REL subs with Rowland Amplifiers

daveyf,

Are you suggesting that there's no benefit to connecting DUAL REL subs, one to the left channel and the other to the right channel, with the red and yellow wire connected to the positive speaker post on each and the black wire floating? 

Quick question for Al, if I were to hook up my two (2) subs to my Rowland stereo amp, would I actually utilize the summed red and yellow cables for each left and right connector and the black cable ( now two) for the ground connector ( that Jeff installed)....or leave those disconnected entirely? ( like what ricred 1 is doing).

@daveyf
Connecting the black wire of both subs to the ground connector on the amp seems to me to be an ideal approach. While two ground paths/signal return paths will then exist between each of your subs and the amp (one via connection of the black wire to the ground connector, and one via the convoluted path I described earlier involving the AC safety grounds), the presumably much lower impedance of the direct path to the ground connector will result in nearly all of the signal return currents utilizing that path.

That said, regarding Richard’s situation, when he receives the second sub he has ordered, and he has the red and yellow wires from one sub connected to the + output of one channel of his amp, and he has the red and yellow wires from the other sub connected to the + output of the other channel of his amp, with the black wires of both subs unconnected, based on his latest findings with one sub it appears likely that he will have fine results. So while having a ground terminal installed on his amp is theoretically preferable, if he were to do that my guess (and it’s just a guess) is that the resulting sonic benefit would fall somewhere between minimal and none.

Best regards,
-- Al

Al,
If leaving the black wire floating was an issue, wouldn’t I hear a hum, reduction in output, or some sonic indicators that something is wrong?
I don’t understand the issue with how I have it connected?
This is directly from REL's Chief Engineer: What I would do first, is combine the RED/ YELLOW wires of the REL you have now to one channel and see how that works.
When you get the second REL, you would have to do this anyway, because you want to dedicate one REL to each channel.

Hi Richard,

What I was saying at the end of my previous post is that most likely there is no issue with leaving the black wire (and eventually wires plural) unconnected, at least in your situation. 

And even if there is an issue (which I suspect there isn't, given that there is no hum), at most the consequence would be some very minor (and unpredictable) sonic effect. 

Best regards,
-- Al

Richard, I am not suggesting that having two subs is a negative issue. In fact, I believe that two subs is quite beneficial. The second sub allows one to not only have a sub dedicated for each channel, but also seems to help in taming various room modes. OTOH, setting up two subs is far more involved and time consuming than just setting up one. IME.

@almarg Thanks Al, I might at sometime in the future hook up my two subs to my Rowland. I am currently only using this configuration ( twin subs) with my mono blocks..and using just one of the subs when I play the Rowland.