REL No. 32

[Hi-FiGuy]

Would really like to see a picture of your speaker set up and also your HT integration, something I am considering.
If you dont want to share publicly PM me.

 

[KahunaCanuck]

I luv the depth, soundstage and space that the REL array gives me...wouldn't live without it now...

 

[LL21]

I luv the depth, soundstage and space that the REL array gives me...wouldn't live without it now...

Wow...that is some serious bass! I am thinking something similar in terms of all-out cone surface area. Did you go straight to 6 of them, or did you try 1 or 2 at first, and THEN go to the "6-pack"?

Would love to understand the difference between 1-2 great subs and then 6 of them properly dialed in. I have been asking people who have multiple subs what the difference has been for them...not so much the effect of stereo subs...as the massive increase in cone area/air displacement.

 

[chuck]

Congratulations, Chuck!

Are you using John Hunter’s preferred Sneakers track to set them up? (I ask because I tried John’s suggested method on my old REL Stentor III, and I never knew what the heck he was talking about.)

The dealer said the current choice of John Hunter is Jennifer Warnes' Ballad of the Runaway Horse because of the repetitive bass cello notes. We used that and others, like the Virgil Fox Encores album of pipe organ and the Rattle/Berlin Beethoven 9th. Still working on positioning. Plan to play them for a couple of weeks in their current position (next to the main towers) to see if they break in at all.

 

[sujay]

Following up on my initial post. All systems are different and I'm just describing my experience. Some say source first, but I think it depends on your current system. As I've already said, two different dealers suggested subwoofers over changing anything else. I recently tried an Aeris Cerat preamp, Audio Research preamp, changed music servers, and tried a DCS Bartok DAC. Yes, I could hear differences, but nothing has had the overall impact as adding the No. 32 subwoofers.

So true! Ditto my experience......a pair of G1s.....the single most positively impactful change to the system. I must admit though that’s I have the mk1s....I intuitively believe the no31 would be a significant upgrade.

 

[sujay]

Congratulations, Chuck!

Are you using John Hunter’s preferred Sneakers track to set them up? (I ask because I tried John’s suggested method on my old REL Stentor III, and I never knew what the heck he was talking about.)

+1....I don’t understand either the big fuss about using track 4 of sneakers. I got hold of the CD recently and played it. If anything, the bass notes JH is talking about are very obscure in the mix......i really needed to crank it up

 

[Ron Resnick]

The dealer said the current choice of John Hunter is Jennifer Warnes' Ballad of the Runaway Horse because of the repetitive bass cello notes. We used that and others, like the Virgil Fox Encores album of pipe organ and the Rattle/Berlin Beethoven 9th. Still working on positioning. Plan to play them for a couple of weeks in their current position (next to the main towers) to see if they break in at all.

Thank you, Chuck!

 

[sbo6]

I initially liked my Carbon Specials, but eventually sold them due to the passive radiator. I prefer sealed subwoofers without a passive radiator.

I do agree that subs can provide a fuller sound.

This comment

 

[sbo6]

I'm a firm believer in dual subs. In my room a single sub doesn't pressurize the room equally.

And this comment.

 

[sbo6]

The dealer said the current choice of John Hunter is Jennifer Warnes' Ballad of the Runaway Horse because of the repetitive bass cello notes. We used that and others, like the Virgil Fox Encores album of pipe organ and the Rattle/Berlin Beethoven 9th. Still working on positioning. Plan to play them for a couple of weeks in their current position (next to the main towers) to see if they break in at all.

Congrats! Do you have any plans to measure to better dial them in?

 

[Hi-FiGuy]

I luv the depth, soundstage and space that the REL array gives me...wouldn't live without it now...
View attachment 102681

stunning!

 

[Hi-FiGuy]

I have the YG Sonja XVi speakers which are a four tower speaker, however, they second towers are not subwoofer towers, they are bass towers. It is a full range speaker system. I also have a HT system in the same room, that use the YG XVi as LR and a YG Sonja Center channel speaker. The REL 32s are for this system. They have to work both as LFE in the HT and in the 2 channel system. The RELs are designed for such use, at least that is what I have read, been told by dealers and YT.

YG makes its own subwoofer, the Invincible, but it is too big (21" cones) and too expensive ($100K) for me.

Would really like to see a picture of your speaker set up and also your HT integration, something I am considering.
If you dont want to share publicly PM me.

 

[marslo]

I luv the depth, soundstage and space that the REL array gives me...wouldn't live without it now...
View attachment 102681

Here are my 4 Carbon Specials .
I agree with @ricjor1 that the passive radiator makes the integration more compilcated but I am trying to tune the system to my liking and with good recordings I am quite pleased. I am affraid I have no space for No 32.

 

[John T]

Wow...that is some serious bass! I am thinking something similar in terms of all-out cone surface area. Did you go straight to 6 of them, or did you try 1 or 2 at first, and THEN go to the "6-pack"?

Would love to understand the difference between 1-2 great subs and then 6 of them properly dialed in. I have been asking people who have multiple subs what the difference has been for them...not so much the effect of stereo subs...as the massive increase in cone area/air displacement.

Hi Lloyd, my array has not arrived yet. I've done a fair amount of reading in regards to the 6 pack array and had in depth conversation with Clay at REL. 1st one is for the bass, 2nd elongates mid-range, the 3rd adds an airiness to the top of the soundstage. One other thing I find interesting is placement. Naturally the room will dictate this. For my setup parallel to my speakers works beautifully. Blindfolded you would never know I have subs in the system. Hopefully the array does the same. I would also recommend using The Art Of The Balkan Bass at some stage when dialing them in...BTW I would also recommend The Art Of Balkan Bass regardless of tuning...

 

[John T]

Here are my 4 Carbon Specials .
I agree with @ricjor1 that the passive radiator makes the integration more compilcated but I am trying to tune the system to my liking and with good recordings I am quite pleased. I am affraid I have no space for No 32.

Very Nice!

 

[sbo6]

Hi Lloyd, my array has not arrived yet. I've done a fair amount of reading in regards to the 6 pack array and had in depth conversation with Clay at REL. 1st one is for the bass, 2nd elongates mid-range, the 3rd adds an airiness to the top of the soundstage. One other thing I find interesting is placement. Naturally the room will dictate this.

Can you please point me to the link that specifies how 3 subs stacked on top of each other can each have specific sonic purposes and how this is adjusted?

 

[bryans]

@sbo6 Check our Rel's site. Here are some links:

Reference Line Arrays - REL Acoustics

My first CES, 1981 Chicago, Illinois and I felt like a kid in a candy store—from the main floor of McCormick Center where all the big Japanese brands were

rel.net

REL Acoustics Line Array Setup and Tuning - REL Acoustics

Why You Need a Line Array Let’s explore the purpose to our Line Array approach because, let’s face it, if you haven’t heard one you might well think this

rel.net

When to Make the Move to a REL Line Array - REL Acoustics

This is for the lucky audiophile or wealthy music lover who has come to a particularly delicious crossroads. Why delicious? Because it means that they’ve

rel.net

 

[John T]

Can you please point me to the link that specifies how 3 subs stacked on top of each other can each have specific sonic purposes and how this is adjusted?

As @Byrans referenced and the array set up by John Hunter...YouTube...

 

[sbo6]

@sbo6 Check our Rel's site. Here are some links:

Reference Line Arrays - REL Acoustics

My first CES, 1981 Chicago, Illinois and I felt like a kid in a candy store—from the main floor of McCormick Center where all the big Japanese brands were

rel.net

REL Acoustics Line Array Setup and Tuning - REL Acoustics

Why You Need a Line Array Let’s explore the purpose to our Line Array approach because, let’s face it, if you haven’t heard one you might well think this

rel.net

When to Make the Move to a REL Line Array - REL Acoustics

This is for the lucky audiophile or wealthy music lover who has come to a particularly delicious crossroads. Why delicious? Because it means that they’ve

rel.net

Thank you for the information. I reviewed much of it along with perusing REL's site and didn't see any measurements confirming any statements and found no white papers. As such, and with all due respect to REL and no offense to you by any means, I don't completely buy the logic of placement and the advice. Please note - I'm not stating REL doesn't make very good subwoofers, I am stating their logic and setup guidance is fundamentally flawed. There are two main issues with the logic / guidance based on my experience installing subs along with information (that my results corroborate) from experts such as Dr. Floyd Toole and Ken Kreisel:

In all the REL content, there is nothing specific to using the subs to mitigate room modes. Maybe this is by design, however it's a fundamental reason for implementing subs. Even worse, for the vast majority of us audiophiles in "small" rooms, placing the subs next to the mains will further exacerbate room modes due to the close proximity to the mains' woofers. And stacking 2 or 3 subs further exacerbates that issue. Net - for most rooms, stacking next to mains commonly yields deleterious low frequency response compared to the benefits. In the words of Ken Kreisel, arguably the creator of satellite / subs combo, "Unlike stacking, distributed sub placement prevents aggressive room modes, eliminating the need for a cure."

There are many other comments in the content that IME are falsehoods, simply too many to comment on.

All that said, I've heard the REL 6 pack in a top - notch system in a very large room (where placing the subs next to the mains may be beneficial) and it sounded very good. But again, in (most) modest - size rooms, taking advantage of away - from mains' sub placement yields a smoother low frequency response and overall more realistic and better sonics measured and proven via listening. I'd wager splitting up the subs yields even greater sonics than stacking (btw, I've already tried this with my 4 JLA Fathoms).

Maybe this should be moved to another thread, but I thought I'd provide my experience and feedback.

 

[bryans]

Thank you for the information. I reviewed much of it along with perusing REL's site and didn't see any measurements confirming any statements and found no white papers. As such, and with all due respect to REL and no offense to you by any means, I don't completely buy the logic of placement and the advice. Please note - I'm not stating REL doesn't make very good subwoofers, I am stating their logic and setup guidance is fundamentally flawed. There are two main issues with the logic / guidance based on my experience installing subs along with information (that my results corroborate) from experts such as Dr. Floyd Toole and Ken Kreisel:

In all the REL content, there is nothing specific to using the subs to mitigate room modes. Maybe this is by design, however it's a fundamental reason for implementing subs. Even worse, for the vast majority of us audiophiles in "small" rooms, placing the subs next to the mains will further exacerbate room modes due to the close proximity to the mains' woofers. And stacking 2 or 3 subs further exacerbates that issue. Net - for most rooms, stacking next to mains commonly yields deleterious low frequency response compared to the benefits. In the words of Ken Kreisel, arguably the creator of satellite / subs combo, "Unlike stacking, distributed sub placement prevents aggressive room modes, eliminating the need for a cure."

There are many other comments in the content that IME are falsehoods, simply too many to comment on.

All that said, I've heard the REL 6 pack in a top - notch system in a very large room (where placing the subs next to the mains may be beneficial) and it sounded very good. But again, in (most) modest - size rooms, taking advantage of away - from mains' sub placement yields a smoother low frequency response and overall more realistic and better sonics measured and proven via listening. I'd wager splitting up the subs yields even greater sonics than stacking (btw, I've already tried this with my 4 JLA Fathoms).

Maybe this should be moved to another thread, but I thought I'd provide my experience and feedback.

My advice would be for you to contact Rel. If anyone could get you the information you are looking for, it would be them.