Pair of Rel S510’s or Carbon Special’s?


I’ve been considering adding subs to my system and am considering whether to go with S510’s or Carbon Specials…. Any thoughts? Here is my situation:

-Very large open room (open concept) with high vaulted ceilings

-B&W 802 D2’s

-Gryphon Diablo 300 amp

-Looking for MILD and subtle bass support for my speakers in my big room. For reference I tried the new, larger B&W 801 D4 speakers with my amp and thought there was way too MUCH bass…

-Despite the large room, the layout makes large subs out of the question. Carbon Specials would work. But size-wise would prefer the slightly smaller S510’s

-Don’t care about home theatre

-I do care about speed and bass definition and quality.  The more bass nuance and detail the better.

-I don’t care that much about getting down to the very lowest frequencies. Just need a bit lower than what my 802’s do

-Subs will be positioned about 6” on the outside of each main speaker. This is the ONLY place they could go…

-I’ve invested heavily in quality cabling (Nordost Valhalla 2 speaker cables, AudioQuest Dragon power cord, etc) and have a USB reclocker and network isolation switch. Just pointing out as all these elements have added precision, ambience, clarity and space to the sound of my system.

Anyone with experience in both the S510 and the Carbon Special have any thoughts on which way to go?

 

 

nyev

@hilde45 : judging by the original post / thread, and the subsequent posts from the original poster, I think he is set on REL. Obviously, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

+1 hilde45, when i get a notion to respond to the OP's slightly unusual goals or the entusiastic brand fans you chime in and I chuckle in agreement. 

I so empathize in dealing with the shear stoutly centerd weight of most subwoofers and ones ever diminishing abilities. My subs and Bass amps/cabinets are on wheels. I don't leave the house with anything bigger than my tom drum sized upshot 10" cabinet and cigar box sized switching amp. 

I'm enjoying a notcable differnce in the presentation of my two main system subs which are now on DYI foam topped platforms with large soft foam casters. A stunning reduction of low frequency energy migrating through our homes structure and slightly better definition at the listening position. 

Anyway, ask for help and bend those knees.

@m-db  @thyname 

Thanks -- I can see that the main goal is ultimately to buy a REL brand product. I was confused because the OP mentioned "speed and bass definition and quality...positioning constraints...and precision, ambience, clarity and space" Thus, I thought achieving those acoustic goals might supersede buying REL, but I guess not.  

Hi, with respect to advice I get on these boards, I pay attention to individual advice, but I ALWAYS ultimately pay attention to consensus.  I find it is the only reliable approach and it has led me to some very positive results.  For example, I’d never heard of Gryphon before and was failing to find an amp that made my speakers sound better than mediocre.  Then I heard about Gryphon in these boards, and it seemed like almost 100% of people were going on about how great The Diablo 300 was.  Even the “My long list of amplifiers” dude had a spotlight on the Diablo 300 for a while, saying there was nothing, separates or otherwise, that bettered the Diablo for $50k or less.  At that point I made the effort to trial the Diablo and I was stunned at how my speakers came alive, with zero annoyances in the tonal balance as I was finding with every other amp / preamp I was testing.

All that to say, my goal is quality and I am not at all tied to Rel. Going back to consensus, the reason I started with Rel is there seems to be a lot of folks who say they are great.  That said, I’m sensing there may be more people who aren’t so happy with Rel.  In the case of my Diablo 300 amp, I think I’ve found maybe 3 posts tops where people aren’t liking what they hear, amid a sea of praise (which I would happily add to).