Checks All the Boxes

ARENDAL 1723 S SPEAKERS & SUBWOOFER 2S

- Jim Wilson

INTRODUCTION

ARENDAL, NOT a name many people know. Ask your friends about them and I'll bet most look at you with a bewildered stare. I first ran across the company around 3 years ago but at that time they weren't doing much in the US so I filed them away in the "check back at a later date" section of my product review list. I guess you can consider it a later date as I now have before me a 5.1 system consisting of the  following.

2-1723 Tower S
1-1723 Center S
2-1723 Bookshelf S
1-1723 Subwoofer 2S

The entire 1723 line is physically smaller than the driver quantity and their size would suggest, it's clear Arendal is going for room friendly here. The S in the speaker name actually stands for "smaller" (relative to their flagship 1723 series). Each product in the S line is THX Ultra certified meaning rated for reference level volume in rooms up to 3,000 cubic feet at a 12-foot listening distance. Products that have achieved Ultra certification are seriously capable, an impressive accomplishment for speakers and subwoofers as small as these.

Arendal includes free shipping and a generous 60 day in-home trial. There is a 5 year warranty on electronics, 10 years for everything else.

FIRST IMPRESIONS

It's often said you don't get a second chance to make a first impression, start off on the wrong foot and it's difficult to make amends. Here's how my first interaction with Arendal went: