Arendal 1723 Possible upgrade

[BigDan79]

I have wanted to upgrade my Paradigm speakers for a few year now and have been seeing a lot of great reviews on the Arendal 1723. Not sure what would be better for my setup the 1723 or the 1723S.

I have a 21’x 21’ room. The main difference is the woofer size. I mainly use my system for movies.

Would is be better to save the money and go with the smaller speaker because most of the bass goes to the sub?

Would it be better to go with the larger speakers and run full range all around and get better directional bass?

I have heard the argument both ways. If you should run your crossover at 80hz it’s probably better to save the money and go with the smaller speakers.

Maybe I am not understanding this fully. Please help me understand how to make the proper decision. I am hoping this next upgrade will be my system for the next 15-20 years so I don’t want to regret my decision.

 

[bomt697]

I have the flag ship 1723 fronts and center channels and they are amazing. Definitely out classed my Def Tech bp/cs 9060s. From what I remember it’s about a $1000 difference (for all 3 speakers) between the 1723s and 1723 lines. Despite having 2 dedicated 15” HSU vtf-3 MK5 subs, I went with the larger 1723 line. They should great on their own (speakers set to large with bass LFE + main in AVR) when listening to music.

I will say that they are freaking heavy as hell. The fronts are 110-112 pounds each and the center is about 60 pounds. These maybe not necessarily be “wife approved” given their size and weight.

Overall I am super happy going with the flagship line. If you have the scratch, it’s highly recommended in my book.

 

[BigDan79]

Thanks for the reply. At this point the wife doesn’t care because we have a dedicated room. She just gets mad when I want to change things out all the time.

 

[bomt697]

Thanks for the reply. At this point the wife doesn’t care because we have a dedicated room. She just gets mad when I want to change things out all the time.

Dude I am in the same boat with my wife.

Another option to look at is the klipsch rf-7 III and rc-64 speakers. They are also very amazing. Built in dual 10” woofers, super sensitive at 99-100dB, and can be shipped from within the USA (as opposed to Arendal Audio which does come from Norway and DHL sucks with handling products).
But they are a bit more expensive than the 1723 line

 

[BigDan79]

Dude I am in the same boat with my wife.

Another option to look at is the klipsch rf-7 III and rc-64 speakers. They are also very amazing. Built in dual 10” woofers, super sensitive at 99-100dB, and can be shipped from within the USA (as opposed to Arendal Audio which does come from Norway and DHL sucks with handling products).
But they are a bit more expensive than the 1723 line

Thanks. The things that have me sold on the Arendal speakers are the reviews and build quality. Also, (I know its a bad reason) its a brand no one has heard of. Very similar to Rythmik. It’s almost like you found a secret

 

[bomt697]

Thanks. The things that have me sold on the Arendal speakers are the reviews and build quality. Also, (I know its a bad reason) its a brand no one has heard of. Very similar to Rythmik. It’s almost like you found a secret

I know what you mean. Thought the same way when I saw the review on Audioholics. You’re gonna love the speakers.

 

[BigDan79]

I know what you mean. Thought the same way when I saw the review on Audioholics. You’re gonna love the speakers.

Awesome. I think I will do the 1723’s for the fronts and the 1723S for the rear surrounds. Probably just keep my SVS height channels.

 

[BigDan79]

So I ended up ordering the 1723’s.

 

[BigDan79]

BTW- these are very heavy…

 

[bomt697]

You won’t be disappointed. Amazing speakers!! I love mine. One good album to listen to is the 2018 God of War sound track.

Let us know what you think of them. Welcome to the Arendal Family.

 

[BigDan79]

Thanks. Probably going to be a little bit before I get to listen to them. It will take awhile to get everything hooked up. The weight of these speakers has shown me that I am very out of shape.

 

[BigDan79]

Ok, so after a trip to Home Depot for some better wall anchors I got everything hooked up. Just doing some initial quick listening with the old Dirac setup. Also the front speakers aren’t lined up correctly yet.
My first impressions:
- more bass (not surprised)
- the movie dialogue seems clearer and more forward sounding. Probably not the best description.

I have more sound treatment panels on order and I want to change my subwoofer placement. So I have a lot of big changes to the room that will require tons of measurements.

So far I am happy with what I am experiencing.

 

[BigDan79]

Music sounds very good. Can’t wait till I have time to properly set the system up.

 

[JStewart]

Congrats @BigDan79! We need a drool-worthy emoji for those!

 

[ddude003]

Maybe this works...

 

[BigDan79]

Also, I was very impressed with the packaging I took some pictures.

 

[BigDan79]

My old setup was 9.3.6 but the new setup will be 7.3.6. I have extra channels that I could use to bi amp the front towers. I have never bi amped speakers before. Not sure if that’s a good idea or not. Seems that I could get more power to the towers but I don’t know the positives and negative’s of bi amping. Any input would be appreciated.

 

[JStewart]

@Erin has measurements up for a 1961 Bookshelf. YouTube review to follow.

Arendal 1961 Bookshelf Speaker Review

Arendal 1961 Review

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

 

[BigDan79]

I spent the last few weeks working on speaker placement. This site has a helpful tool https://theaters.audioadvice.com/rooms/new. I also added some additional room treatments. Calibrated using Dirac a few times to get it somewhat close and listenable. I relocated my subs so I have to do a full setup to get the bass accurate again. Not looking forward to that process again.
I am pretty happy with what I am hearing so far (other than my subs not being setup correctly). Music is definitely better with changing to the larger speakers. I am glad I went big.

 

[LCSeminole]

Now that you've had your Arendal 1723 speakers for 7 months, just curious what your thoughts are now that you've broken them in.