Little help with REL subwoofers, please?


I'm not especially knowledgeable about subwoofers and I'd appreciate some advice. I've got a pair of Magnepan 1.7i placed in a small (long, rectangular) room. I had a hefty JL sub that shook the house but that I could never fully integrate. On a whim, I switched it out for a pair of the diminutive REL Tzero subs and the sound is vastly better. On some music, though, such as classical organ, I miss the growl and thunder. I don't feel like I need to boost the "upper bass" and I definitely don't want to muddy things up; it's really the deep rumble that I occasionally want.

If it helps, I'm thinking of a piece of music like Max Richter's "On the Nature of Daylight," which about halfway through delivers a broad, deep sweep of musical sound that I want to *feel.*

I'm mostly pleased with the setup and I don't want to reinvent my room's wheel or break the bank. And I'd like to stay with at least two subs and likely stay with REL. So I'm thinking I might: 1) add a T/9X or maybe a T/7X and perhaps keep the crossover low; or 2) swap out the Tzeros and replace them with a pair of T/7Xs. For now, a pair of T/9Xs is a budgetary stretch that I'd like to avoid (and it is a small room).

Would it be weird having two Tzeros combined with the much bigger T/9X? Would the T/7X produce that deep, enveloping bass? I'm not particularly good at reading specs but -6dB at 30Hz doesn't sound especially deep to me. (The JL was -3dB at 23Hz.) Or am I misunderstanding how bass works and would a T/7X go plenty deep in a small room?

Thanks and Happy New Year!

 

northman

Good subwoofers that have been properly set up will never call attention to themselves. The point of purchasing JL/Rythmik/Rel is they disappear and make it seem as though speakers simply have proper low end fullness and extension.

Please let us know your thoughts once you’ve decided on and configured whichever sub you do end up purchasing. The last Rel I had was the T7. It was paired with PMC OB1 speakers and it sounded fantastic and integrated seamlessly with plenty of kick/punch for my tastes. Drum n Bass, techno and house are among the genres I listen to so you best believe I’m critical and demanding when it comes to subsonic performance. Drum n Bass producers tend to know a thing or two about bass ;)

to my earlier comments i would add, or should i say, re-emphasize:... to me, for maggie 1.7i (or up) owners, dual subs are a must if one intends on extracting the best musical qualities these truly wonderful speakers can produce

so 2x t7’s >> 1x t9 or 1x s510 as an example

 

I use 2 "Q" series RELs in my main system...a Q150E and a Q108MK2. Each cost around 200 bucks each (used of course) maybe 10 years ago and are great sounding. If they die REL won't fix 'em but meh...they were so inexpensive I've really got my money's worth out of them. Made cables (easily) out of Canare and Neutriks.

@northman 

Dirac Live even tells you where to put the microphone in pictograms. A 10 year old could do it. Again, I highly recommend outboard DACs such as the Benchmark units. I have had the MiniDSP SHD in my system and the overall sound was grainy. I had a conversation with the chief engineer at Benchmark who says they use the SHD Studio with their own DACs and the results are fabulous. I may head up to NY with the DEQX PRE 8 when it arrives as they are very interested in it. 

My take on subs is its far more about personal sound quality preferences, room, and main speakers than the subs themselves.

 

The fact is I've enjoyed the db or low level input type subs with certain recordings and times of day I chose to listen. And I did the obsession with measurements, crawl methods, dsp, interconnects, power cables thing. My issue was I could never get a wholly consistent perfectly coherent sound to my main speakers. Different recordings and volume levels always found me making fine adjustments to crossover and gain settings on subs. I'll admit coherency is amongst most important aspects of sound quality for me, this once I had single driver speakers in a bedroom system I used to run. The magical coherency I had with that setup sensitized me forever to  incoherency. I've also built my system for max transparency, resolution at relatively low volume listening settings.

 

Thus far in my admittedly limited listening sessions with the Rel's I've finally found subs that meet my need for coherency, I only hear my Klipschorns. I've no doubt this would not be everyone's cup of tea, they'd be asking where are the subs.

 

I've been done with subs for years, the Genesis sub and dsp still sits here unused and forlorn. Its only lately that I decided to give the Rel's a try, and this driven far more by the improvements in sound staging people reported vs bass augmentation. My Klipschorns in room response at my listening position certainly aren't bass shy what with my extreme attention to getting maximum seat to the walls, custom birch ply plate at top to get full seal,  non stock woofer and crossover. Only missing lowest octives with pipe organs, synth bass.

 

So, in my case these Rel's exactly what I was looking for, just a bit more reach in lowest freq, and most impressively, the added sound stage ambience, greater recording venue information adds to an already impressive illusion of performers in room that horn speakers do like no other.

 

In the end each person has to decide for themselves, based on parameters I mentioned above, what subs will work best for themselves. @northman , Only hearing a pair of T7x or 9x in your room and setup will provide the answer for you. I'd only suggest going to another low level input sub with dsp will require another intense setup procedure. If I were you I'd trial a pair of Rel t's and if they don't fit your needs only then move in another direction.