baffle greatly increase the quality feeling.

The Sub is at a high level

We see increasingly better finishes with affordable speakers (see for example the KEF R series or the Monitor Audio Bronze family), and Arendal is also following that trend. That is good news for the consumer; it is no longer the case that if you have a relatively smaller budget, you necessarily end up with poorly finished products. Each 1961 model is available in a matte black or a matte white. The latter almost looks like gray in some marketing photos, but it is really white. We received a visit from the black version, and we have to say: because of the screwless mounting of the matte drivers in the front, the speakers look really sleek and modern. An advantage is that dust and dirt are less noticeable; we did notice that removing a fingerprint was slightly more difficult due to the slightly rougher structure, even with a light cleaning fluid.

A whole family

As part of this year’s EISA judging by the undersigned, Arendal sent all but one of the 1961 family models. A very heavy pallet full of speakers, of which we mainly worked with the Tower, Surround, Center and Bookshelf. We also received the Height speaker, but we did not use it. It is a dual-role speaker that you can hang to radiate the height channels directly or place on top of the Tower in Dolby Speaker mode to bounce off the ceiling. However, it was difficult to integrate this model in our setup, due to our fixed cabling for the height channels. We have not tested it, but do note that the Height is a sturdy speaker of 4.4 kg with an oblique baffle at 10 °. In our opinion, this makes it more suitable for larger rooms (if you hang it). Firm anchoring is certainly also a good idea.

…speakers look really sleek and modern

The Towers are the floorstanders in the company. Arendal opted for a 2.5-way design with four 5.5-inch woofers. They are not quite the same: the two lower ones take care of the lower frequencies, the two higher ones take care of the midrange. The tweeter is mounted between those two woofers, an arrangement that can ensure good integration between mid and high.

There are some unusual things about this Tower. For one thing, it’s not a classic upright box. The Tower is leaning back; Seen from the side it looks like a parallelogram. That looks dynamic, but it may have been done before to bring the speakers into phase. Also unusual is that the front speaker grille consists of two separate pieces. So you can choose to cover the woofers at the bottom and show the top drivers naked (or vice versa).

The Tower looks like a completely closed speaker, but has a very narrow slot port at the bottom of the back. By default this opening is blocked, but you can clear it for a dash more presence in the layer. Please note, this is more appropriate if you move the Tower a bit further from the wall, because removing the prop will have an effect.

We also find the Surround a particularly interesting speaker. It is a so-called tri-axial speaker. In addition to the tweeter and 5.5-inch woofer in the front, it is also equipped with a 3-inch midrange driver on the sides (crossover at 200 Hz). This was done to spread the rear channel wider. So it is an answer to the problem of small rear speakers that often also sound «small», and therefore do not convey action in the rear convincingly. Tri-axial speakers cannot really deliver the experience of two surround plus two surround back channels (so 7.1), but they are still taking a step in that direction.

1961 Tower is a beautiful all-rounder

The Bookshelf is very similar to the Surround speaker, but lacks the two 3-inch drivers. What the two models do share is the low sensitivity of 84 dB, a value that the Height speaker also shares. The other 1961 models are more sensitive, but not really easy to control. The Tower has a sensitivity of 87 dB for example. What this means in concrete terms is that these speakers need a powerful amplifier to really perform well. That is also something that we really noticed during testing. When watching movies where we adjusted the volume by ear, we were sometimes surprised how far the volume knob on our Denon and Marantz receiver was turned up. We don’t think it would be a good idea to hang the 1961’s on a budget receiver.

A common denominator with all 1961 speakers is the placement of the tweeter in a deep waveguide. The newly designed liquid-cooled tweeter is thus relatively deep in the cabinet, surrounded by a cone with a special shape that improves performance in many ways. For example, it improves transition from midrange drivers to the tweeter and increases efficiency and directivity. The latter is important, because tweeters without a waveguide radiate the highest frequencies as a tight beam of light. And that’s not ideal unless you’re just in the right sweet spot place.

Subwoofer

The 1961 Subwoofer 1S that we received is the entry-level model at Arendal. With a price tag of 799 euros, it is now also not a budget product, something that the Norwegians have understood. You even get quite a bit for the price, as the 1S comes with a hefty 12.2-inch woofer powered by a DSP-driven 550 Watt RMS Avalanche amplifier. It’s also a really solid, heavy thing, which has to do with Arendal’s preference for HDF composite instead of the more common MDF wood. The matte black finish in which our test model was made does not seem that sexy at first sight, but after a few weeks of testing we come to the conclusion that it does have something. Fabric shows well, but when we look at what that glossy black paint finish of our Monitor Audio Silver W12 subwoofer looks like after a few years of use, we think that matte black might be a safer choice in the longer term. Just like the other 1961 models, the sub is also available in matte white.

You don’t often see this at this price level.

What is not immediately noticeable is that this subwoofer can be set much more finely than most class peers. The reason it doesn’t stand out? You don’t really see any buttons or lights anywhere until you peer at the back. There, it turns out that the usual buttons such as crossover or volume are not present, but a small color display that you operate with two rotary / push buttons. In this way you are offered an above average number of options, such as a 4-band parametric equalizer. You can also set everything in terms of triggering and inputs. You don’t often see this at this price level. The only downside is that you really have to lie down and crawl behind the sub to set things up. Depending on your space and your urge to always tweak, that is a bit of a hassle. In an ideal world you should be able to work via an app, but that is an option that you will only find with more expensive subwoofers. And even then …

It is also good to note that this «small» subwoofer is also quite large: 41.5 x 31.5 x 41.5 cm, 20 kg. The 1S comes standard on damping feet, which is a plus on a wooden floor.

Great integration

During the first part of our test we used our fixed Denon AVR-X6300H, later we switched to the brand new Marantz SR8015. Both use Audyssey MultEQ XT32 as room correction software. Via the MultEQ app we measure at the maximum eight positions in our test room. During testing we usually leave Dynamic Volume off, with Dynamic Volume we dare to experiment a bit more.

Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma remains a reference for us when it comes to detail and positioning. Far from an action movie, it is real proof that Atmos soundtracks can contribute immensely to mood building, even when they aren’t spaceships, Godzilla or explosions. The 1961’s successfully convey the atmosphere, in part because they perfectly place the many fine details in the room. We can perfectly locate the street vendor calling in the background and moving through the image with our eyes closed. The Arendals are really very precise, which turns out to be just a disadvantage at a certain point. When the maid has to pick up the children at school, a car horns driving through the screen. But for the first time ever when we watch this movie scene, we think: this sounds added afterwards. That is true of course in the case of almost all sound effects; in some films, almost all dialogues are even re-recorded on a soundstage afterwards. But you are not supposed to notice. A bit of toe-in is a good idea to solve this problem.

When watching multiple movies, we are impressed with the integration. This is partly a merit of the receiver, but is also only possible if the different speakers match in terms of timbre. That is one hundred percent the case here. In the Roma scene where the dad struggled to drive his American sled into the garage, we really had an incredibly seamless feeling, as if we were really there. This is top level.

This is top level.

«Jojo Rabbit» was one of the more curious films of the past year. Not because it is stylistically some sort of Wes Anderson-light film, but because it revolves around a ten-year-old child with his imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler. The short content makes it sound like a Very Bad Idea, but this comedy is by Waititi, who previously convinced us enormously with «Thor: Ragnarok». In terms of sound, this film often alternates between scenes in which the craziest things happen to the tones of cheerful march music or pop hits and moments when the soundtrack consists entirely of dialogues. It is then that we still get the impression that the center speaker is a bit too small. Although the appearance comes across as broad thanks to that waveguide – making the stage sound large and in keeping with the two Towers – the Center seems to have to work too hard. It is not such a problem, but in a very large room you will have to take this into account. By the way: Arendal has provided an extensive PDF guide on its website in which the placement and toe-in is treated very clearly. It is recommended to take it if you would consider these speakers.

The slightly weaker performance of the center speaker is more than compensated by the good to excellent performance of the other 1961 parts. Especially the 1V Subwoofer is very good, but those 1961 Surrounds with their side speakers also impress. As they run through Dolby’s official Atmos demos, these little ones create really big-sounding rear channels. They remind us a bit of the FX speakers from MA’s Bronze and Silver lines, in how they simultaneously position effects well but also release the sound from the speaker through the rear channels. They sound like much larger speakers, which makes for a smoother transition as the two spaceships in «Horizon» fly from the back to the front of the room.

They sound like much larger speakers…

When listening to music we switch to a stereo mode, but in 2.1 mode (with the subwoofer as LFE + Main). The Towers are certainly capable of playing music without a subwoofer, but to our taste the bass could be a bit deeper and have punch. That works better with the sub there, as the Arendal subwoofer seems well damped and delivers beats perfectly timed. The «End Titles» that Daft Punk wrote for Tron: Legacy, followed by the funky David Hasselhoff mix on «Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix, vol.2» are very catchy. In terms of sound character, the Towers really please. Like the 1723’s, they are not very colored, which gives them an almost KEF-like character for us, which reproduces the fine strings on «Foscarini’s Groove» by I Bassifondi with the necessary finesse. You shouldn’t be here for a warm glow, but for honesty you should.

Conclusion

Just ordering a set of five or more speakers via the internet and spending a few thousand euros, it requires some courage and confidence. Especially in these times when you are bombarded by kickstarter campaigns and cheap online-only offers. But with 1961 Arendal again shows itself to be a different kind of company. These are serious speakers built and finished to a high standard. You will never think: “This is a bit cheap”.

They are also speakers for those who are more serious about building a home theater. You definitely need a powerful receiver from a higher class to make them perform really well. That’s the downside. However, there are plenty of advantages: the smooth appearance of the sound, the many models, the excellent finish, the homogeneous sound character and the clear, detailed reproduction. The 1961’s may sound a little reserved at first, but you need to give them some time to appreciate their natural character.

Recommended.

PROS & CONS

• Value for money is excellent
• 1961 Tower is a beautiful all-rounder
• The Sub is at a high level
• Neutral, sleek reproduction, also allows a lot of custom tuning
• 1961 family also includes dedicated home theater models

Cons:

• Floorstand design just a bit more unusual to place
• Display and controls subwoofer are awkwardly placed

Choosing their own roads

The Norwegian startup Arendal has completed its model range with a series which fits best in not too large rooms – 1961.

By Magnus Fredholm. Read the original review in Swedish HERE.

– Awesome build quality
– Exceptional cinema sound
– Flexible system

Arendals first speaker series, 1723, works now in retrospect to be a largely uncompromising home cinema series, designed without special thought for anything else than really awesome cinema sound.

The successor 1723 S is a slightly slimmed down variant of the same concept, while the new 1961 series one size further scaled-down variant. 1961 series has also been given a slightly simpler finish and boxes with simpler design, which allows prices compared with the 1723 models to be significantly lower.

Smart downscaling

It is interesting that Arendal has chosen to keep drivers and filters at the same level through all series. There are thus by no means any cheap drivers in 1961, only smaller woofers, and with slightly simpler baskets.

These smaller drivers (5.5 inches compared to 1723 S which has 6.5-inches and 1723 which boasts 8-inchers) is probably the largest the reason why 1961 has lower sensitivity (the sensitivity of the tower model is 87 dB to compared with 89 and 93 dB respectively for 1723 S and 1723).

The treble is thus the same 28 mm variant as in other series, but with a smaller waveguide diameter to match the midrange drivers. Another difference is that the 1961 series
consistently runs with a single pair of speaker connectors per box, unlike 1723 which has possibilities for bi-amp / bi-wiring.

The stylish, very discreet speaker fronts are also simplified, the fabric is stretched over a plastic frame instead of metal as it is in 1723.

Long-lived construction

The more I spend time with the 1961 series, the more I feel that these speakers were actually created by real home theater nerd, people who have a genuine interest in offering speakers that works well both today and in 20 years from now.

In addition to the fact that the speakers themselves are really well built, with the highest possible density of the fibrous material (HDF) is that all drivers screws are screwed in with metal threads, which means that you can retighten the screws as many times as possible and in addition, the speakers can be disassembled and reassembled hundreds of times without appreciable wear.

And if we look at the filters, the conditions of it very durable plastic film type while the coils are air-wound with a substantial wire thickness.

Arendal 1961 is a fantastically high-performing speaker system that is easy to place, with a very attractive price tag!

The whole series

I have had all the models in the series available during the review, but because I only had one Center (in pairs it is called Monitor) I can not comment on Monitor in more than general terms. As for the subwoofers, I will not write so much about them because I tested them in HemmaBio 10/2019, but this time I have only used the smaller Subwoofer 1S.

In the front stage we have the 1961 Tower, which leans slightly backwards and is a floor stander that can be run both sealed and ported. Should Tower be used alone (in a stereo system) I think using it in ported mode is preferable, it goes a little deeper and above all more physical bass reproduction. In the home theater, however, I prefer Tower sealed, as the definition in the bass becomes something better that way. They work best to my ears with subwoofer support from 50 Hz, but it depends of course on the room too. Here you can also choose between soft rubber feet or spikes, and for the ones that know me you know that it is 100% soft rubber feet that wins when I get to choose, but for those who want spikes there are nice ones included!

Image comment: For all of us who prefer rubber feet, Arendal even has a solution that comes in the box, namely their own, logo-bearing feet!

Image comment: In order for the Tower model to stand firmly, it is equipped with outriggers and solid spikes.

1961 Center is a center in exemplary format. The width is the same as normal home theater amplifiers, so for those who want to put it in the rack can easily fit it there, while the depth is only 15 cm, which means that the speaker will not look out of place under a modern tv. It is also easy to hang on the wall thanks to double keyholes and bracket mounts for two wall brackets. This sealed speaker came to thrive best crossed over at 80 Hz, a crossover point I by the way chose for all speakers except Tower.

1961 series is a superb choice in the price range!

Bookshelf is the classic satellite speaker, and had I been less spacious at home, a couple of these could easily replace the Tower! Low sensitivity is the only possible downside, while the flexible format and possibility for wall hanging both flat against the wall and with using wall brackets makes Bookshelf an ideal speaker for live surround sound.

Image comment: The bookshelf model, like the rest of the series, has a pair of terminals of confidence-giving quality, keyholes for quick hanging and also four recessed threaded nuts for the standard type of adjustable wall brackets. Also worth noting is the generous cable channel which allows Bookshelf to sit snugly against the wall even if you connect the speakers with really brutal cables.

Image comment: Neat and elegant on the element front, both treble and midrange / bass have an impeccable finish and fit.

Surround is a three-sided speaker with the same main equipment as Bookshelf, but with three-inch side drivers directed to the right and left (in relation to the main baffle) which ensures that they get a really wide soundstage. This in turn ensures that they work extra well as a side surround, then they «connect» the sound between front and rear
surround in a wonderful way. The side speakers are high-pass crossed at 200 Hz, and all sides are connected in the same phase.

Height then finally, it is slightly wedge-shaped and the upside-down version of Bookshelf, and it thrives just as well mounted up in the corner between wall and ceiling as lying on the Tower. Or why not as a pair of speakers in another room, for those who have not yet begun using the zone options in their amplifier.

Image comment: If you are going to use the Height model as height / Dolby Atmos / Dts: X / Auro-3D, they can be mounted in this way, but there are more ways to use them.

Image comment: Fine filters with polypropylene capacitors, air-wound coils and ceramic power resistors.

Temporary solution with duct tape

The set-up of the system is traditional, Tower with Height on top of the front along with Center, and Surround to the right and left with Bookshelf as the back surround and the subwoofer on the same wall as the screen.

If I had a choice, I would have replaced the two Bookshelf speakers with Surround, as the wide dispersion in midrange and treble is addictive. I also tested driving with Height mounted in the joint ceiling / wall, and it worked perfectly! However, I must admit that I did not have them there for more than a quarter of an hour, because my only option to mount them was with duct tape, not ideal.

I’m laughing so it’s almost ridiculous watching the latest Jumanji movie…

Since the sensitivity of the system is low, I want to recommend it to those who feel insecure to set the Tower level to -3 dB and then adjust the whole system according to them. It is of course possible to run them at 0 dB, but depending on the distance and location of the surround speakers, these may otherwise need a little too much gain.

I will not devote many words to the subwoofer, but an important feature is the effective (steep) crossover filter and the very low levels of harmonics, which gives you a little extra freedom on placement. S1 is simply a little harder to locate than many price-comparable subwoofers at the same crossover frequency.

Arendal recommends 50 hours of break-in, but I do not think there were any drastic differences during the test, at least none I can reliably deduce from the recording. This reminds me that I would someday want to test already broken-in against unused ones, too often I get it in my head that speakers bloom after 50-100 hours, but equally I often suspect that it is actually mostly that I «learned» the speakers.

Image comment: A speaker built in China can look from great to horrible inside, everything from pure disasters to constructions like this, where everything is clean, neat and exemplary. Nice for me so I did not have to scratch my head when I assembled the speaker again after photography.

Image comment: It’s great to meet machine screws when unscrewing speakers! The smaller dimension holds the treble while the thicker one holds the woofer, six screws for each driver. That it is Torx T15 to the base and 3 mm hexagon to the treble feels most like a comic surprise and does not affect the function at all.

Image comment: In order to be able to adapt the floor-standing Tower (which, in addition to the subwoofer V1, is the only model in the series which is ported) it comes with a piece of foam rubber which can be removed to make it a vented cabinet.

Magnificent presentation

I’m laughing so it’s almost ridiculous watching the latest Jumanji movie, so I’m watching it first. And after a slight lowering of the center (1dB compared to the measured level) and a few dB extra in the rear surround channels, I have to state that Arendal really know how to deliver home theater sound!

During the test I mostly used the Denon AVR-X4700H that I tested in the previous issue, but also Focal Astral 16 has been included, and wow what an amplifier it is! Strange? No, certainly not, but it’s always fun when fairly simple components rise when you give them better conditions! But I switch back to Denon fairly quickly, and after a few minutes of initial getting used to it, I am happy with the Denon / Arendal / Oppo combination.

…makes me lose my breath.

Well, back to the movies, and I’m watching Chapter 6 of Fantastic Beasts, a chapter that starts off fairly calm and then becomes really intimate and lastly explodes into an absolutely wonderful Atmos-cascade. Arendal 1961 rules with praiseworthy calm through the magic, and at the same time keeps the pieces in the calm part together even at low volume.

Thanks in particular to the Surround speakers on the side walls, the feeling is wonderfully enveloping, and this despite the fact that I only have two, also bouncing, Atmos speakers. I know I was a little naughty in the comment to Denon earlier, but the combination of amplifier and speakers here show that the previous issue’s fine ratings for the Denon machine were not empty.

Image comment: Height is primarily intended to be used hanging high up on the wall, and Arendal shows how they feel you should mount the cable, upwards of course for a clean installation! Note the thick, muted rubber mat means the Height is also safely located on top of the Tower.

Musically, it will not be a real highlight, but it’s mostly because the only film I find like this in the middle of the summer is Lady A’s Christmas life, and it’s not very fun. However, I know it well, and the 1961 system really brings out every nuance of the performance, and the separation when all three in the band sing at the same time gives an eerie sense of presence.

An old treat, chapter three in the first Deadpool movie, makes me lose my breath. The short car chase and the subsequent mass execution contain so much of movements, large and small sounds that coincide with dialogue, and 1961 in combo with the Denon 4700 delivers a magnificent presentation of the material. The separation, the details and the big bangs are handled in an obvious and relaxed way, while it is damn fun!

Conclusion

With 1961, Arendal has a system that not only is considerably cheaper than the 1723 sisters, there are also speakers that fit perfectly in everything from really small to fairly large (25-30 square meters) room, and you can probably get the system to work in even larger rooms but I did not have the opportunity to test.

The build quality is very good, the shortcuts taken (simpler boxes, single wire, plastic grilles) is all through sensible, and as a cinema system, the 1961 series is a superb choice in the price range!

Image comment: A «finesse» with the center is that it is as wide as normal home cinema equipment, so it fits in all common racks, very flexible.

Plus/Minus

+ Awesome build quality
+ Exceptional cinema sound
+ Flexible system

– Low sensitivity

= Arendal 1961 is a fantastically high-performing speaker system that is easy to place, with a very attractive price tag!