Arendal Sound 1610 Series Launches: Three-Way Norwegian Loudspeakers Inspired by the 1528 Flagship
By HiFi Editorial22 February 2026
Key Highlights
Arendal Sound introduces the 1610 speaker series from Norway, a cost-optimized evolution of flagship 1528 models, targeting high-end performance without flagship pricing.
The four-model 1610 lineup features true three-way designs, competing with Focal, DALI, KEF, and others, priced from $2,300 to $7,600 per pair.
Cabinets use high-density HDF with extensive internal bracing, 46 mm curved front baffles, and carefully tuned bass-reflex ports for controlled, low-resonance performance.
Arendal’s move with the 1610 series looks less like a simple trickle-down and more like a rebalancing of engineering priorities. Different sources frame it either as a “downsized flagship” or as a clean-sheet rethink, but the common thread is how much effort went into preserving time alignment and radiation control rather than chasing exotic materials. The curved, extra-thick front baffle is not just visual theater: it allows closer acoustic centers between drivers and smoother phase behavior through the crossover region, something often glossed over in this price class. Combined with heavy internal bracing and loss-controlled HDF panels, the cabinets appear tuned to stay sonically invisible even when pushed hard, which aligns the 1610 more with studio-derived design logic than with traditional furniture-grade hi‑fi.
