Arendal Sound 1528 Monitor 8 Loudspeaker Review

[Bobby Bass]

Cool I tried the 1723S towers and then moved to the 1723 towers. I’m set but I would like to hear the 1528 towers to compare.

 

[Golfx]

Cool I tried the 1723S towers and then moved to the 1723 towers. I’m set but I would like to hear the 1528 towers to compare.

You would then lust for them

 

[Rob Kelly]

James - Nice review. I also saw the Tower 8 review by DD. Any chance you guys created a polar map for the tower 8's?

 

[shadyJ]

James - Nice review. I also saw the Tower 8 review by DD. Any chance you guys created a polar map for the tower 8's?

The measurments were handled by Jay from Jay's Iyagi. I don't remember seeing a polar map, sorry.

 

[TankTop5]

They just posted this on their FB page. These bookshelf speakers are absolutely massive.

 

[Nondemo01]

They just posted this on their FB page. These bookshelf speakers are absolutely massive.View attachment 78208

No doubt, they're large, but that "living room" is tiny and so is the loveseat. Look at the McIntosh amps in the background. Those are 17.5" wide x 10" high ish. My 1528 Tower 8s are big but I wouldn't say "Wilson Audio Alexx" massive.

 

[Deerhound]

Great review, I own a pair of these and really like them since I fixed a couple of issues. I found them a little shouty at first and had to use the adjustable mid range and tweeter jumpers on the back of the speakers to tone it down by 1.5db which fixed the issue. Also, I find them a little bright. I now use Lokius tone control and warmer sounding Duelund speaker wire, RCA and XLR's. Problem fixed.

 

[Nondemo01]

Great review, I own a pair of these and really like them since I fixed a couple of issues. I found them a little shouty at first and had to use the adjustable mid range and tweeter jumpers on the back of the speakers to tone it down by 1.5db which fixed the issue. Also, I find them a little bright. I now use Lokius tone control and warmer sounding Duelund speaker wire, RCA and XLR's. Problem fixed.

Interesting. What did the Arendal's replace if I may ask? I know for me, moving from the air-motion tweeter in my GoldenEars, to the waveguide dome tweeter in the 1528s, required adjusting to a wider "sweet spot" and increased blending with the midrange. The AMTs were "sweeter" up high but the domes sounded much more natural and had the "sound power" in the upper midrange was noticeable. I can see why you felt they were "shouty", but depending on what you came from, might just be giving you those upper mids you've been missing.

 

[Deerhound]

Interesting. What did the Arendal's replace if I may ask? I know for me, moving from the air-motion tweeter in my GoldenEars, to the waveguide dome tweeter in the 1528s, required adjusting to a wider "sweet spot" and increased blending with the midrange. The AMTs were "sweeter" up high but the domes sounded much more natural and had the "sound power" in the upper midrange was noticeable. I can see why you felt they were "shouty", but depending on what you came from, might just be giving you those upper mids you've been missing.

I had Magnepan 1.6's. I also have a pair of Monitor Audio Silver Rx 1. The Arendals midrange was peaky and piercing. The Arendals have midrange and high frequency attenuators in the back that can attenuation 1.5 dB which is very noticeable for me. I guess the company knew that this might be an issue for some. I spoke with a guy on the Arendal forum that had the same issue and returned them. I briefly had a Marantz PM10 integrated and it was really bad with the Arendals. I returned it and bought my Levinson 5805 which is a much better integrated with a reference dac and headphone amp.

My room is part of the issue. It is a live room with a lot of reflections. Wood floor, lots of big windows. Despite the room, my Maggie's sounded fabulous. We will be downsizing our home in 2 years so hopefully we will have a better room.