Help deciding on REL 328 -- size vis a vis rooms? Match w/ speakers? Buy or wait?


I have the chance to buy a nice Rel 328 sub, used, for a good price. I'm trying to determine if the sub will be too large for the 2 possible rooms/speakers or if it might be dialed in. Main use: music listening.

There are 2 ROOMS in which the sub could be used:
SMALL — about 150 sq ft., 7.5 ft. ceilings.
MEDIUM — about 460 sq ft. 7.5 ft ceilings

There are 2 sets of SPEAKERS with which the sub could be paired (I'm still deciding this too):
1. Salk Wow1 speakers (48Hz - 20kHz) http://www.salksound.com/model.php?model=WOW1
OR
2. Dynaudio Evoke 10 (47Hz–23kHz) https://www.dynaudio.com/home-audio/evoke/evoke-10

Additional tidbit: REL recommends (with their "speaker pairing tool"): The T7i (new). They no longer list the older 328. 

Here is the REL comparison:
T7i 8 inch driver —— vs. REL328's 10 inch
T7i 10 inch radiator —— vs. REL328's 12 inch
T7i A/B amplifier —— vs. REL328's D-class
T7i is 12 x 14.3 x 15 inches WHD vs. REL328's 13.5 x 15.1 x 15.2 WHD

Perhaps I should wait? That is, should just wait until my satellite speaker choice is done to audition subs with it? If so, that would mean I need to let this bargain slip by. Any thoughts about that?

Thank you for your time and advice.

128x128hilde45
That’s good advice. I’ve gone ahead and purchased the Rel sub. Would I now be committed to buying another identical sub (in brand and/or size) or could I bring a less pricy model on board?
Hello hilde45,

I was checking out the R328 sub that you just bought used and I think you made a good decision buying it, it not only looks very nice in that piano black with aluminum trim, but I think it should work out well for your bass needs, too.
I suggest you just look for a good deal on a 2nd R328 because they look so good, they’re high quality subs and it should be a good value purchase when bought at a reasonable pre-owned price. Here’s how to connect two REL subs if you’re curious:
https://relsupport.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004649048-Stereo-Subs-Connection-Method

However, you’re not committed to buying another identical sub (in brand and/or size) and you could use a less pricy sub model if you’d like. The main benefits of using two good quality subs in a room are:

1. The bass will be more powerful, dynamic and have a sense of ease since two subs are sharing the bass duties with cumulative bass impact and bass dynamics along with neither sub being run near its limits.

2. You begin to get the other typical benefits of using multiple subs in a room beginning with two subs and increasing in benefits marginally as more subs are added. These benefits include bass that is smoother, faster, more detailed and more seamlessly integrated with the main speakers.


3. The soundstage imaging will be noticeably improved, provided your main speakers are properly positioned in relation to your listening position, by being more open, wider, deeper, more detailed, realistic and natural.

The important factors to keep in mind are that the above benefits are only attainable at one’s dedicated listening position once a minimum of two subs are utilized, they’re both optimally positioned in the room in relation to the listening position and the volume, crossover frequency and phase controls on each sub are all optimally set.
Once 3-4 subs are utilized in a room, everything above still applies but an additional benefit is gained, the near state of the art bass performance exists throughout the entire room and not just at the designated listening position.


Best wishes,
    Tim
Thanks for the confirmation of my choice and for the advice. I'm saving this thread for future reference. Much appreciated!
Hey hilde45,

     You're welcome.  I’m not a bass-head but I do strive for and enjoy music and HT audio reproduced accurately, full range, natural and that sounds as good as possible to me in my modest sized 23’x16’x8’ living room system. I understand that the bass, especially the deep bass, is the hardest part of the audible frequency range spectrum to get sounding right in most rooms.
     I thought you should also be aware that my knowledge and experience concerning attaining good bass performance, that I’ve been sharing with you, is mainly based on the knowledge, work and experience of others that I learned of and that have worked very well in my system and room.
If you need further assistance in the future, please feel free to pm me or post again on this thread.

Best wishes,
Tim