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REL subwoofer questions, Storm III and/or Stadium II

Hello all - I have a couple questions re REL subs - 

First, is there a downside to hooking RCA connectors up to the bare wire ends on the OEM cable and use a preamp output rather than the amp?  This would be done only for convenience.

Second, how bad of an idea is it to mismatch these subs, meaning having one Storm III and one Stadium II?  Again, this is a convenience/patience issue for me - I bought a used Storm III about two years ago, fully expecting to eventually pick up a matching second one, which has not happened.  In the meantime, I've seen several Stadium IIs on the market, and I am impatient to hear the impact of two subs.  Should I continue to be patient or is the pairing acceptable?  If I did this then I'd be itching to eventually get a matched pair and either have three subs or get rid of the one that doesn't match.

Thirdly, how much of a difference do upgrade power cords make with these subs?  Is it worth another $200-$300 each for better cables?  

Thanks ahead of time for sharing your insight and experiences!

Rest of system: PC -> Bel Canto 3.7VB DAC -> Sonic Frontiers LSF1 Preamp -> Krell KAV 350il (in HT mode) or BAT VK-55 -> Thiel 2.3s.  Room is 9' x 20' x 9'.  Music is mostly Americana, alt/indy rock, jazz, chamber pop.
128x128thosb
nmmusicman
276 posts
 
You can use your subs to great advantage by using them in a mono configuration with the Stadium ll up front and the Storm lll in the rear and tune them with the controls and placement to mitigate the modes in your room. I use this very setup in my vinyl room with a Stadium lll in the front and a Strata lll in the rear hooked up in mono with great results.

Yes power cords make a difference with these subs as do the high level cables and any money spent on either or both returns dividends. As for the using line level into the high level inputs, I don’t think there would be anywhere near enough gain. Curious why you don’t use the speaker terminals??

Cheers
jjss49's avatar
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jjss49
6,612 posts
 
both are great... stadium more output but i have 2 storms and in tandem they are tremendously musical and load my 19x17 room with ease

rel's for two channel audio always best to use high level connections and the speakon connector ran from your power amp
thosb's avatar
thosb OP
204 posts
 
Thanks!
tablejockey
3,986 posts
 
Just another perspective.

Don't waste money on PC/aftermarket cable. I've used REL for 10 years. The stock PC and speakon cable will do the job. Using the Britannia series, which is the last of the actual British REL.

Cable being a YMMV thing, the aftermarket PC plugged into it doesn't do anything different than a supplied PC. Same goes for the suppled made in China  speakon cable.
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