What Power Cords for Rel S510 Subs?


I’m considering a pair of Rel S510s to go with my Diablo 300 and B&W 802 D2’s. I’ve invested quite a bit in cabling: Audioquest Dragon for my amp, Hurricanes for my source equipment, and Nordost Valhalla 2 for my speaker wire. I can clearly hear the difference between a Hurricane and a Dragon cord when powering my amp. The Dragon puts space and air around vocals and instruments with front to back depth.

There is no way I can afford anything better than two 3m Hurricanes for the Rel S510’s but my question is, how much do power cords matter for subs? Sadly for my wallet, I’ve found that higher grade cords do make a considerable difference for all my other components, verified through blind tests. Not as much as speaker cables, but still a big difference.

I also have a Innuos network isolation switch and also an Innuos USB reclocker, to support my Innuos Zenith Mk 3 streamer.

Does power cord quality matter less with subs than with everything else?

For the record I’ve seen other threads on this subject, with what seems to be consensus that power cords don’t matter with subs, but I was hoping others who, like me, appreciate the difference a top tier power cord can make, can comment on whether there truly is no benefit to using one when it comes to subs. Has anyone compared a Hurricane grade (or better) cord with a stock cord, connected to a high end sub?

 

nyev

@vonhelmholtz nice system.  I like Wilson speakers a lot.  i am not looking for bone rattling bass.  Just a bit of added support for my B&W 802's, in my large room with high ceilings.

I think how you described the setup of your Rel's is exactly how you are supposed to have them set up.  Crossover set lower to seamlessly integrate, with subtle boosting of the low end.

Are you finding your Rel's to fill in the lower frequencies sufficiently?  Or are  you finding that your Sabrina X's are still thin in their lower range, before the Rel's kick in?  Do the Rel's seem to integrate well and provide the bass energy and extension you were after, or do you think the bass could have been better somehow?

My primary speakers were not really lacking anything, but with the RELs when I play The Doors, Cantate Domino, or many jazz pieces, the reproduction is fuller with more impact. My room isn’t that large..12.5x23x10 and the room is on the second floor, so I had big problems with bass/cartridge interaction. After nine large bass traps, I finally managed to get this mostly under control. I have a four shelf 3" Tiger Maple equipment stand coming and I hope this, along with the 108 pd integrated amp will take care of any remaining bass issues.

I replaced the power cord on my s/812 with synergistic research. I also did the same with the fuse. I added a SR ground wire from the sub to my ground block as well. I have my whole rig set up this way and its amazeballz

@nyev 

I have the S510 as well. What are you using for a connection? Fwiw, If you haven’t upgraded the speakon, I highly recommend starting there 1st. I upgraded to a Signal Cable speakon cable and a Virtual Dynamics Power 3 pc. My reference bass tracks are Tool “chocolate chip trip” for TIGHT donkey kick bass and “Ice Pick Mike” (track 3) off the Bullitt soundtrack for bass depth. I tend to over use the term, but the Signal cable gave the bass more “weight”. Whereas it’s kinda difficult to describe what the Virtual Dynamics did for my S510 perhaps in a word, the bass comes across both reference tracks a “cleaner” if that makes any sense.

@andrewkelley , would you share the details of how you set up your system with the common ground block?  Very interested in how this might help and if it’s worth doing.  For what it’s worth I have no issues with ground loops at this point, all my gear is connected to a Torus RM20 on a dedicated 20A line.  My subs which I haven’t got yet will go on another dedicated line.  Maybe I should pick up a second Torus for the subs and simply connect the ground terminals of the two Torus together?  Honestly I don’t know what I’m talking about on this subject.