Once you have added the dual subs to your system, It would be helpful, for the benefit of all, if you could post your first-hand experience of adding the REL subwoofers to your system and how it changed the sound for you and any recommendations!
Does a REL subwoofer make the speakers' job easier?
Gentlemen,
Let’s assume we are following REL’s recommendation by connecting the sub to the amp instead of the preamp through the high-level connection. Then which one of these two would be true?
1. The sub would make the speakers’ job easier by not sending the low bass signal (i.e., below the crossover point) to them.
2. The signal sent to the speakers would still include the low bass even when the sub is used. Therefore the speakers would still receive the full range signal.
If (1) is true, how is it accomplished electrically? I am asking this as someone who has little knowledge about how the signal flow between amp and speakers works.
Thanks in advance!
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- 26 posts total
+1 @hilde45 It continues to blow my mind that big sub manufacturers like Kef and Rel don’t even have a phase dial for exact phase matching. Only two opposite settings? It’s simply bizarre to me. Apparently there’s consensus out there there only the tiniest percentage of people are actually aware of how impactful precise phase adjustment is for integration with loudspeakers, having learned through experience with using precision phase adjustments. |
@gladmo I hear you and @bdp24 has written a post on subs for the Ages. Really fantastic. REL is clearly a good product and they have a very vocal and earnest fan base. As I said, I love my REL sub. BUT, as mentioned in bdp24's post, the ability to adjust phase in a variable way is an absolutely crucial feature for anyone without a dedicated listening room and the dozens of hours it takes to get a sub without variable phase placed. I agree it is just ridiculous for REL not to include this feature. |
@hilde45 Thanks for the note! It seems there is a lack of common knowledge on how phase adjustment is performed with a variable phase adjustment. Maybe I'll write one up on that too. If I were the type of person to give for-profit businesses the benefit of the doubt regarding what seems to be neglectful, I might think there could be something related to the high level connections that Rel likes to include. I'm not an electrical engineer with expertise in audio electronics design, but maybe there's something innate there with matching phase? In other words, if you use the option for your sub to tap into your power amp outputs or your speaker wire signal, does that automatically align the phase of your sub to within 180 degrees of your speaker woofers, thereby providing some justification for the two position phase switch they use? I highly doubt that is the case, but it's something that has crossed my mind as to why Rel and others others have lacked variable phase adjustment controls for so many years, and still do, even on some really expensive products. Even if that were so, there's a lot of people that want to use the line level inputs, and they should be able to have variable phase adjustment like Rythmik provides... And these companies themselves should provide education on how exactly to perform the adjustment process. |
- 26 posts total