1723 Monitor THX

In their price range, these are by far the best I could find. The sound, the finish, the service… It’s all beter than to be expected.

First off, I had a pair of Magnat MSP-60's for 34 years and they sounded great so I never had a desire to look elsewhere. I started getting interested in speakers of the modern technology. After many months of research, I found Arendal. Watched the videos, read the articles etc. The MTM (D'Appolito) design made a lot of sense to me, so I ordered the 1723 THX Monitors. I hesitated for a long time because I really wondered how much better could these speakers be. They could be returned in 60 days so It appeared there was nothing to lose. After setting up and playing a CD from Dido, I knew in literally the first minute these speakers were not going to be returned. Yes, set them up correctly and they will blow you away, they are that good. Let me finish this review with short bullet points. 1. Packaged perfect, arrived in flawless condition. 2. They are beautiful to look at and the build quality is superb in EVERY detail. 3. They are expensive but worth the cost in every way. 4. The magnetic grills hold tight, very tight. The grills are well built. 5. The binding post are substantial. It is hard to believe Arendal would put so much detail in the back of these speakers. The back is beautiful in my opinion. 6. The drivers are very very nice and are very high quality. 7. I purchased the white gloss finish that adds to the beauty with the black grills. 8. I have them paired to a SVS SB-13 ultra subwoofer. The Arendals ports are plugged as suggested when using a sub. In this configuration, I found the crossover on the sub HAD to be set at 80hz. Originally I had it set at 63hz but when the bass became really low, you could distinctly tell the direction of the bass, i.e. not blending well. Maybe in the unplugged configuration 63hz would be fine. 9. The Arendals image absolutely perfectly, something my Magnats could not match. I can tell where every instrument and voice is located even faint sounding instruments in the background. 10. Their Soundstage is so good, I never knew what I was missing. The bass is extremely good and tight which may also be due to the port plugs inserted. 11. The treble is extremely good as well, no tizzyness. I'm still experimenting with toe in, as some professional reviewers suggest to "adjust" the treble to my liking. The sound great with no toe in, 15 degrees and 30 degrees. Still trying to decide because they sound so good no matter what the angle seems to be. 12. Several reviewers including pros, say these are mainly for "home theatre" use. It is incorrect to mislead people in this statement. They can be used for both. I'm running mine in a 2.1 setup. I'm very picky about how my system sounds and these speakers are superb. I can't ask for better. Unlike my Magnats, the Arendals render voices extremely well. Male voices always sounded good but female voices were another matter. Female voices on the Arendals are so good, I am now purchasing CD's of female singers, something I haven't done for many years. 13. I listen to modern jazz and new age mainly. Not much rock music or classical. 14. If I had to do it again, my choice would be the same. It would be hard to believe anyone would not love these speakers in every way. Buy them, take the time to experiment with proper setup, allow ample break in (Arendal says 50hrs) and you'll be rewarded with beautiful superb sounding speakers. 15. Lastly, I want to thank the Arendal team who I talked to several times and emailed more than I can truly remember. EVERY, email was answered very quickly. They were extremely patient with me with all my concerns and questions. This is a very professional company and everyone is very friendly. I'm 61 yrs old and can honestly say their customer service is way beyond what is normally experienced. If your on the fence, go for it. You will be glad you did. Thank you Arendal.

Amazing sound quality!

These are one of the best speakers I’ve seen in person. Perfect quality and outstanding sound

A pair of 1723 THX monitor replaced a set of Vienna Acoustics Strauss Speakers, so I now have a full set 1723 THX speakers and a Sub 2S and a set of 1961 heights. I am very happy with this purchase, speakers have run for about 50 hours, now and close to run in. Sound is very natural and spearkes easy to place in room. I especialy like the neutale mid and heights, very smooth and with no problems to my ears. The low area is a little lean but again neutral with no tendency to boom and so. Another positive thing is how neutral sound remains at high levels in my room no agressive tendences, and distorsion is very low, real THX to my ears. All in all the best speakers I have ever heard in my room. If you want the best try Arendal 1723 THX speakers. I am considering to buy a set of 1723S heights and use 1961 heights to Atmos speakers.

I have updated (term use loosely) the L/R speakers for my Home theater rig about 10 times in the past few years trying to find something that will vend well with my room. I have a problematic room 10 x 21.5 feet. Equipment used Denon 6700h with Qutlaw Audio 300 watt monoblock powering L/C/R/LS/RS Speakers that did not work out. (only the highlights, others not worth mentioning. GoldenEar Triton 1R's: massive failure spent three months trying to get they to sound as good as my old Mythos STS's. In a room like mine two built in 2000 watt subs in the corners would cause so much bass it obscured the dialogue. All the processing (X32, Mini DSP, SMS-1, Antimode 2.0 would not bring down the bass enough to correct extremely bloomy sound that whipped out the mids and highs. Revel F208's Sounded wonderful on music, very musical, on movies, still very musical, no impact, no dynamics, no Dynamic and Punch on Wick and A Quite Place were non existent , instead it was a very polite musical sound that did not seem to want to startle you or make you jump out of your seats. Other tries I could balance, they just all had their weak spots, enough that even though I tried for a month on each they just never accomplished a full sound and did not sound as good as my ancient L/R's. Which brings me to the Arendal 1723 Monitors. First day they feel right in place a few inches from where my old ones set. Second day, balanced they out and ran Audssey. WOW, on music they were similar to the Revels, just spot on and lifelike. The musical accuracy is haunting. Two songs and I switch over to movies since the Revels did not do well there and I was worried about the 1723's. WOW, John Wick, A Quiet Place, Collateral , Fury, Interstellar, Drive and on and on. punch was there, dynamics are there, enough to blew your socks off. I could plainly see I have something I could work with, spent 2 days moving and toeing them in and out and wow. Those movies above has punch and slam, bass is amazing, working with them for 2 days got rid of the little bloat that was there (I could have lived with it and been fine, it was not much of a issue) The whole upper end became wonderfully detailed. The mids opened up a bit and the low end became even more tactile, punchy, the bass is amazing but balanced, these are speakers you feel as much as hear. Are the 1723 Monitors flawless, no, but the amazing thing is there is no serious flaw in any area, any flaw I point out would be nitpicky, these are concentrated listening flaws that would not normally be heard. THE BOTTOM LINE is these speakers do not do everything perfectly across the frequency range but they do do everything excellently across the range. All other speakers I tried took about a month just to try to get them to sound like my old speakers, these took three days to totally blow my old speakers out of the water. (Which cost much more). Their customer service is out of this world, they do not try to upsell you. Doyle is fantastic. A MUST BUY!

Superb speaker, great finish!

Excellent quality, sound is pure, love the look of the speakers

Tried with all 3 of my amps and great performance even with the weakest. 60 watts worked excellently and they just get better. Have thrown countless reference tracks at them and they just give you so much

The 1723 THX Monitors can hsndle everything I throw at them with ease and unmatched clarity.