Which Sub. Rel B-1 or Fathom F-113

Not true, the Rel subs are more musical and also faster. They integrate better with high end speakers. If you are going 2 - channel get the Rel. Nothing loads a room better than a Rel! I dont think you will need the brute force of the JL, which is better for high SPL. BTW, there is absolutely no port noise.

You have to try them both. The Rel will win because they are fast enough to keep up with you Martin Logan's and disappear into the background.

Well I had Rel stadium III, jl 112 and 113 as well as Martin Logan Depth's in my house. Each over 3-4 days. Of the three the Depths were the least appealing. They never integrated properly or sounded like real music. The Jl's were significantly better than the REL in my system with full range speakers. There is no "faster" there is only hertz. I think the transient response of the Jl's is better and there is no overhang. They are sealed so obviously port noise is not an issue. Interestingly I found the 112's were superior to the 113's for music in my medium sized room.. After looking at the spec's you can see they probably play better above 80hz or so which was confimed to me in a phone call to Jl Audio. Several of them own pairs of 112's for their own systems.This was a surprise to me. They are coming out with an F212 which has a pair of newly designed 12 inch drivers which are said to be better still. The only reason I might go with 113's would be spl for home theater in a large room. I found that pairs work alot better than single subs. I never heard the B -1 but I did speak with Sumiko on the phone some time ago and the rep felt that the B series was superior to the Stadium in upper bass quality but he personaly prefered the Stentor to the B-1 JMHO Jim

Not true, the Rel subs are more musical and also faster. They integrate better with high end speakers. If you are going 2 - channel get the Rel. Nothing loads a room better than a Rel! I dont think you will need the brute force of the JL, which is better for high SPL. BTW, there is absolutely no port noise.

You have to try them both. The Rel will win because they are fast enough to keep up with you Martin Logan's and disappear into the background

I hate to say it but you are delusional/ BTW, I would like to think that my Wilson X-2's are high end speakers. Prior to my pair of Gotham subs I was using a Wilson XS which had a pair of 18" drivers. After I heard the Gotham I immediately sold the XS as IMO it couldn't compete anywhere near as close to the Gotham.

I agree that the pending 212 will be great as well. When it comes to JL Audio subs there hasn't been one critic that feels there is a better sub made.

Here is an interesting read from Jeff Fritz

http://www.ultraaudio.com/twbas/twbas_20080401.htm

Obeobgyn, HAVE you ever tried a Rel subwoofer???? I have tried a JL and the REL... and the REL won in MY room in MY system. Not all subwoofers are the same and integrate well in all rooms. I have a small room and the JL was too much, too sloppy and too boomy. It didnt sound good at all. The Rel blended perfectly. Have you tried some aftermarket cables as well? I'm using a Synergistic Rel spec speaker cable which works wonderful, better than any sub cable I ever tried. It really brings the performance to reference quality.

You have a big room and big speakers so I'm thinking the JL worked better for you, but you will not know for sure unless you tried a REL. Rel's biggest are the B1 and Stentor III and Studio III sub, have you tried any of them in your room????

Joeyboynj,

Your post is not only fair but honest as well IMHO. You are fair enough to point out that the REL worked best in YOUR room and YOUR system. Like you, I have had both subs - I had BOTH the Rel Stentor IIIs (stereo pair) in my system AND now I have a stereo pair of the JL Fathom f112s.

UNLIKE you, I came away in MY room and MY system with the exact opposite impression. While I very much enjoyed the RELs (I even reviewed them for Stereo Times and gave them a very good rating), the Fathoms are even more seamless, faster and the best part for me is that they are more musical because that amazing driver provides better articulation, harmonics and the low level detail and musical nuance that I didn't quite have with the REL.

Like one of the posters stated above, I prefer the 112s in my 14' x18' dedicated room.

The great thing about audio is that we do not have the same tastes, preferences, rooms or systems and can therefore disagree (or have dissimilar experiences) without anyone being right or wrong.