REL Carbon Special Subwoofers or the REL G1 Gibraltar Reference Subwoo

s_r-a,   I'm a hack, so I just googled, 'how is subwoofer speed measured?' What turned up was subwoofer distortion, performance, phase, and port length, nothing on measuring a subwoofers speed. Can you suggest another search?

If I were a subwoofer manufacturer whose sub measured faster than brand W, publishing the measurements or their attributes would seem to be valuable marketing.

Could what you call doubling be a result of a drivers back wave? Your rock in the water analogy seems appropriate for reflex and open baffle subwoofers. Most people can easily hear the difference between a ported and a sealed sub.

Pressure created by the back wave within a sealed cabinet subwoofer appears to have a noticeably different reaction. Sealed subwoofers with increasingly more robust driver motors, servo limiting and those using proprietary equalization have lowered measured distortion dramatically.

This link seemed an interesting primer albeit from a manufacturer:

https://jlaudio.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/204374170-Isobaric-Enclosure-Types

m-db

No manufacture will admit that their sub woofers double....I am retired from business as a small focused dealer. Have nothing to sell. If you want to know what bass should sound like google Wilson Benesch torus...there is so much technology there. 

ricred1
How does a passive radiator "drive you crazy?  Was the Carbon Special dialed in correctly?  I've never heard a G31 or G32 in my system.  I've only used 2 REL Carbon Limiteds with TAD CR1 tx speakers powered by Ayre MXR Twenty monos.   My problem is I would only have the physical space for 1, of either the G31 or G32.  According to your assessment, the 2 Carbon Specials fell far short..  What first hand detail can you share with me comparing  the G31 or G32 against a dual Carbon Special set-up.?  (Lastly, I've talked with sales guys but always felt they were just trying to make an easy sale because they know my pockets go deep..)

I’m interested in the Carbon as well.

I own a pair of Carbon Specials and they sound fantastic. I've used them with multiple pairs of speakers, fullrange, bookshelf, fullrange drivers, open baffles, and I've never 'heard the passive radiator'!! I don't even know what that means. If you set them up properly you won't hear the subs they disappear and just add a solid foundation to the music. 

They are not perfect, however. I find the dials for gain and crossover to be too course and you can't 'feel' the notches when you're changing the dial positions. They could be easier to use, but sound great. I did a video on YouTube with some setup tips and also some pros and cons.