REL S850 Subwoofers

Toolfan66 · February 20

Any one running these? thoughts?

nooshinjohn · February 20

REL makes the best subs I have yet heard in my rig.the high-level connection makes them easy to dial in for two channel, and if you use the wireless connection, I found no loss of performance.

Emlyn · February 20

I have an S/812 and the S/850 is the updated model to that. It's a bit better in terms of amp power and drivers.

Two are better than one.

These are primarily designed to blend with music rather than thump.

pearsall001 · February 20

Emlyn wrote: »

I have an S/812 and the S/850 is the updated model to that. It's a bit better in terms of amp power and drivers.

Two are better than one.

These are primarily designed to blend with music rather than thump.

Updated new model with a hefty price jump. I have a S/812 being used in a combo HT / 2 channel system & excells in both. Very easy to integrate using the hi-level connection.
Depending on your budget I would not hesitate to go with a used S/812 & put the savings into a second one. However you would be very, very happy with the new model S/850. You can't go wrong with a REL.

Emlyn · February 20

The new S/550 will be comparable in performance to the older S/812. The new S/850 is comparable to the previous Carbon Special model.

My choice, if I was in the market for newer, would be a pair of the S/550 in a medium sized room with most speakers or a pair of S/850 only in a large room with large speakers.

Recommend asking Rel customer service what the best option is. They don't tend to oversell.

tratliff · February 20

I have 2 Carbons and have been very happy with them. Buy a pair of the best your budget will allow…Buy a pair of Carbons and never look back!

Conradicles · February 20

Buy a pair of whatever you get. Or at least plan for 1 now and another soon haha.

Emlyn · February 21

A pair of the new Carbon Special Black Labels would come in under $10K...

...by $2

https://rel.net/products/carbon-special-black-label?variant=50827079811288

Toolfan66 · February 21

There was a nice pair of S850 for sale here locally, for a good price, probably should have jumped on them. I have never had my ears on REL Subs..

Emlyn · February 21

Although the S series have a separate LFE input and can be put in a corner for home theater duty, they're really designed to shine when their speaker level inputs are used and they're co-located close to each main speaker for a musical system.

Rel also makes home theater specific room rattler subwoofers like the HT/1510 Predator but I think SVS has better for the money for that purpose.

In my case both systems I have Rel subwoofers in have sound where the subwoofers aren't even noticeable after they're dialed in and once the ears get used to them. If the subwoofers are turned off though the system sounds thin and weak up through the midrange even!

They can also be set up stacked in a four or six sub array, but I think that's only for the obsessive audiophile.

Emlyn · February 21

If the Rel subwoofers would be for the big SDA models I wouldn't go lower than the S/850 or previous S/812.

pearsall001 · February 21

Emlyn wrote: »

Although the S series have a separate LFE input and can be put in a corner for home theater duty, they're really designed to shine when their speaker level inputs are used and they're co-located close to each main speaker for a musical system.

Rel also makes home theater specific room rattler subwoofers like the HT/1510 Predator but I think SVS has better for the money for that purpose.

In my case both systems I have Rel subwoofers in have sound where the subwoofers aren't even noticeable after they're dialed in and once the ears get used to them. If the subwoofers are turned off though the system sounds thin and weak up through the midrange even!

They can also be set up stacked in a four or six sub array, but I think that's only for the obsessive audiophile.

That's a great feature of REL subs, being able to run simultaneously in both 2 channel & HT.
I'm running 2 REL's a single S812 (both hi-level & LFE hookups) used for both 2 channel & HT & a single HT1205 MKII only for HT. When running HT the S812 & HT1205 are both active & the room is rocking.
Now switching over to 2 channel the HT 1205 is not active (only LFE hookup). The S812 is awesome using the hi-level hookup for 2 channel. The S812 is calibrated separately for both venues.

Toolfan66 · February 21

I would have put these with my SDA’s, and moved my SVS’s to the HT rig.

Got to admit the line array with 6 subs look awesome!!

nooshinjohn · February 21

Remember this thread… it is not often we find universal agreement and praise of a product line.

Conradicles · February 21

Remind us...is it fine to run these subs with SDAs and the dreadnought?

nooshinjohn · February 21

Absolutely… just need to use one for each speaker. The high level connects to the amp outputs not to the speakers

REL S850 Subwoofers

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