Dealer just contacted me with an amazing price on a REL 212SE sub. I have never owned a REL sub but they seem to be highly touted. I currently have two subs in my room. One is a Martin Logan Balance force 212, and a Power sound Audio 1500V (15 inch active driver) in the rear of the room. I am considering replacing the Power Sound Audio sub mainly because its a ported design and with it being so close to the listening position the port noise can be distinct. My main room has a hybrid system that I use for both music and an occasional movie and my goal is to get a more musical sub to compliment the balance force 212. Im not actually shopping for a new sub at the moment per se but the price I can get the REL for is almost irresistible. So I would like to hear form anyone who owns this particular sub and share your experience your having with it. Im going to audition the sub this weekend but it would still be nice to see what others think about it.
REL makes great subs and I have owned a couple in the past. Before my first REL I could never find a sub that I liked. Most were ok with movies but lousy with music. The neutrink connection that REL uses mates it perfectly with your amp and speakers. Having said all that ,you would be better off with two of the same subs. If you like the REL sell the Martin Logan or buy another Logan and get the perfect base kit if you don’t have it already. Currently, I have 2 ML Balanced Force 212’s and they are providing the best bass I have ever had for music as well as movies.
Thanks for the input. Yea I went to audition the RELsub yesterday and I have to say I was extremely impressed with it. I agree that the ML BF212 is an amazing sub and I would love to own a pair of them. IMO that would be the perfect solution for bass. I LOVE my ML BF212. I think more people should take a listen that sub they might be quite surprised (Ok thats my plug for you ML). I also agree that for best results in a dual sub configuration using two of the same sub would be ideal. However I was interested in the REL because of the crazy low price I am able to get it at ($1500, regularly $4K).I was able to get them to play the BF212 with the REL 212SE together and they blended rather nicely playing together, and the low end was insane. My main concern now is using Neutrik cable, which is the recommendation by REL that connects to the power amp. I am using mono blocks so it will only connect to either the left or right channel. However I don’t think bass is output in stereo (I am probably wrong on that fact), and if that is the case then it may not be that big a deal. Otherwise I may have to connect it L/R to the pre-amp or both. After listening to it and being able to listen to both subs playing together I decided to pull the trigger. It was a no brainer once hearing them together. The ML sub is very musical and has the big bass for HT, and the REL is so smooth man it blew me away. I was very impressed. I do have the perfect bass kit, and unfortunately I cant push that conf down to the REL, but I will use an SPL meter to dial it in to get the phase right, and balance it. I plan to move it to the front of the room instead of the rear since it has the output to keep up with the ML. The PSA sub had to be put in the rear of the room because it literally had zero impact up front with the ML. With the PSA sub in the rear I spent hours/days/weeks/months trying to get it in phase with the rest of the system, and also making it disappear is difficult with it being a ported design with it being so close to the listening positions in my room. Needless to say It has been extremely frustrating. Glad that nightmare is over. Thanks for your input. I will report back once I get it all integrated and dialed in.
barnettk, are you still happy with your subs? I am a former Descent owner and trying to decide which way to go with new subs. You have the two I am considering. There is a new 212SX as well. Comments?
@bulldogger Yes I love the Rel. I mostly now use it for movies as I have moved to a hybrid setup doing passthrough via my 2 channel pre. I still use it for certain records etc. it’s a very musical sub and can deliver deep rich accurate bass IMO. Setup is easy and is rather transparent in the room. I’m only running one tho. I also use a Martin Logan Balance Force 212 in the same room connected to the same gear. Between the two I like the ML better to be honest but they both have their strengths. The ML is a beast of a sub and is VERY musical. The thing with the Rels is they would prob sound much Better in a two sub configuration (two Rels) in my situation because I am using autoformer mono blocks and it’s not recommended to use the Rel sound link cable on two autoformer amps. I have read where people have done it but my amp manufacturer recommends not to so I stick to that. My advice is to use the proprietary cable that comes with the sub as that configuration sounds better than RCA and there is no XLR inputs. Which it think would make the sub a little better with longer runs as I have. I do get a bit of a low hum (not groundloop I don’t think) when there is no signal going to the Rel before it goes to sleep. Just based on the documentation in regards to hum they seem to be prone to it even with their cable and you need to sometimes even run a ground to the chassis of an amp or to the ground on a empty rca jack according to the manual. However I find the hum not to be loud or annoying as I can barely hear it unless I’m really close to the sub. Overall tho it delivers great bass with the two active and two passive drivers which are positioned in the rear and the bottom. It’s a huge sub. I mean huge as the two front drivers are stacked. I get no cabinet vibration at all which is good and the sub is a solid performer. If you have the space and your room is big enough I think it’s a great buy. This is not a sub for a small room so FYI. It will be over kill. Hope this helps. Let me know if you grab it. -Keith
One other thing I do like about the sub is that is has separate level control for LFE and line in which is a great feature in a hybrid setup. I can have one one output level for music s d one for movies so that is a great feature for me. I wish my ML could do that. Yeah the 212se is a winner
Thanks. I may stick with Martin Logan. I've been happy with the brand. I recommended Martin Logan to a friend and he loves his two Balanced 210s. I'm building a new room which is not too big, 20x15x9. Front speakers are Mcintosh XR200 run by a Krell Duo 300XD. They hit bass at 20Hz with no problem. My previous room was 24x17x9 with the two Descent subs. With the new 20x15x9 room do you think 1 Balanced 212 would do it?
@bulldogger So my room is 25x15x9 and and I need two so I would think that two will work just fine for you. Either sub you go with will work. Personally I think the ML BF212 is a better sounding sub in my room with my acoustics. However if I had two of the Rels I would probably be just as happy. My suggestion would be...if you go with a two sub setup use two of the same subs. I wish I had bought two of the BF212s but I got such a great deal on the Rel I could not pass it up. Tough call man, because I really like both. I have considered selling one and buying the matching replacement. it was a passing thought lol. Now that I have finally got things balanced out, and I have completed my acoustic treatments I'm afraid to make any changes.
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