Which dual subs?

They’re a very young company and based overseas which doesn’t fill me with confidence for long term support, especially in this climate?
I had a quick look at their website and couldn’t find out much about them. Can you offer any insight?
Possibly, but I don’t know what you’re looking for.
 
Possibly, but I don’t know what you’re looking for.
Insight into the company I mean. I’m reluctant to spend a couple of grand on equipment from a small company that appear to have been established for just 5 years or so and could be gone again this time next year.
 
Yes, the Arendal side firing is an issue. Arendal reccomend 8-10cm of clearance and that is something which turned me off the brand.

I'd ask KK just how much clearance they reccomend the driver having. Arendal explaiend the closer it is to a wall, the more the sound changes and obviously they've engineered the woofer to have a certain sound. I'm guessing KK have the similar design principles in which case it'd be interesting to hear their response on this and what makes their subs different if its not an issue..
That rules out the Arendals then!
KK don’t exist anymore hence the lack of of parts and support. I’ve emailed Ken himself directly regards repair and received a reply, but he wasn’t able to help much other than point me in the direction of Ampman Audio Services in the UK for a possible repair - they’ve had it nearly 3 months now and are struggling to fix it. They have now obtained the schematics from Claridy (amp OEM) in the USA, but I’ve essentially given up hope and run out of patience.
 
And we all thought Debenhams were safe and then John Lewis. I can’t put a case forward for Arendal and would never intend to.

After owning several Arendal Subs myself, and MK, I now have SVS.

You makes your choice I guess.
 
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And we all thought Debenhams were safe and then John Lewis. I can’t put a case forward for Arendal and would never intend to.

You makes your choice I guess.
Yeah, given my experience with my Ken Kreisel kit, I think I’ll steer clear of Arendal.
 
Also consider the Paradigm Defiance V and X Series subwoofers. Good value and high performance from a company that have made some of the best subwoofers available. They aren’t going under anytime soon either.
 
M&K Sound invented the worlds first professional balanced dual drive subwoofer in 1973 for the recording of Steely Dan’s Pretzel Logic album. They know how to design subwoofers.
I totally agree, although technically it’s no longer M&K, but MK Sound 😉 You don’t need to sell me on M&K, I’m a fan and an owner of the speakers. I just can’t justify £3k for a pair of V12 subs and I don’t think anything lower in their range would be suitable.
 
Also consider the Paradigm Defiance V and X Series subwoofers. Good value and high performance from a company that have made some of the best subwoofers available. They aren’t going under anytime soon either.
I’ll take a look, thanks.
 
I totally agree, although technically it’s no longer M&K, but MK Sound 😉 You don’t need to sell me on M&K, I’m a fan and an owner of the speakers. I just can’t justify £3k for a pair of V12 subs and I don’t think anything lower in their range would be suitable.
They have now rebranded as M&K Sound 😉. In all seriousness though there are some excellent subwoofers available but you do tend to get what you pay for.

The Lyngdorf BW-2 boundary woofers could be a great option for you. £1,099 each with stellar performance. Worth a consideration.
 
If you could squeeze another 3cm onto the width my preference would be a pair of these:


RickyJ on the forums is the Uk seller for these. They have recently upgraded to a high quality PA type driver which in my opinion outperform traditional sub drivers, especially for music.
 
Insight into the company I mean. I’m reluctant to spend a couple of grand on equipment from a small company that appear to have been established for just 5 years or so and could be gone again this time next year.
It won´t be gone next year. They are just becoming more known in US sending their products for US hobbyist and reviewers. Arendal is more known from their THX Ultra range speakers. New ranges has been introduced. The 1961 is their lower range, 1723 has subwoofers too but the price is little over 1k£ for 13,8" sealed sub (800w). Phone app is coming for that model too. If the side firing driver can work somehow as we have members who don`t have lot of clearance and they work great, then have a talk with the company. Send email about the longevity or what ever you need to know.

33,5cm width - 1400€ = 1200£. I remember some member(s) swapped from KK subs to Arendal years ago, sadly can´t remember names but hopefully someone does.

 
Also consider the Paradigm Defiance V and X Series subwoofers. Good value and high performance from a company that have made some of the best subwoofers available. They aren’t going under anytime soon either.
Yeah I like these, but I’d literally need to place my left and right speakers on top of them as they wouldn’t fit in the corners.
They have now rebranded as M&K Sound 😉. In all seriousness though there are some excellent subwoofers available but you do tend to get what you pay for.

The Lyngdorf BW-2 boundary woofers could be a great option for you. £1,099 each with stellar performance. Worth a consideration.
No sure about these. They appear to be limited to 25hz.
 
If you could squeeze another 3cm onto the width my preference would be a pair of these:


RickyJ on the forums is the Uk seller for these. They have recently upgraded to a high quality PA type driver which in my opinion outperform traditional sub drivers, especially for music.
This does look awesome. There’s no way I could fit them in the front corners without reconsidering placement of my left and right speakers which would literally have to sit on the subs or I guess could be placed on brackets on the front wall Instead of on stands.
 
PSA is too expensive sadly for UK/EU customers with the latest pricing (your budget limit near 1k£?), see attachment. Superb choice otherwise no doubt.
 

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  • 210416 PSA Pricing.pdf
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PSA is too expensive sadly for UK/EU customers with the latest pricing (your budget limit near 1k£?), see attachment. Superb choice otherwise no doubt.
Yeah just saw that, £3k+ is more than I can justify.
 
Yeah just saw that, £3k+ is more than I can justify.

The Arendal 1723 subwoofer range with the larger 13,8" drivers is likely more what you are after regarding the slam and dynamics. This is what owners has mentioned for years. Earlier the extension was bit limited, but now HPF at 10hz so will dig deep and have more output there. @mb3195 has two of those and two 2S (4 total) in he`s modest cinema room. ;)

 
It won´t be gone next year. They are just becoming more known in US sending their products for US hobbyist and reviewers. Arendal is more known from their THX Ultra range speakers. New ranges has been introduced. The 1961 is their lower range, 1723 has subwoofers too but the price is little over 1k£ for 13,8" sealed sub (800w). Phone app is coming for that model too. If the side firing driver can work somehow as we have members who don`t have lot of clearance and they work great, then have a talk with the company. Send email about the longevity or what ever you need to know.

33,5cm width - 1400€ = 1200£. I remember some member(s) swapped from KK subs to Arendal years ago, sadly can´t remember names but hopefully someone does.

The Arendal‘s do fit a similar look and feel of the KK’s. I‘m just put off by the size of the company and I can see them struggling to offer parts and support in years to come.
 
The Arendal‘s do fit a similar look and feel of the KK’s. I‘m just put off by the size of the company and I can see them struggling to offer parts and support in years to come.

It would be hard to imagine that as they are doing so good on Europe market and now pushing for US too and people are very happy with their products. On youtube you see many has found the subwoofers sounding better than SVS and speakers better than M&K to name few examples. I would talk with the company about it if you are worried. 1723 range woofers has 10year warranty on cab/driver and 5year on amp.
 
I‘m just put off by the size of the company and I can see them struggling to offer parts and support in years to come.
I'm not saying don't buy Arendal but, as a former corporate insolvency practitioner, I would agree that this is a highly valid concern. In general, the younger and smaller a company is the more likely it is to fail (or simply close) at some point.

A product warranty is only worth anything if a manufacturer will be around to honour it. Many new companies offer long product warranties to help establish themselves as it understandably helps win consumer confidence. Ironically, sometimes such warranties prove to be unaffordable and ultimately cause a company's failure.

In this country a consumer's legal rights for defective products are strongest against the retailer you bought it from, not the manufacturer, as there's a 6 year statutory window of time to be able to bring a claim against them. Unfortunately, as Arendal is a Norwegian company this protection wouldn't be available.
 
The Arendal‘s do fit a similar look and feel of the KK’s. I‘m just put off by the size of the company and I can see them struggling to offer parts and support in years to come.
I think you’re overthinking things regarding Arendal, do a credit check on them and your worries will be over.

just noticed where you live, if you want to hear just how good an Arendal setup is, feel free to head over to me, I’m near Peterborough, so not very far from you at all.

Pretty certain you’d order the arendals the same day……
 
do a credit check on them and your worries will be over.
Unfortunately, credit checks mean next to nothing, especially for companies of this size as they are computer generated scores based solely on publicly available information which for small private companies is negligible. And any information available used for this would be historical in nature and have very little bearing on future prospects.

Whichever way you look at it, this is definitely a case of Caveat Emptor.
 
Unfortunately, credit checks mean next to nothing, especially for companies of this size as they are computer generated scores based solely on publicly available information which for small private companies is negligible. And any information available used for this would be historical in nature and have very little bearing on future prospects.

Whichever way you look at it, this is definitely a case of Caveat Emptor.
arendal are 6 years old now, when do they become a more established brand?

You could throw the same at the likes of Trinnov and Zappiti not so long ago, you don't see people worrying about buying their products.

Arendal are growing massively, their market share is getting bigger and bigger, quoting claims being made on here aren't very helpful to their business, especially when they are unsubstantiated.
 
I think you’re overthinking things regarding Arendal, do a credit check on them and your worries will be over.

just noticed where you live, if you want to hear just how good an Arendal setup is, feel free to head over to me, I’m near Peterborough, so not very far from you at all.

Pretty certain you’d order the arendals the same day……
Much appreciated, thank you. I’ll take you up on that. I’ve had a look at your cinema build and it’s awesome 👍
I’m not doubting the performance of these subs, but having been burnt with a broken KK sub that’s now a brick, I’m now leaning towards SVS or M&K where I’m more likely to get assured support from in the UK and in the future should I have an issue.
 
arendal are 6 years old now, when do they become a more established brand?

You could throw the same at the likes of Trinnov and Zappiti not so long ago, you don't see people worrying about buying their products.

Arendal are growing massively, their market share is getting bigger and bigger, quoting claims being made on here aren't very helpful to their business, especially when they are unsubstantiated.
My point is that the KK DXD brand was well established, but you’ll get no support from them now.
 

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