My subwoofer trials and tribulations.
This is a response to another thread but I thought it may help someone experiencing difficulty integrating their subs.
I am going to expound a bit on my original statement of a year's time to integrate. I had never had subwoofers in any iteration. Not in a vehicle even. I had followed RELs instructions in the manual for setting these up. Using the hi level speakon I had limited but unsatisfying results. No matter where I put them or how I angled them. I fiddled with crossover and gain setting knobs more than my wife's knobs. I gave up after a while and at the advice of another forum member and hooked them up via RCA and used my integrated's subwoofer controls and low/ hi pass filters. This gave me what I was looking for or so I thought. After using them in this manner I started thinking, "Could it be better?" and "Why does REL insist the Speakon hi-level connection is best?" These thoughts propelled me to seek. I went back to hi level and worked at it some more. Still disappointed. I reached out to REL and after quite a length (months) of time I was finally contacted by a tech. He had me turn my gain about halfway up and my crossover at 0. I had to 'walk' the crossover up slowly to hear it finally kick in. In other words, I had to not hear it before I could finally hear it. From there it was a matter of listening over a few days and adjusting which, in my case tended to be adjusting down incrementally on both crossover and gain. Have I got it perfected yet? Don't know, but I am finally getting what I paid for and it makes a huge difference in every aspect. Satisfying lows, thump when needed, grab you by the keester, rumbly in your tumbly bass if called for, Timbre, clarity of mids and highs and a much improved soundstage.
My journey could have been shortened quite a bit if the advice of bringing the crossover up from zero slowly had been in the manual. It is in a video online buried in the archives but I never knew about it. It also could have been shortened if REL had been more responsive to my emails and texts. I had almost given up on them but now they are tuned and integrated they are very good. Are there better? More than likely. But wow, what a difference.
was my response to another thread but I thought it may help someone experiencing difficulty integrating subwoofers.
@soix I really don't know! This one bit of instruction would have saved me literally months of frustration and bad feelings. I was even beginning to think I was deaf to bass! @ohlala I think I'm pretty close on placement but of course willing to try anything to get best results possible. Currently they are to the outside and back a foot off my mains. I know I should run REW but what advice or what did you do to get it right? |
I didn't really have any issues with integrating the REL subwoofer into my system. I basically followed the manual (connected to the hi-level Speakon cables), placed the subwoofer in a corner, and adjusted crossover and volume until I got the sound that I was satisfied with. Set up can be different for everyone and I do believe that REL should've been more responsive. |
With so many apparent new subwoofer owners, it is tips like this that can be a good starting point for those in a rut. Ask me how I know ;). My experience with REL is the placement is the key, not only relative to the room but also to the speakers. The phase switch is a big deal, but easy to determine. Finding the rough area is harder than the fine tuning. Measurement software/hardware makes this far more accurate and efficient. Best of luck. |
Wow. Just wow. How could this extremely critical and helpful information not be highlighted front and center in the manual much less excluded completely?!? Why does REL keep this pivotal info a national secret and make their customers jump through difficult hoops to obtain it? I wonder how many unhappy customers, negative reviews, and product returns have been generated simply through hiding this incredibly important information? REL’s marketing department should be sacked over this inexplicable oversight that has to be affecting sales, profits, and the company’s reputation. I’m absolutely gobsmacked. |
