Dual mono with REL Subwoofer

[PeppaPig]

For what it worth, I have a G1 MK II connected to my Devialet Expert Pro 250 to complement my SF Amati Futura. The range of the Futura is down to 25Hz, the REL is connected via HL cables and is set to start the range at 26Hz down to 15Hz. The result is amazing.  Bass are define, sharp and fast, no comparison with any other Sub I heard. To the point that is a bit of a show stealer. I had people coming to check my system and forgetting Devialet, SF, and all the rest and pretty much only commenting on the incredible quality and precision of the bass, such is a stark difference of what you usually hear.
Definitely check it out.

M

Thanks for sharing., I can't afford that G1.. not sure how much different between the S5 SHO and G1, have you heard a S5 SHO and compared them?

[marcor]

For what it worth, I have a G1 MK II connected to my Devialet Expert Pro 250 to complement my SF Amati Futura. The range of the Futura is down to 25Hz, the REL is connected via HL cables and is set to start the range at 26Hz down to 15Hz. The result is amazing.  Bass are define, sharp and fast, no comparison with any other Sub I heard. To the point that is a bit of a show stealer. I had people coming to check my system and forgetting Devialet, SF, and all the rest and pretty much only commenting on the incredible quality and precision of the bass, such is a stark difference of what you usually hear.
Definitely check it out.

M

Thanks for sharing., I can't afford that G1.. not sure how much different between the S5 SHO and G1, have you heard a S5 SHO and compared them?

Hi Laura,

no I haven't had a chance to compare the S5 but I did compare to the G2 (10 Inches) as the distributor had one in house and he was so nice to let him take it home for a week.  I did some extensive testing, (for the cost I really wanted to make sure this was the right purchase) going from Classical music to Electronic (daft Punk on this beast are just another thing). Old recording and new recording. The sound was great but then the 12" was definitively going the extra step. 
What I found fascinating is taking away the grille and check the speed the carbon fibre cone is moving. You can put the hand in front of the cone without touching it and feel the air getting displaced. 
I know that the price is scary, and is quite imposing in size (convincing the wife that at the end of the day is a great side table was a challenge in itself) but I have to say this, after the Devialet and the SF, has been the biggest step up I ever experienced. If you have a chance see if you can test it and compare with the S5 I would be curious to hear your thoughts.

[PeppaPig]

For what it worth, I have a G1 MK II connected to my Devialet Expert Pro 250 to complement my SF Amati Futura. The range of the Futura is down to 25Hz, the REL is connected via HL cables and is set to start the range at 26Hz down to 15Hz. The result is amazing.  Bass are define, sharp and fast, no comparison with any other Sub I heard. To the point that is a bit of a show stealer. I had people coming to check my system and forgetting Devialet, SF, and all the rest and pretty much only commenting on the incredible quality and precision of the bass, such is a stark difference of what you usually hear.
Definitely check it out.

M

Thanks for sharing., I can't afford that G1.. not sure how much different between the S5 SHO and G1, have you heard a S5 SHO and compared them?

Hi Laura,

no I haven't had a chance to compare the S5 but I did compare to the G2 (10 Inches) as the distributor had one in house and he was so nice to let him take it home for a week.  I did some extensive testing, (for the cost I really wanted to make sure this was the right purchase) going from Classical music to Electronic (daft Punk on this beast are just another thing). Old recording and new recording. The sound was great but then the 12" was definitively going the extra step. 
What I found fascinating is taking away the grille and check the speed the carbon fibre cone is moving. You can put the hand in front of the cone without touching it and feel the air getting displaced. 
I know that the price is scary, and is quite imposing in size (convincing the wife that at the end of the day is a great side table was a challenge in itself) but I have to say this, after the Devialet and the SF, has been the biggest step up I ever experienced. If you have a chance see if you can test it and compare with the S5 I would be curious to hear your thoughts.

The S5 SHO is also 12inch. How you place your G1? How close to corner?

Do you have one sub or 2 sub? Some ppl said 2 sub greatly help with SQ.

And have you found the sub improved Listening experience for voice type of music?

I got a limited space I guess G1 is too big, looking in the photo it’s much bigger than S5, but they are both 12inch...

[marcor]

Hi Laura,

My G1 position is not ideal. Unluckily I had no space to put it in the corner behind the speakers, so I had to find an alternative place. That is the reason why I had to listen to it at my place, rather than in a demo room. I tried 2 configuration, one was the sub right in the center of the speakers. Even if it was sounding good, it wasn't a viable solution for the layout of the room. So I tried putting it on the side respect where I sit, facing the speakers. One side it is close to the couch, the other side is about one meter and something from the wall. Behind there is a sliding door that can be closed. So all in all it is quite enclosed in a corner but on the other side of where it should be. Still sounds great and really works like side table (even if sometimes the wine glasses tend to move around a bit). The bass at those frequencies are not directional, as I do a crossover at 26Hz it doesn't pick up anything that could give a strong feeling of direction. The only thing you need to a bit careful with the volume otherwise you can easily overpower the music As in the same room I have also an home theater set up, I use the REL as subwoofer connected to the LFE of the surround. In that case the crossover is at 80Hz still the sound is pretty good and not boomy at all.

I have only one, unless I don't change house there is no way I can fit a second one.

Regarding voices.... I am trying to find a way to say it without sounding crazy... What I did notice in general is that having more low range benefit the mid-high levels as well.
English is not my first language so fumbling a bit for words here. But it is like when you look at an image with clamped colors and the blacks are crushed. Once you expand the range not only you see details where before was black but you also notice that the highlights look better because the whole range is more balanced. The feeling for me has been the same with the Sub. To be honest I thought this was a big component of BIAS toward a big purchase that needed to be justified, but then a friend of mine came for a listening session at my place and, completely unsolicited made the exact same comment, noting how the mid-high range was gaining definition.
Obviously if you listen to Leonard Cohen's Going Home from the album Old Ideas you will get an immediate benefit just at the low ranges
I checked the dimensions on the S5 and yes it is a bit smaller than the G1,
444.5 x 455.5 x 507 mm
vs
571.5 x 462 x 680.3 mm
Anyway the S5 looks really nice and I am sure it will perform great. A lot depend from what your speakers can do. As mine are nominally going down to 25Hz, having a sub with a range down to 20Hz wasn't making a lot of sense so I went for a more extended range (15Hz) and that was the decision factor.

Marco

[PeppaPig]

Hi Laura,

My G1 position is not ideal. Unluckily I had no space to put it in the corner behind the speakers, so I had to find an alternative place. That is the reason why I had to listen to it at my place, rather than in a demo room. I tried 2 configuration, one was the sub right in the center of the speakers. Even if it was sounding good, it wasn't a viable solution for the layout of the room. So I tried putting it on the side respect where I sit, facing the speakers. One side it is close to the couch, the other side is about one meter and something from the wall. Behind there is a sliding door that can be closed. So all in all it is quite enclosed in a corner but on the other side of where it should be. Still sounds great and really works like side table (even if sometimes the wine glasses tend to move around a bit). The bass at those frequencies are not directional, as I do a crossover at 26Hz it doesn't pick up anything that could give a strong feeling of direction. The only thing you need to a bit careful with the volume otherwise you can easily overpower the music As in the same room I have also an home theater set up, I use the REL as subwoofer connected to the LFE of the surround. In that case the crossover is at 80Hz still the sound is pretty good and not boomy at all.

I have only one, unless I don't change house there is no way I can fit a second one.

Regarding voices.... I am trying to find a way to say it without sounding crazy... What I did notice in general is that having more low range benefit the mid-high levels as well.
English is not my first language so fumbling a bit for words here. But it is like when you look at an image with clamped colors and the blacks are crushed. Once you expand the range not only you see details where before was black but you also notice that the highlights look better because the whole range is more balanced. The feeling for me has been the same with the Sub. To be honest I thought this was a big component of BIAS toward a big purchase that needed to be justified, but then a friend of mine came for a listening session at my place and, completely unsolicited made the exact same comment, noting how the mid-high range was gaining definition.
Obviously if you listen to Leonard Cohen's Going Home from the album Old Ideas you will get an immediate benefit just at the low ranges
I checked the dimensions on the S5 and yes it is a bit smaller than the G1,
444.5 x 455.5 x 507 mm
vs
571.5 x 462 x 680.3 mm
Anyway the S5 looks really nice and I am sure it will perform great. A lot depend from what your speakers can do. As mine are nominally going down to 25Hz, having a sub with a range down to 20Hz wasn't making a lot of sense so I went for a more extended range (15Hz) and that was the decision factor.

Marco

Hi Marco, thanks for sharing those information it’s really helpful.

So your sub is placed in front of your speaker and the sub driver facing you or your speaker? Usually sub are behind speakers, I am not sure how it will sound like when they are placing in front of speakers.

I just checked my room and found G1 68cm depth won’t fit into the corner behind my speaker. It has to be place in front of left or right speaker... which nah looks ugly... and then check the S5, it’s 55cm depth, also very tight to fit behind my speakers... unless I go S3 which is about 43cm...but looking at the advice from REL website, for decent large floor stand speakers they recommend bigger and more powerful sub, such as G1, not even S5... looks like I have to change house.. the S3 is 10inch, 21Hz lowest, doesn’t really look attractive to me.

By the way, human ear can only hear between 20Hz to 20KHz range, why REL making G1 to 15Hz if our ear cannot hear it?

[marcor]

Sub is sitting side by my seating position and the woofer is facing the speakers,  as I said, not optimal but still works.
First reaction from people is, "you cannot put the sub there!" after a little bit of listening "actually you don't really notice, do you?"

But again, you need to try in your room as mileage can vary.

By the way, human ear can only hear between 20Hz to 20KHz range, why REL making G1 to 15Hz if our ear cannot hear it?

For the same reason why they make loud speakers that go up to 25KHz... 
At least for the bass at the lower frequency you can say you can feel the vibrations.

[audio_engr]

With my years of experience with REL subwoofers hooked to my main floorstanding loudspeakers (no longer now   ) when you buy REL, you fork out "big bucks" for basically 1 Octave of Low Bass i.e. 20-40 Hz. No one I know of does it better than REL does and what REL does it soooo profound and state-of-the-art that :

1. You'll immediately notice a tremendous increase in your system's overall Dynamic Range
2. You'll notice more transparent Midrange and extended Upper High frequencies
3. The Room will be more spacious sonically yet physically its all crammed up the way it was before
4. Bigger Soundstage in terms of Width & Depth

Coming to positioning the RELs, I recall from years back that ideally, the subs should be behind the main Loudspeakers but I used to use my RELs (pair of STUDIO) and they were huge behind my Listening Seat on either side and (as they say Low Freq is non-directional), well it is. You really couldn't tell the RELs functioning even if you happen to sit on them. They were totally inert and the overall balance was seamless. 

Note : One has a tendency to fire up the RELs louder than their ideal setting hence it is important to check using a SPL Meter and test-tone sweeps from 20Hz ~ 20kHz for a seamless setup. Good Luck folks !!  

[PeppaPig]

Sub is sitting side by my seating position and the woofer is facing the speakers,  as I said, not optimal but still works.
First reaction from people is, "you cannot put the sub there!" after a little bit of listening "actually you don't really notice, do you?"

But again, you need to try in your room as mileage can vary.

By the way, human ear can only hear between 20Hz to 20KHz range, why REL making G1 to 15Hz if our ear cannot hear it?

For the same reason why they make loud speakers that go up to 25KHz... 
At least for the bass at the lower frequency you can say you can feel the vibrations.

Hi Marco, thanks again for sharing your experience.

Do you have any plan to add a second sub into your system? I heard two subs performs much better.

I also notice they have a limited edition S5 Carbon, 20% power than normal S5 SHO but same size as S5 SHO.

[PeppaPig]

With my years of experience with REL subwoofers hooked to my main floorstanding loudspeakers (no longer now   ) when you buy REL, you fork out "big bucks" for basically 1 Octave of Low Bass i.e. 20-40 Hz. No one I know of does it better than REL does and what REL does it soooo profound and state-of-the-art that :

1. You'll immediately notice a tremendous increase in your system's overall Dynamic Range
2. You'll notice more transparent Midrange and extended Upper High frequencies
3. The Room will be more spacious sonically yet physically its all crammed up the way it was before
4. Bigger Soundstage in terms of Width & Depth

Coming to positioning the RELs, I recall from years back that ideally, the subs should be behind the main Loudspeakers but I used to use my RELs (pair of STUDIO) and they were huge behind my Listening Seat on either side and (as they say Low Freq is non-directional), well it is. You really couldn't tell the RELs functioning even if you happen to sit on them. They were totally inert and the overall balance was seamless. 

Note : One has a tendency to fire up the RELs louder than their ideal setting hence it is important to check using a SPL Meter and test-tone sweeps from 20Hz ~ 20kHz for a seamless setup. Good Luck folks !!  

Thanks for sharing experience mate, it’s helpful. I wondering have you ever compare one sub and two subs in your system? If you unplug one, how much difference between the two configuration? If two subs is better, how much better? Worth the extra cost? Thanks!

[audio_engr]

I wondering have you ever compare one sub and two subs in your system?

If you unplug one, how much difference between the two configuration?

If two subs is better, how much better? Worth the extra cost?

IMHO, I would rather buy 1 "good" sub than 2 lesser ones ... 

With REL, when you are dealing with their Reference category products, trust me - they're truly REFERENCE quality & they play the game at the cutting edge of the technology !

What a G1 will do for you, the lesser S5 SHO PAIR can't compete with it ... 

I will strongly recommend to buy 1 G1 sub. It will change your conception of what a really good super-highend sub can do. You need to take a lot of pains to set it up correctly for it to blend-in seamlessly with your Main speakers. Generally, almost 95% users setup their sub with increased loudness but that is incorrect. When you play your music, and if there is 20-40 Hz content, the sub quietly comes-in and does its job ... the user will feel the low frequency air in the room ... 

Yes, you'll have to work around on the placement by initially placing the Sub on a portable dolly and moving it around the room while its playing and work around to find an amicable position in your room where it disappears yet sonically profoundly does its job. You will need time & patience to dial the sub into your system properly. 

Why did Richard Lord (Founder & Chief Designer of REL) sell me a Pair of his best subs - Studio when I was only interested in buying 1 Sub ?

A: Richard Lord explained that when bass is played with correct pitch, speed & articulation, our human ear can even start to detect mono bass vs. stereophonic bass ... in other words, even very low bass image & soundstage. Plus, with 2 subs, if there are many room abnormalities, one has a better scope to work around it to cancel off some of the detrimental standing waves etc. creating issues. 

The G1 is a much-much higher category sub when compared to the S3 SHO & S5 SHO. I strongly recommend it.

What are your main speakers ?