Arendal 1723 S THX vs Polk L800 and Martin Logan Motion 40 - Home Theater #54

***TIMESTAMPS BELOW***
In this video, I continue my comparison of the Arendal 1723 S THX tower speakers but this time against some Polk L800s and some Martin Logan Motion 40s.
*REW MEASUREMENT NOTE*
I mentioned in the video that the measurements in REW are of the song and not frequency sweeps which has caused some confusion, sorry about that!
*REW MEASUREMENT NOTE*
AVSForum Group:
www.avsforum.com/threads/offi...
Check it out if you are in the DFW area!
00:07 Intro
00:28 AVS Forum group
00:45 Thanks ToastX
00:58 Next & final time
01:06 The setup
01:42 Audio recordings intro
02:18 Arendal 1723 S THX - Living room
03:19 Polk L800 w/o SDA - Living room
04:20 Polk L800 w/ SDA - Living room
05:19 Arendal 1723 S THX - Bedroom
06:21 Martin Logan Motion 40 - Bedroom
07:23 Measurements in REW
10:00 Comparison thoughts
12:13 Thanks for watching!
Music by Vegetable Police at:
vegetablepolice.bandcamp.com/
About Random Distractions
I'm a busy husband and father of two that not only works full time but I'm also building up a photography business. However, I have distractions that take me away from that and this channel is all about that. Join me to see if you enjoy games, technology, and other random things.
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[@RandomDistractionsYT]

Was cool getting to hear and see some legendary Polk speakers in person and hope that these videos have been interesting. Looking forward to sharing the last one soon in this series as it also involves a speaker that I've been wanting to hear and see too.

[@stevenbrown836]

GREAT TESTING FOR A MORE FINITE VIEW BETWEEN MULTIPLE OPTIONS.....THANK YOU!

[@RandomDistractionsYT]

Thanks, I appreciate you checking out the video.

[@mpitogo1978]

nicely done comparison.

[@RandomDistractionsYT]

Thanks! Glad you liked it.

[@dextermorgan1]

SDA is awesome. I haven't even heard the L 800 yet. I know how good the vintage SDA's are. I can only imagine how good the new version is.

[@RandomDistractionsYT]

Yeah, it was definitely a treat getting to hear those speakers and to actually hear that the SDA did make a difference.

[@marct9587]

Yes, in the living room, as would be predicted from the measurements, I'd be hard pressed to choose. The L800's may have a touch more "body" to the low transients. In the bedroom, the Arendal's sounded pretty much like in the living room to me, very nice. The ML's have less bass and way more treble.

[@RandomDistractionsYT]

Glad the video provided some things to consider and think about.

[@siriosstar4789]

the polk L800s are ALL about the SDA . to turn it off is to create another speaker entirely . aside from that the SDA can NOT be heard in this manner . a live sitting is essential to hear the effect

[@RandomDistractionsYT]

Definitely agree, listening in person for sure is the best way to experience that and any speakers really.

[@mannycazz8018]

What did you think of the L800 overall vs your 1723S?

[@RandomDistractionsYT]

Visually they are a great looking speaker, the sound is really good, and the SDA function actually does make an audible difference. For the price though I would still go with the 1723 S and could actually even go with the bigger brother the 1723 and be under and get really darn close to that same sound.

[@jasonc331]

Definetly can hear the bright martin logans. I'm going to try an email you because I'm wondering why your measurements are showing so much roll off. Keep it up

[@BatteryAz1z]

That's normal for in-room measurements with the mic pointing up. There's a natural tilt due to room gain, and at higher frequencies the speaker starts to beam (narrower listening window, less reflections) so the measurement (which records direct + reflected sound) rolls off, while it still sounds perfectly linear to your ears. This is also why when creating a target curve for dirac/audyssey calibration. you need to roll off the treble to roughly match the speaker's natural response, or it's going to sound bright.

[@jasonc331]

@@BatteryAz1z I thought e was shooting sweep shots at around 7:30 once I paused I seen he was doing peak data shots. That was my bad. I am hoping going forward the he will shoot sweeps shots too, Be nice to see what the respionce is in some of these houses.

[@RandomDistractionsYT]

I just responded to your email Jason but yes as you found out, the measurements are not sweeps but the peak from the song recording. I said this in my email but if I do get to do this again I would try to incorporate sweeps as well. Unfortunately I already have all the data for this series so won't be in the last video either.

[@RandomDistractionsYT]

@BatteryAz1z Appreciate the detailed response as it helps me understand things better or at least encourage me to look further into them.