Pair of Rel S510’s or Carbon Special’s?


I’ve been considering adding subs to my system and am considering whether to go with S510’s or Carbon Specials…. Any thoughts? Here is my situation:

-Very large open room (open concept) with high vaulted ceilings

-B&W 802 D2’s

-Gryphon Diablo 300 amp

-Looking for MILD and subtle bass support for my speakers in my big room. For reference I tried the new, larger B&W 801 D4 speakers with my amp and thought there was way too MUCH bass…

-Despite the large room, the layout makes large subs out of the question. Carbon Specials would work. But size-wise would prefer the slightly smaller S510’s

-Don’t care about home theatre

-I do care about speed and bass definition and quality.  The more bass nuance and detail the better.

-I don’t care that much about getting down to the very lowest frequencies. Just need a bit lower than what my 802’s do

-Subs will be positioned about 6” on the outside of each main speaker. This is the ONLY place they could go…

-I’ve invested heavily in quality cabling (Nordost Valhalla 2 speaker cables, AudioQuest Dragon power cord, etc) and have a USB reclocker and network isolation switch. Just pointing out as all these elements have added precision, ambience, clarity and space to the sound of my system.

Anyone with experience in both the S510 and the Carbon Special have any thoughts on which way to go?

 

 

nyev

I’ll echo what others have recommended. If you can afford the Carbon Special then go for it. I went from a T-zero mkIII —> T9x —> S510 in a relatively small room and I’m looking to move up to a Carbon. It’s a significant performance jump from the S510.

@hilde45 

You are correct. I have Rythmicks too. The phase setting came out real handy when I realized having both subs by the mains did not work in my house of stereo as it produced incredibly loud rumble along the back wall. So at the recommendation of someone here I moved the left one down a third of the length of the left wall and with the phasing dialed in for this one, I no longer had any spot in the room with overly booming bass. I remember MC saying back then that phase adjustment didn't matter. That's when I started taking everything he was saying with a grain of salt.

Rythmik subs
F12SE-XLR3 piano black, A370XLR3 amp.

Sorry, couldn’t help myself. :-)

I understand brand loyalty so if you like REL then who am I to say otherwise?

A while back someone posted that they thought that REL subs made other subs look cheap by comparison. Really? If I had feelings, they’d be hurt. :-)

To his point, I really like they way mine look, otherwise I wouldn’t have bought them.

For pure performance, I wouldn’t overlook direct service subs.

I’ll apologize in advance in the event my post is less than helpful.

I was under the same choice considerations last year. It wasn’t about price, it was about size and sound. My ego said REL Carbons. Long story short, I ended up with dual Rythmik F12SE’s. Mine are paired with Revel Ultima 2! Studio 2’s. They aligned well, they are tight, they are integrated well. Reminds me of when I bought my Genesis car.