I owned REL Storm III and loved it. I tried line level and speaker level connections. I really liked what the sub could do for my system. Bought a measuring mic and learnt how to use REW. So I could measure the impact of varying placement.
Later I bought 2 Rythmiks 12" kits and built sealed, very heavy (100 lb each), rigid boxes. For less than the REL I got better sound. Rythmiks are servo driven and also have a lot more controls for fine tuning. It was a lot better than the REL.
Eventually I went from the pre (Lamm LL2) to the subs xo and from there to the tube power amp, relieving the amp and speakers from attempting to reproduce below 80Hz. Yet another improvement. Like the article linked to earlier said.
If you extrapolate the reasoning in that article you arrive at an active system. Later I did without the preamp altogether abd went active. Running digital xo at the software level, adding time alignment of the sub and midbass woofer, and adding room correction is yet another leap forward. Despite this being a paradigm shift for most audiophiles thinking digital xo are detrimental. I know I'm not going back.
Later I bought 2 Rythmiks 12" kits and built sealed, very heavy (100 lb each), rigid boxes. For less than the REL I got better sound. Rythmiks are servo driven and also have a lot more controls for fine tuning. It was a lot better than the REL.
Eventually I went from the pre (Lamm LL2) to the subs xo and from there to the tube power amp, relieving the amp and speakers from attempting to reproduce below 80Hz. Yet another improvement. Like the article linked to earlier said.
If you extrapolate the reasoning in that article you arrive at an active system. Later I did without the preamp altogether abd went active. Running digital xo at the software level, adding time alignment of the sub and midbass woofer, and adding room correction is yet another leap forward. Despite this being a paradigm shift for most audiophiles thinking digital xo are detrimental. I know I'm not going back.