REL Subwoofer Acquisition

janmike

Well, I finally took the plunge and purchase a used REL Strata I subwoofer. It's a few years old, but good condition and the price was right. I hooked it up last night and actually had to turn the sub down when I put in a DVD. A little fine tuning and we should be fine. As for the music, I swear that the bass it is coming from the speakers and not the sub. The Yamaha setting for bass has been configured for bass to come out of the subwoofer, not the front speakers or both. The front speakers do have powered subwoofers, but I thought this may be redundant to channel the bass from both.

A couple of notes/questions:
1) I found that the REL integrates extremely well for music. A few people told me that REL produces a very musical sub and no mistake there. I like to listen to music in 2CH & I have found that selecting the "Pure Direct" setting on my AVR results in the best sound. As well, the front speakers are powered with a Rotel 1080. Now this is going to sound a little foolish and will truly reveal my inexperience, but I thought that I would be able to use the sub in this mode. When I switch modes on the receiver (7 CH or whatever) the sub kicks in. The sub is connected with a stand RCA cable from one of the RAC jacks on the sub (there is both a left and right RCA jack) to the preout subwoofer jack on the back of the Yamaha RX-V1500. A couple of questions from this:

a) Can I connect the sub so that it will engage no matter what mode I select on the Yamaha? My thinking now is that 2CH channel is exactly that and requesting the sub to respond in 2CH mode would not be 2CH. Go figure.

b) I am almost afraid to ask this, but here goes, do you guys use a subwoofer cable or standard RCA cable and is there any benefit to using an enhanced power cord for a powered subwoofer. The rest of my gear has Signal cables (power cords & interconnects) and I am very impressed with the enhanced performance.
NEGATIVE FEEDBACK ON THE CABLE THEORY NEED NOT RESPOND – THANK YOU


2) Why is there a left and a right RCA jack on the back of the sub, yet I have been instructed to only connect to one of them. Is there any benefit to using a "Y" connect to both jacks, channel back to a single cable and then connect to the receiver?

For you folks that purchased SVS subs (and I considered it but did not want to bite the cost for my first sub) I only have one thing to say. Boy you must really LOVE bass. The REL is enough for me at this point. The floor shook the jets took off in “TOP GUN.” Not my favourite, but a good bass tester for movies.

Thanks folks and I appreciate the feedback and suggestions. I has been an incredible week. Apart from the new sub, I just purchased a new home yesterday in Yellowknife, so it would appear we are hear for a while, and I received the go ahead from 3 companies that they have selected our communications proposal. I have been working on that proposal for over a year and deal is worth $25M. Nice chunk of change for my quota and the company.

polkatese

Congrats, Michael! you'll be very happy with your purchase. Give this a try:

http://signalcable.com/relspeakon.html

and you'll get a nice dose of tight low energy that blends even more with your main.

Follow this very helpful setup instructions:

http://rel.net/index2.htm

As far as RCA left and right, you could try using Y, but I found it to be of no benefit, since the output from your LFE receiver is mono, and just use the left output to your REL. You can read more the characteristic of LFE output (for HT use) if you interested.

Best of all, enjoy the sound of REL midbass integration philosophy!

Ron Temple

Supposedly using a y cable will show a stronger signal to the sub's auto/on function, as well as, a 3db gain in output. I've seen this argued and am not sure if it's true or not. If your sub has an auto/on issue the y cable is recommended.

WilliamM2

Which model of Yamaha? I'm using a RX-V1500 as a pre-pro, and I also lose the sub out in Pure direct mode. If you set it to "straight", their is still no sound processing, it's 2 channel, but the sub is active.

janmike

Yamaha RX-V1500 as in the original post.

janmike

I fired the question off to Yamaha Canada for what it is worth.

WilliamM2

Set it to straight, make sure the bass/treble is bypassed, and you will get 2 channel with sub.

polkatese

Michael, if you connect the supplied Neutrik speakon cable to the L and R output of your Yamaha (High Level output..i.e Speaker output), your Strata will always be on regardless the setting of your Yamaha.

mantis

Nice job man and great sub. I also feel Rel is the perfect choice for a musical sub.


Excellent

Dan

janmike

I never received any cables with the sub, just a standard power cord. I had a spare RCA cable and wondered if I should order a new cable (Neutrik speakon cable) from Signal. So are you folks using any special cables and have you replace the power cord with any significant improvement. The sub I purchased is probably 10 years old.

Not sure I understand the "bass/treble is bypassed" thing.

polkatese

ok Michael, that explain your confusion. The Strata (or any REL subs for that matter) should come with factory supplied Neutrik Speakon 25ft cables. It is a skimpy 3 conductor cable, with Speakon on one end, and bare wires on the other. What you do is to connect the wires to the speaker output of your Yamaha, along with the front speaker cables. The cable from signal is significantly better in build quality, and it improves on the supplied cable. Once you use the speakon cable, you will experience an even better integration with the front speakers, especially on two channel use. I also replaced the supplied power cable with Signal Cable magic power.

janmike

Thanks Polkatese, makes sense. I am looking at that cable and they are $$$ from Signal. $90 for 6'. Ouch!

Signal Cable

polkatese

yeah, it's a bit steep, but it's worthed. I was skeptical initially, since even REL said that using the supplied speakon should be enough. The intent is to match the sub with the tonal characteristics of your amp/receiver and front speakers. But, the truth be told, the amount of tight bass it improves is significant enough that I have recalibrate the sub, and turn it down a notch. It also came wth Analysis Plus spade on the speaker side, which is make it easier to hook up (for me).

janmike

The REL sub that I purchased is so old that it is not even listed on their web site. Do you think that the cable would still be good for the older models. I have no problem spending money on cables as I KNOW there is a difference.

Dennis Gardner

Congrats Mike,

I remember your "what sub to buy?" back in the summer. REL is a top notch sub very well thought of in the high end music circles.

DG

polkatese

good question, Michael. I went to rel.net site and pull down the manual for Strata (under download), and don't see any reference to Neutrik Speakon. Unfortunately, the manual doesn't have any pics. Do you see a round black hole (two rounds, one smaller) on the plate? The connection methods, according to the manual, is still valid: one high-level output (from amp output) and RCA (phono).

janmike

I do not have the jack for the Neutrik Speakon on my sub. I have the following jacks/dials.

1) Left & Right RCA
2) 3 dials (Coarse, Gain, & Fine)
3) High Level Input (2 for Left / 2 for Right)
4) Bass Cut Output (Output1- 2 for Left & 2 for Right / Output2 - 2 for Left & 2 for Right) TOTAL OF JACKS = 8
5) One Dial - Reverse / Phase / Normal - Not sure about this.

I think I need to somehow connect to the High Level Input for 2 CH. But where on the receiver?

polkatese

Michael, I see, so it looks like Signal upgrade cable will not work for your Strata. what you do on the receiver side, is to connect a regular speaker wires from your Strata, to the L and R output of your FRONT speakers in parallel. In other words, combine the respective L & R wires that goes to your front speakers, with the pair going to your Strata, and connect them to your Yamaha FRONT speakers output. With your Yamaha, you can connect your Strata to the "B" FRONT output, and always engage "A" + "B" when you are using it. Don't worry abour overdriving your receiver, since the output (assuming "B") that goes to your Strata does not represent real load, it only conveys tonal characteristics with no current nor impedance load. Give it a try.

Once you're done with the connection, then you can follow the setup as described on the manual for Strata (downloadable from rel.net), mainly with the 3 dials (Coarse, Gain, Fine). Item 5) it should always be in Normal (in most cases). Its main purpose is to tweak corner loading position of the sub (in your room) as to maximise the amount of bass. You can experiment with this setting, these choices are either (out of) phase, reverse, or (in phase) normal.

hope it helps.

janmike

Excellent. Major, major help Polkatese. Thanks.
No worry about any load on the receiver as the sub is self-powered and the Fronts are powered by a Rotel 1080. Just need to determine cables for the sub.

WilliamM2

If you hook it up with the high level inputs, it will work, but on the Yamaha if you set it to pure direct mode the crossover in the reciever will not be active. That means you will be sending the full signal to your front speakers + the sub.

Did you try the staight mode?

mantis

post a pic of the back. I'd like to see it.

Dan

janmike

Straight Mode does work. I had to changed the setting on the Yamaha to BOTH for the Bass (Front & Sub) as the front 2 speakers have powered subs. I guess I really like the DIRECT MODE sound. The fullness is great.

I do not have a picture of the back of the sub, so perhaps I can draw one. No manual either.