REL S850 Subwoofers

2

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  • pearsall001
    pearsall001 Posts: 5,325
    Not a fan of them either.
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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 18,162
    Well, let me tell you something folks, I am completely in awe, I can tell you the grills wouldn’t keep me away from these bad boys, they say about 100 hour break in, well, break in or not, these are some very detailed subwoofers.
    They are really bringing out the best in the music.

    This right here is incredible !!!!

    uh35s5ahb50p.jpeg
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  • tratliff
    tratliff Posts: 1,809
    edited March 3
    Told you!

    I’m here when I can offer additional advice. 😄
    2 Channel Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II, 2 REL Carbon Limited, Norma Revo IPA-140B, Norma Revo DAC-2, Lumin U2 Mini, VPI Prime w/SoundSmith Zephyr MIMC, Modwright PH 150, Denon DP-59l w/Denon DL-301MKII, WAY Silver 3 Ana+ Speaker Cables, WAY Interconnect Cables, AudioQuest Niagara 7000 w/Dragon, WAY power cables for all other sources.
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  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,812
    The main thing with break-in is the subwoofers start to play a bit louder over the first month or so. That's remedied by adjusting the volume controls a couple notches. I had to adjust mine a couple times.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 51,954
    edited March 4
    Beautiful subs...the grill choice is puzzling. Anyone know why REL chose them?

    Appears you can get a black cloth grill if desired.
    https://www.bestbuy.com/product/rel-carbon-special-black-label-grille-cloth-black-cloth/J3R85VSPFG
    Post edited by F1nut on
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 18,162
    So, last night when I turn my system off, the REL’s started to hum, turn my system back on it goes away. This is with no music playing, just turning on the preamp/amps.

    I’m thinking I could start by disconnecting the ground wire from the cable from the subs, that they have you attach to a screw on the enclosure of the amp.
    I don’t understand why this couldn’t just be connected to the - negative binding post.
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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 18,162
    edited March 4
    Also, the cable that comes with these subs, is like 12 feet long, I also hate using bare wire, and wrapping bare wire around one of the screws on the back of the amps for a ground, is sloppy, and cheesy to say the least.

    I plan to shorten this cable, put a spade on the red/yellow wires, add a grounding lug on the back of these amps, put an eyelet on the black wire, and add a brass thumb screw..

    Be/look a little more professional on the backside of these amps..

    Jesse, I saw TMR has those grills as well, I plan on ordering them. Would be cool if they just swapped them for me.. B)
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  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,812
    REL makes a higher quality cable called Bassline Blue with spades on one end and the Neutrik connector on the other. Analysis Plus still makes a version too I think. Maybe others. I've just stuck with the included cable myself which may have been 20 feet long originally.

    https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/199671/rel-bassline-blue-sub-cable
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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 18,162
    Yeah, they are 20ft long not 12, I am definitely going to shorten them, add my own hardware.

    I saw the Baseline Blue cables, think I will just stick with these for now..
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  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,812
    I agree having the wood grille as standard on the Carbons with the cloth grille as an extra $200 option is a strange choice. For the S/850 cloth is standard and the wood grille is $500 extra!

    The wood is one of those choices where, even if someone likes it, it won't blend in well in half of systems.
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  • tratliff
    tratliff Posts: 1,809
    @Toolfan66 the ground and hum can take time to figure out. Try just not connecting the black wire and see if that helps. I have also heard of others connecting a RCA from unused input on pre to the LFE input on the sub.
    2 Channel Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II, 2 REL Carbon Limited, Norma Revo IPA-140B, Norma Revo DAC-2, Lumin U2 Mini, VPI Prime w/SoundSmith Zephyr MIMC, Modwright PH 150, Denon DP-59l w/Denon DL-301MKII, WAY Silver 3 Ana+ Speaker Cables, WAY Interconnect Cables, AudioQuest Niagara 7000 w/Dragon, WAY power cables for all other sources.
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  • pearsall001
    pearsall001 Posts: 5,325
    The stock Speakon cable is a bit over 30' (10 Meters). The wood grill is a different look for sure. Just wouldn't be my choice with my room decor.
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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 18,162
    If you watch the tail end, you can get a good look at the wood grills.

    https://youtu.be/dDRBeAV6nQY?si=Ef7pR5lCSmrSvePs
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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 18,162
    tratliff wrote: »
    @Toolfan66 the ground and hum can take time to figure out. Try just not connecting the black wire and see if that helps. I have also heard of others connecting a RCA from unused input on pre to the LFE input on the sub.

    That is where I was going to start, was just disconnecting the black wire.. I would hate to run a set of RCA's, I have a set of SVS Sub cables I could use, worst case I guess..
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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 18,162
    I wonder why the hum goes away when I turn on the preamp, and amps??
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  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,812
    REL now recommends using the ground connector on a phono preamp, if one is available, for the black wires as an option. It's becoming more common because phono stages are put into more integrated amps.

    Not all screws on an amp are effective chassis grounds.

    I'm still using the old recommended method of connecting the ground wires to the negative speaker outputs on common ground class AB amps with no issues. But, even REL no longer recommends doing that because some users may not realize they have a class D or differential amp that can't be grounded that way.

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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,985
    Take a look at getting wireless transmitters for the subs. That way you don’t have to run that long of a cable and can position the subs anywhere you like. I never had any hum with my subs either with the wireless option
    The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2800 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon MiND2 Shunyata Triton

    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson

    How many flies need to be buzzing a dead horse before you guys stop beating it?
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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 18,162
    The only way I was able to get rid of the hum, was connecting the black wire to the negative binding post on the amp..
    This is how I had the SVS’s connected as well..
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  • tratliff
    tratliff Posts: 1,809
    That is the standard hookup. Why were you not using that originally?
    2 Channel Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II, 2 REL Carbon Limited, Norma Revo IPA-140B, Norma Revo DAC-2, Lumin U2 Mini, VPI Prime w/SoundSmith Zephyr MIMC, Modwright PH 150, Denon DP-59l w/Denon DL-301MKII, WAY Silver 3 Ana+ Speaker Cables, WAY Interconnect Cables, AudioQuest Niagara 7000 w/Dragon, WAY power cables for all other sources.
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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 18,162
    tratliff wrote: »
    That is the standard hookup. Why were you not using that originally?

    The manual said to ground it to a screw on the amps chassis..
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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 18,162
    zoisozc0b9v8.jpeg
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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 18,162
    It all worked out for the better, the cables were 30ft, I cut them down to 12ft, put boots on the wires, and soldered spades , they cam out really nice..

    I had a set of SVS speaker cables, I desoldered the spades off them, what’s also cool about them, is they are kinda like MIT’s, you can swap the spades with bananas if you wish, since they screw on-off. I also stole the boots off them as well, worked out beautifully ..

    Not really sure why they say to ground the black wire to a screw. Still not sure why the hum would go away when you turned the amps on wired like that.

    Oh well, music is on..
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 51,954
    There are 3 types of grounding, earth, signal and chassis. You went from a chassis to a signal ground. One can Google the differences/reasons for each.

    I'm pretty sure REL used to tell users to connect the black wire to the negative binding post.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • bcwsrt
    bcwsrt Posts: 2,491
    F1nut wrote: »
    …

    I'm pretty sure REL used to tell users to connect the black wire to the negative binding post.

    Without pulling out the manuals to see what they say, that is how mine are wired …

    bpxwyswpd2q6.jpeg


    Brian

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  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,812
    The ground wire to the negative terminal doesn't work with all amps but it does with most. For example, PS Audio mono amps carry a balanced signal to both terminals so they include a dedicated grounding post on the back of their mono amps. The negative terminal isn't a ground on this type:

    https://www.psaudio.com/products/m1200-amplifier?variant=43692480037154

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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 18,162
    Would have been nice if REL would have explained more in detail hooking them up with certain amps, and or not hooking them up with certain amps.
    I honestly kind of wish I didn’t look at the manual, and just hooked them up.

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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,985
    edited March 9
    You wouldn’t want those cheeky Brits to get everything done right, now would you?
    The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2800 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon MiND2 Shunyata Triton

    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson

    How many flies need to be buzzing a dead horse before you guys stop beating it?
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  • pearsall001
    pearsall001 Posts: 5,325
    On a side note if hooking up a REL for a center channel speaker & don't want to connect to the amp or AVR you simply twist the red/yellow wires together & attach to the positive terminal on the speaker & float the black (ground) wire.
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  • Conradicles
    Conradicles Posts: 6,373
    Larry is pissed. I can sense it.
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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 18,162
    B) This is a great workout song for the REL’s

    422bbcys4v5j.jpeg
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