Arendal Celebrates 10 Years With Gorgeous Limited-Edition 1528 Towers

Arendal Sound is celebrating the company’s 10th anniversary with the launch of a limited-edition loudspeaker, the 1528 Tower 8 Limited 10th Anniversary Edition ($12,900/pair). Only 25 numbered pairs will be produced, lending collector-worthy exclusivity to these visually stunning speakers. Norwegian design heritage is on display here, with each speaker finished in piano-lacquered rosewood. A satin-black front baffle features a matching waveguide assembly, woofer trim rings, and base bars. The regular 1528 speakers knocked us out sonically, and they’re already attractive in my opinion, looking both more stylish and more svelte than Arendal’s chunkier 1723 Series. (See our Arendal Sound 1528 Tower 8, Center 8+ Loudspeaker Review and Arendal Sound 1528 Monitor 8 Loudspeaker Review.) But this black and rosewood version is an aesthetic triumph, and it has my wallet vibrating in a mix of terror and desire. The rosewood is finished in 12 layers of piano lacquer, “painstakingly polished to a soft sheen,” according to Arendal.

This speaker is a thank you. We’ve spent 10 years building something we believe in, and this is our way of celebrating that with the people who’ve made it possible.

— Jan Ove Lassesen, Arendal Sound’s Founder & CEO

Although this special edition of the 1528 Tower 8 is mostly a cosmetic upgrade, it does include Arendal’s Puck Pro feet as an upgrade to the standard version’s Puck Plus feet. The Puck Pro feet reportedly offer superior decoupling and isolation from the floor, enhancing clarity and expanding the soundstage, according to Arendal. They use a machined aluminum cup with a unique prism ridge design, paired with a more compliant soft rubber compound that excels in absorbing vibrations, according to the company. They provide up to 10mm of height adjustability, making it easy to tilt and align the speakers, using a printed scale in 1mm increments to guarantee consistency. When sold separately, a set of 8 costs $450, so that covers a chunk of the $2,000 price premium you’ll pay when choosing the 10th Anniversary Edition over the regular 1528 towers.

Each speaker is individually numbered and features a chrome-plated stainless steel rear plaque with a laser-etched serial number and signature from Arendal’s CEO, Jan Ove Lassesen. The speakers also come with a Certificate of Authenticity signed by Arendal Sound’s Chief Technical Officer, Thomas Gunvaldsen. And because of rosewood’s natural grain variations, no two speakers will be exactly alike. From a performance perspective, these limited-edition speakers are identical to the standard 1528 Tower 8. It’s a 3-way design featuring a 28mm lithium-magnesium tweeter, a 5-inch carbon-graphene midrange, and four 8-inch aluminum woofers. The drivers are time-aligned, thanks to a precision-engineered, 85mm-thick curved front baffle. (See our Arendal Sound 1528 Tower 8 Loudspeaker Review Discussion on YouTube.)

Every choice in this edition reflects what we stand for: precision, pride, and joy in the sound itself.

— Thomas Gunvaldsen, Arendal Sound’s Chief Technical Office

Norwegian Wood

When I was a kid, I believed that the Beatles song “Norwegian Wood” was referring to marijuana. (In retrospect, I can see that my fiercely anti-drug dad was slightly paranoid; he believed that most songs written after 1964 were secretly about getting high.) But according to John Lennon, the title refers to the stylish Scandinavian wood paneling that adorned the apartment of a woman he met. During the 1950s and 1960s, modernist interior design was heavily influenced by Scandinavia, and Norway became synonymous with rosewood furniture. The wood’s durability, deep richness, and striking grain complemented the clean lines and “elegant yet functional” vibe of Scandinavian design. Arendal says that the design of the Limited 1528 Tower 8 10th Anniversary Edition was inspired by iconic Norwegian products like Hans Brattrud’s widely-imitated Scandia chair and Torbjørn Afdal’s Krobo bench, both of which embrace the use of high-quality materials and timeless aesthetics.

The Arendal Sound Limited 1528 Tower 8 10th Anniversary Edition is on sale now.

More information: Arendal Sound