THX ARENDAL, Handbook

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and angles. We would also recommend that in a dual
use Home Theatre and Stereo System, you follow the
guidelines for Home Theatre setup, as that will tend to
benefi t more than one person.
Positioning - Listening Axis
Most front loudspeakers like to be positioned with the
listening pointing at ear height and that’s true for Arendal
Sound loudspeakers. The listening axis is the point on the
front baffl e where the output of all of the drivers sums to
a smooth whole, and in the case of Arendal sound with a
mid/bass driver above & below the tweeter, the tweeter is
at the acoustic centre and the axis is fi ring perpendicular
to the baffl e.
The Arendal Sound waveguide does a lot to lessen this
requirement. As a result of carefully controlled dispersion
and effi ciency gains in the lower frequency regions of
the tweeter’s output, potential issues inherent in normal
tweeter implementations are shifted down in frequency
where they are easier to deal with. However, listen too far
above or below this axis and you will be changing the
relative distances between the drivers and will be causing
the response through the crossover regions to become
uneven and ragged.
Arendal Sound 1723 Tower & Tower S (and 1723 Monitor
& Monitor S when mounted on a stand) have a natural
2.5 degree layback, as the mid-tweeter-mid layout places
the tweeter slightly low relative to the average listening
height. The spikes have been engineered to be easily
adjustable without tools, from above the outriggers,
without having to lift the speaker. Tilt them until you
are on axis in the horizontal plane and for the sake of
aesthetics, the speakers are vertical when viewed from the
front.
Positioning - Toe In
Whilst we have taken great care with the design of the
Arendal Sound waveguide to control dispersion and
reduce the impact of side walls, Arendal Sound speakers
are designed to be toed in toward the listening position,
to further reduce issues from the closest boundaries. This
will increase image focus across the soundstage and serve
a wider range of listening positions more consistently in
holding that focus between the loudspeakers rather than
the sound collapsing toward the one which you are sitting
closest.
In the case of Home Theatre use, we recommend the
traditional equilateral triangle between you and the
speakers, with them as far apart as you are from each
loudspeaker. For stereo listening, we recommend you
experiment, but rather that the 60deg angle of Home
Theater, we feel a greater soundstage depth and focus is
achieved with the front stereo pair closer to 45deg apart.
This closer spacing does tend to serve the central listening
position better, but as stereo listening tends to be a more
individual.
In stereo world, it’s also worth trying slightly less severe
toe-in to help open up the soundstage a touch and allow
it to breathe. However, that will result in a very gentle
roll off of the very highest frequencies and it should be
balanced against the evil of early side-wall refl ections.