Official REL Subwoofer thread... - Page 14

Thanks for the advice.

I have a Rel 150e sub that has started to buzz or crackle ; intensity of sound varies with audio track. No change with low or high inputs; power cable goes to power conditioner. No change with flipping ground switch. Speaker looks intact, sub has not had much use in past.
Thoughts?

Oh well, i called Sumiko to see if they had any ideas. I was told that since it is old ( 10 years) parts are not available to repair. What a shame. Guess it goes to the landfill

I have a choice of these two subs new:

Dynaudio SUB 500

or

REL T9

The Dynaudio will cost 50% more

My dealer stated that in his opinion, the REL T9 performs better than the Dynaudio SUB 500 and the Paradigm Signature 25. He said if it was his money, he would go for the REL.

Based on the specs, there is no chance that the T9 would outperform the sig 25, not even in the same league.

How would you compare the T9 to the Dynaudio SUB 500? This is the one i'm thinking of getting to match my Dynuadio Focus speakers.

How are you going to use these? Two channel music, or multi-channel AV.

I have both the Sub500 and the REL T-7. I could never get the Sub500 to integrate as a bass extension into my two-channel system with Dynaudio Contour S1.4s. The Sub500 does not have the high level inputs that make the REL so easy to ingrate for bass extension (as opposed to LFE). I gave up trying to get it to work.

The Sub500 works brilliantly for LFE in my AV system. The REL, OTOH, works brilliantly for bass extension in my two-channel system. It has a high-level input and integrates seamlessly.

My recommendation is Dyn or REL for AV, REL only for two-channel music.

I plan on using the Anthem D2 with the ARC room corrrection software for music and H/T. The Focus 220MKII's I have sound very good as a stand-alone two-channel system without a sub. So I guess multi-channel and H/T is my main concern when it comes to a sub. So LFE would come into play there. I do have a preference towards tighter bass as opposed to a deep boomy bass. I hear the Dynaudio SUB 500 scores well with this, so I may lean towards that.

Racetripper

Sell me your 500

Hah! I'm using it.

My AV and music systems are separate and in different rooms. The Sub500 is utilized in a 7.1 system powered by Arcam with Dynaudio Audience speakers (72/52SE/62/122C). The REL T-7 is with a pair of Contorus S1.4s.

I actually might end up selling the T-7. I am currently auditioning a pair of Dyn Contour S3.4s at home. If I end up getting a pair, I won't need a sub for them in my smallish 11x17 listening room.

RaceTripper. Just an FYI. Your message box is full and wont accept messages

Fixed.

I read a lot about Rel subwoofer and how great it's with music. I listen I to about 80% music , I'm interested in the Rel T9, and also read about the Rel T1, my question is, Is it the same sub just in different box? Both has a 10" driver and have a 10" ULT passive radiator , same power and lot of the feature is the same, but and I can buy 2 T1 for the price of 1 T9, is the T9 much better? any advice will be appreciated ,

My living room is an open plane and it open to the dinning room and the kitchen, the living room alone is about 20"x25" with 19ft vaulted ceiling and has a cat walk going across it

I've just got my first REL sub (it's a Quake BTW), but I'm not sure I understand how the high-level / low-level inputs work exactly...

So if I connect both the high-level and the low-level inputs at the same time and I listen to a 5.1 source (i.e. the Quake gets an input signal on both inputs at the same time), then:
- the sub output will be some kind of a sum of the LFE channel *plus* the high-level input?
- or in this case the high-level input is automatically muted and only the LFE input is output by the sub?

If it is the 1st case and the Quake is summing the information received on the 2 inputs, then listening to 5.1 source and using large front speakers, the sub output will be overdriven, because it will always have more than just the .1 channel as it was originally intended to be by the sound engineers, isn't it?

Has anyone has listen to both the T1 and T9? How do they compare in sound?

My brand new gorgeous REL T9 sub bass finally arrived today and installed. So far my first impressions are WOWWWWWW!!!!!

This SUB truly ROCCKKKKKKKKKS!!!!!!!!

more later

Hi,

Please kindly help to advise how to connect the REL High-Level input to a pair of Monoblock Amplifier.

Thanks,
Steve

It should be the same way as a stereo amp, but you'll need to split the cable enough to reach the binding posts for each.

Happy New Year! IMO, REL are the best subwoofers on the market.

Perplexed with a Rel T5 and audyssey on my Marantz.

Connected with the Neurtrik connector and the .1, Audyssey gives me fronts large and the center small.

From what I read, most audyssey readings should give your mains small as soon as it sees the sub. Is audyssey seeing the rel as an extension of my l/r because of the Neurtrik connector?

Mains: B&W CM5s
Center: CMC2
Sub: T5

Hello everyone,

I posted this in the Marantz 8801 thread, but I might as well post it here as well:

I just purchased a Rel R528 sub, but I'm a bit confused in regards to the Rel's standard .1 lFE connection and the high-level Neutrik connection. I specifically got the Rel so I could get deep bass from the subwoofer when I listen to stereo music from my Mac Mini music server going into the USB input of my Oppo 105 then fed to the CD input of the Marantz and played back in Pure Direct mode. It seems to be the best of both worlds (pure signal processing plus a crossover into my sub). It sounds great.

But my question is in regards to regular 5.1 out of the Marantz...

Should the Neutrik connection be engaged when running Audyssey on the 8801? I tried this, and it causes Audyssey to set my two front speakers to LARGE. Rel says this is MANDATORY. But when I do this, I get no signal fed to the Sub (other than whatever is mixed in to a dedicated LFE channel, I guess). It sounds somewhat anemic. The only way I can correct this is to change the speakers to SMALL and change the crossover to 80Hz. But am I then undoing the benefit of having the Rel?

I'd appreciate any input you can offer. Thanks.

ok I'm not a REL user but I'm a REL lover.

You are doing things right, for direct mode music playback your mains will run full range along with your sub.

For Movies you have two options:
Options one is to run your mains as large. What happens here is:
1- the LFE is played by the sub
2- the Low signal going to the mains is played by the sub
3- the Low signal going to the mains is also played by the mains

Options two is to run your mains as small. What happens here is:
1- the LFE is played by the sub
2- the Low signal going to the mains is played by the sub
3- the Low signal going to the mains is cut off and not played by the mains

Hope that makes sense. Rel's are made for music. For HT treat your REL like any other sub and run you mains as small and crossover at a freq that works best for your mains.

Here's what the Rel tech suggested. Any thoughts?

So here's what you do firstly unplug the high level and set the volume on the REL to about 11oclock and plug it into the LFE only.
Now run the room correction , then check the setting they speakers should be set to large and the sub should be set to LFE only with the crossover set to 200htz giving the DOLBY DIGITAL filter the ability to take what it needs from the LFE signal .
Now manually follow the instructions in the manual to set up the high level connection .
You are now ready to rock , the LFE is doing what it needs to do and the high level is underpinning the speakers giving them that natural extended bass.

I’m not sure I agree with this. If I’m watching a DVD concert at regular or low volumes this setup is fine and this might produce the “best” sound quality. However, when I’m watching a block buster Movie SQ goes out the window and I want volume. I want my AVR to have the least amount of stress and I want my mains to be at a high volumes so in order to do both I NEED to take the load and bass away from my mains and have my powered sub do all the work.

Like I said before REL’s are made for music so they are think about SQ first and not SPL. You can do want you want but I think most people will say for HT you always run your mains as small if you have a sub.

FWIW, AFAIK, there's not a lot of difference (if any) to the receiver depending on whether the rolloff (high pass) to the speakers occurs at line level in the receiver or at speaker level in the REL. If the high pass did not severely curtail the power going to the attached speakers below the crossover frequency, all our tweeters would have either melted or been blown across the room by the insufficiently rolled off bass signal that gets through the high pass portion of their internal crossovers.

Okay, I see now that you are running separate amps. You might be in a different situation as you have the power to handle a full signal. What are your main speakers?

I’m running an older top of the line Marantz receiver (back when they had a full copper bottom plate) and know my beefy power supply could not handle 2 – 6ohm speakers and 4 – 8ohm speakers running full range along with the sub. As soon as I fed all the bass to the sub, my system was happy.

Rel connection is high level to the amp. REL's subs do not have high pass filter as far as I know.
Speakers are not connected to the sub in any way.
Read up on rel neutrik connector and you will see.

I use a Rel T9 subwoofer and was wondering if Stereo or daul subwoofers would be a good idea or just a waste of money? I have one in the right side corner behind the speaker and was thinking of adding another to the left side corner. And also, anyone use the Anti mode device with their Rel?

I guess us REL guys are the minority here, not a very active thread. I even read a bit of negative opinions about the REL brand on another furom, overpriced easily outperformed bla bla bla. Anyway, my one REL does very well in my big basement room. The improvements are quite impressive to me. It seems this daul sub approach has some potential, depending on the set up. If I can get a good deal on a used one, I might give it a shot.

Cheers!

Todd68,

Yes, the guys here are very big on value for your dollar for HT mostly. It seems like this forum is all about price points. REL makes great subs for music but value and REL do not go hand on hand. I think REL is a 100% music type of brand but they are in a world of HT and multi-use subwoofers. Most guys here will tell you about another brand if you are after music only that will be a good “value”. If you have the money and are after music reproduction you will be 100% happy with any of REL’s subwoofers.

To answer your question, from what I have read stereo subs is not something you should be after if you are crossing over at a low point. Dual mono subs are all about getting a smooth response. So you may end up with both subs on the same side, one in the corner and one mid wall. Many people here will never go back to just one sub.
Dual REL subs can be pricey so I would buy used or move to “value” subs.

Thanks for your input! Yes I read similar to what you wrote at another website. I have my REL set at around 50hz so the stereo approach probably not a benefit. My system is built for music playback quality, but I also use it for my tv when watching movies and sports.