Total Immersion

ARENDAL 1961 9.4.4 SPEAKER SYSTEM

- Mark Henninger

THE 1961 system from Arendal is one of the company's three speaker series, the other two being the 1723 and 1723 S. 1961 is more compact and more affordable, but is otherwise consistent with Arendal's design philosophy and aesthetics. This isn't what you'd call overpriced audio jewelry. It is modern and solidly built and aesthetically pleasing, but most importantly, it performs and offers great value.

The company was founded in 2015 by Jan Ove Lassesen, whose father (also Jan) founded an electronics store in Norway that grew to be the most popular in the country. I first caught wind of Arendal last year from Jim Wilson, who reviewed a 1723 S system recently. I quickly discovered a lot of positive buzz about the company in online forums, with many praising their great sound and aesthetic appeal, as well as their strong performance measurements.

We decided to go with nine tower speakers, four height speakers and four ported subs. Why nine towers? In order to experience using the system with one of the towers acting as the center channel. Now I totally get that a tower serving as a center is not always practical to use with a TV. So Arendal also sent a center channel speaker. However, the main focus of the review is on using the tower speaker to handle all nine ear-level channels.

Arendal's business model is Internet Direct, meaning it cuts out the intermediaries in distribution and retail. The premise is that an ID brand can deliver more value by cutting out overhead. The company's modus operandi is to offer free shipping and a 60-day no-commitment trial period plus trade-ins. And they back all their speakers and subs with a 10-year warranty for passive components, 5 years for electronics.

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