Arendal Sound 1961 Monitor Review!

[shadyJ]

The Arendal 1961 Monitor is Arendal’s second least-expensive stand-mount loudspeaker: not cheap, but not super-expensive either at $1100/pair. Arendal impressed us very much in our review of their 1723 Monitor (Arendal 1723 Monitor Review), their flagship stand-mount speaker, so we have decided to take a look at what they bring to the entry-level end of their monitors. We also wanted to take a look at what the stand-mount end of 1961 line could do after having been deeply impressed by the 1961 Tower Speakers (Arendal 1961 Tower Speaker Review). Today, we will look at how the 1961 Monitors compare with their larger brothers as well as other loudspeakers in its price range.

READ: Arendal Sound 1961 Monitor Review

 

[Jambarino]

View attachment 62639​

The Arendal 1961 Monitor is Arendal’s second least-expensive stand-mount loudspeaker: not cheap, but not super-expensive either at $1100/pair. Arendal impressed us very much in our review of their 1723 Monitor (Arendal 1723 Monitor Review), their flagship stand-mount speaker, so we have decided to take a look at what they bring to the entry-level end of their monitors. We also wanted to take a look at what the stand-mount end of 1961 line could do after having been deeply impressed by the 1961 Tower Speakers (Arendal 1961 Tower Speaker Review). Today, we will look at how the 1961 Monitors compare with their larger brothers as well as other loudspeakers in its price range.

READ: Arendal Sound 1961 Monitor Review

I just purchased three of these to demo for my LCR,I currently have Ascend Sierra-LX's but I want to try something with a waveguide and narrower dispersion to see how they interact with my small room. I generally prefer wider dispersion speakers but I have a small and challenging room that has a big opening on the left side and is mostly untreated except for thick carpet,a rug and furniture. Speaker placement can be challenging with unbalanced reflections. My room has a RT60 decay time of 340ms and putting up panels to treat any reflections makes the room sound dead and kills the high frequencies, so I'm hoping a narrower dispersion speaker will have less room interaction and make an improvement.

 

[doctors11]

I just purchased three of these to demo for my LCR,I currently have Ascend Sierra-LX's but I want to try something with a waveguide and narrower dispersion to see how they interact with my small room. I generally prefer wider dispersion speakers but I have a small and challenging room that has a big opening on the left side and is mostly untreated except for thick carpet,a rug and furniture. Speaker placement can be challenging with unbalanced reflections. My room has a RT60 decay time of 340ms and putting up panels to treat any reflections makes the room sound dead and kills the high frequencies, so I'm hoping a narrower dispersion speaker will have less room interaction and make an improvement.

Looking forward to your review.

 

[rvsixer]

For all the warnings of the narrow vertical listening window in the review...it's a shame Audioholics did not mention that Arendal also sells this same exact speaker as a horizontal center (only difference being the speaker terminals and markings/labeling turned 90 degrees).

And they are generous with the the +/- 20 degree listening window in that configuration, which is about right if you use +/- 6dB as your acceptable listening window benchmark (not sure how this became an acceptable norm). Most listeners can hear a 3dB difference, which limited this speaker to +/- 13-14 real world degrees before I heard a difference.

Which is why I returned it. Shame...brilliant speaker otherwise. Of course none of this is new information for toppled MTM designs. And yet I still find myself contemplating three in-wall verticals with them, would absolutely rock my small HT room. Both the monitor and the bookshelf have extremely low compression at 102dB output.

 

[Bobby Bass]

View attachment 62639​

The Arendal 1961 Monitor is Arendal’s second least-expensive stand-mount loudspeaker: not cheap, but not super-expensive either at $1100/pair. Arendal impressed us very much in our review of their 1723 Monitor (Arendal 1723 Monitor Review), their flagship stand-mount speaker, so we have decided to take a look at what they bring to the entry-level end of their monitors. We also wanted to take a look at what the stand-mount end of 1961 line could do after having been deeply impressed by the 1961 Tower Speakers (Arendal 1961 Tower Speaker Review). Today, we will look at how the 1961 Monitors compare with their larger brothers as well as other loudspeakers in its price range.

READ: Arendal Sound 1961 Monitor Review

Thanks for another review of Arendal speakers. Reinforces the decision I made. I had the 1723S towers and upgraded to the 1723 towers. They produce the best soundstage and dynamics I’ve heard in my listening room. That tweeter with waveguide sounds smooth and not fatiguing. Excellent bottom end but still added 2 subs to get down to 20 Hz. Excellent customer service. Highly recommend giving a listen to whatever size speaker or subwoofer you need.

 

[Trell]

For all the warnings of the narrow vertical listening window in the review...it's a shame Audioholics did not mention that Arendal also sells this same exact speaker as a horizontal center (only difference being the speaker terminals and markings/labeling turned 90 degrees).

And they are generous with the the +/- 20 degree listening window in that configuration, which is about right if you use +/- 6dB as your acceptable listening window benchmark (not sure how this became an acceptable norm). Most listeners can hear a 3dB difference, which limited this speaker to +/- 13-14 real world degrees before I heard a difference.

Which is why I returned it. Shame...brilliant speaker otherwise. Of course none of this is new information for toppled MTM designs. And yet I still find myself contemplating three in-wall verticals with them, would absolutely rock my small HT room. Both the monitor and the bookshelf have extremely low compression at 102dB output.

This is your first post since becoming a member of Audioholics in 2014.

Perhaps the moderators can give you another title than the auto generated Audiophyte as that doesn’t seem quite right for you.

 

[rvsixer]

This is your first post since becoming a member of Audioholics in 2014.

Perhaps the moderators can give you another title than the auto generated Audiophyte as that doesn’t seem quite right for you.

Thanks for the informative and on topic post.

 

[Trell]

Thanks for the informative and on topic post.

Same to you.

 

[rvsixer]

I just purchased three of these to demo for my LCR,I currently have Ascend Sierra-LX's but I want to try something with a waveguide and narrower dispersion to see how they interact with my small room. I generally prefer wider dispersion speakers but I have a small and challenging room that has a big opening on the left side and is mostly untreated except for thick carpet,a rug and furniture. Speaker placement can be challenging with unbalanced reflections. My room has a RT60 decay time of 340ms and putting up panels to treat any reflections makes the room sound dead and kills the high frequencies, so I'm hoping a narrower dispersion speaker will have less room interaction and make an improvement.

Please do report your findings. I too am interested in the Sierra LX within the next couple of months as soon as I can road trip out to Cali. Objectively they rank #1 over at spinorama.org (passive category w/eq and sub).

 

[TLS Guy]

View attachment 62639​

The Arendal 1961 Monitor is Arendal’s second least-expensive stand-mount loudspeaker: not cheap, but not super-expensive either at $1100/pair. Arendal impressed us very much in our review of their 1723 Monitor (Arendal 1723 Monitor Review), their flagship stand-mount speaker, so we have decided to take a look at what they bring to the entry-level end of their monitors. We also wanted to take a look at what the stand-mount end of 1961 line could do after having been deeply impressed by the 1961 Tower Speakers (Arendal 1961 Tower Speaker Review). Today, we will look at how the 1961 Monitors compare with their larger brothers as well as other loudspeakers in its price range.

READ: Arendal Sound 1961 Monitor Review

That looks to be a sensibly designed speaker for these times, and good value for money.

 

[gene]

 

[JTongret]

Hey Gene, this video can only be found by using this link. You can't find it through YouTube. Just letting you know so everyone is able to watch it. Thanks guys!

 

[Eppie]

Hey Gene, this video can only be found by using this link. You can't find it through YouTube. Just letting you know so everyone is able to watch it. Thanks guys!

It's there but a little buried. They decided to add it to the Arendal Sound section on the Audioholics YouTube page. If you follow this link, the video is listed as #9 in the series.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvfTZmvZzNmCAL1gWy6HfS-ssljqVQuu-

 

[highfigh]

I just purchased three of these to demo for my LCR,I currently have Ascend Sierra-LX's but I want to try something with a waveguide and narrower dispersion to see how they interact with my small room. I generally prefer wider dispersion speakers but I have a small and challenging room that has a big opening on the left side and is mostly untreated except for thick carpet,a rug and furniture. Speaker placement can be challenging with unbalanced reflections. My room has a RT60 decay time of 340ms and putting up panels to treat any reflections makes the room sound dead and kills the high frequencies, so I'm hoping a narrower dispersion speaker will have less room interaction and make an improvement.

Bare floor? That will definitely cause long RT60.

By comparison, of course it sounds dead but you need to listen without comparing. Only one will sound good and it's not going to, with the existing acoustics.

 

[Jambarino]

Bare floor? That will definitely cause long RT60.

By comparison, of course it sounds dead but you need to listen without comparing. Only one will sound good and it's not going to, with the existing acoustics.

https://www.youtube.com/live/ERTf4XBT3Bc?feature=share So at the 9 minute mark of this video Gene says between 300ms and 600ms is good in his opinion? Are you saying mine at 340ms is bad?

 

[nigio]

@shadyJ Except the base extension, which are the aspects that the 1723 are better than 1961?

 

[shadyJ]

@shadyJ Except the base extension, which are the aspects that the 1723 are better than 1961?

Dynamic range. They can get louder and stay clean at higher level playback.

 

[Golfx]

Dynamic range. They can get louder and stay clean at higher level playback.

Thanks Shady. It is so nice to find a new company producing consistently high quality products. Makes you feel like you could make a safe purchase and get your money’s worth within their product line. BTW your test music is “how” I find new music to enjoy.

 

[shadyJ]

BTW your test music is “how” I find new music to enjoy.

Lol, you must have had quite a few "what the hell is wrong with this guy?" moments if you are actually trying out the same stuff I listen to for these reviews!

 

[Bobby Bass]

Lol, you must have had quite a few "what the hell is wrong with this guy?" moments if you are actually trying out the same stuff I listen to for these reviews!

Too funny. Reminds me Qobuz has a playlist with 100 songs to test your speaker. All rock and pop though, no classical etc.