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Has Rel fallen out of favor with audiophiles?

I own a Rel Storm 3. which I've had for 10 yrs or so. My new hardwood floor has really opened things up, especially in the bass area. much more pronounced bass and excellent sound stage.  I was planning on upgrading my sub after completing the floor. My Rel Storm 3 is pushing at its max to keep up in a 5k+ cu ft  room. Ten yrs ago the Storm 3 was one of the best on the market. It integrates very wall into the 2 channel system. Now, there is SVS, Rhythmic, PSA  etc which have much better specs than the Rels for less $$$. But the question for me is whether they actually integrate with the main speakers as well as the Rel? I use mine  for music 95% of the time. Music doesn't need to plumb the 16hz range as much as HT does. And most of the reviews seem to come from HT sources, IE AVS forum and the various HT magazines. From what I can tell, then Rhythmic seems to cater to the audiophile more than HT. But how about a sealed  SVS ?. And will they both integrate as well as the Rel with the high level speakon input? 

So, for audipophiles, do you sacrifice the ultra low hz for the good integration of the Rel? Or do you go with then SVS, Rhythmic, etc with their lower octave output? IOW, do the integrate as well?
Thanks for your help

arte
128x128artemus_5
m-db's avatar
m-db
985 posts
 
dlcockrum
 I also find that my RELs effect the imaging/soundstage but in a positive way in my room/setup and agree that they are fussy about placement and setup.
This is an important point. dlcockrum's room created a different and successful effect than in my room ( by the way it was RELs short cable that limited room placement. It worked better in my predetermined location, no more fussy to locate than the other two subs. )

shadorne
I guess it depends what speakers they are paired with. Given that many audiophile speakers struggle above 95 db and distort and compress heavily then REL actually will integrate much better than other subs.
Another interesting point. Our little comparison was done with a pair of three way floor standing speakers only.


To be clear; the Studio III was compared with the supplied cable  using the high/speaker level connection and following the manufacture location and recording setup suggestions. This method had a slight affect on the mains and we had to reduced its gain to achieve what we agreed was the most acceptable integration. 

We then relocated it to the predetermined room location sourced by low level RCA signal optimized and EQd using Velodyne Digital Drive CD source signal adjusting and visually monitoring the frequency adjustments via a laptop. We all agreed the equalization allowed the sub to play at more realistic gain level, no interference with the mains, and a much better overall presentation IN THIS ROOM.      

wolf_garcia
6,708 posts
 
The addition of "chicken head" knobs to the "High Level" volume pots on my RELs allows for the (not that frequent, but still) easy adjustment of bass levels as you can feel where the knob is, and hey, it gives the listener something to do with otherwise useless chicken heads.
dlcockrum's avatar
dlcockrum
2,190 posts
 
Hi m-db,

Your findings re: the adjustment of the REL mirrors mine to a large degree. Since I am also using full-range speakers, I set the crossover knobs to their lowest setting and the gain relatively low too. I found best integration when setting the crossovers/gain occurs when the impact of the REL(s) is noticed when shutting it/them off in the middle of a familiar track (ie setting it by starting with it on and then shutting it off to hear/feel the loss of room pressurization). If you can noticeable hear the REL boosting the bass when listening, the settings are too high IME. Should be felt more than heard.

Dave
murphythecat
181 posts
 
@ M-db. when you tested the subs, how did you made sure both sub were at the same gain level. ie: that they were at the same volume?
m-db's avatar
m-db
985 posts
 
dlcockrum, yes that's essentially how we did the initial REL suggested corner setup. My rooms close boundary corner location is horrible for all the subwoofers. The Studio IIIs down firing seemed to make things worse. Lowering the gain became the most effective adjustment for that location but it took a great deal out of the low frequency presentation.

murphythecat, after the more important individual comparisons using low level preamplifier source at the same location we then used the source signal from the Velodyne software to all three subs initially adjusting the gain for the 20, 25, 32, and 40Hz bands for flattest response. A more detailed overview can be found on the Velodyne site for Digital Drive Plus Interface Manual. 



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