Just added a REL T7/x to my Uniti Star (with a pair of KEF R3 Metas).
It didn’t take long to setup. I set the Crossover to ~68Hz (REL recommend ~10Hz more than the low end response of your speakers, which on the KEFs is 58Hz). I set Phase to 180 after trying both 0 and 180 as REL says (and then select the louder of the two). I then set the ‘HI/LOW Level’ (Volume) to about 2 o’clock and gradually wound it down until it wasn’t overwhelming which ended up in about the 12 o’clock position (my room is about 3.5 to 4 x 3.5 to 4 meters with an average height).
It sounds fantastic. I went through the setup using Metallica’s ‘Nothing Else Matters’ and Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘No More Tears’, both from well produced albums with a good amount of bass, and it fills the bottom end perfectly without being ‘boomy’.
REL states ~24 hours use to bed in, so should be hitting that in the very near future.
Unfortunately in such a small room (which functions as a living room and home office), I don’t have a lot of space to play with, so the speakers are up in the top corners angled in and down a bit, and the sub is directly between them on the floor (imagine a ‘V’) facing directly outwards.
Whatever works in your space.
I managed to fit mine in a corner next to the left hand speaker. It fires diagonally across the long axis of a narrow room. There was no where else to put it. But I love what it brings to music and tv.
Congrats on your purchase, they’re cracking subs. Couple of things from my experiences with them, 24 hours is very low. I’d say more like 100+, the drive units take an age to ‘loosen up’ and I was adjusting it down for a couple of months before it evened out (and I was using it a lot!). Lastly, I appreciate it’s not easy with the Naim speaker terminals, but if you can find away to run it high level instead of low, I would (and Rel do) recommend it strongly. Significantly better that way I found. You can actually come off the back of the speaker’s own terminals too if it’s easy, although that will mean splitting the hi level cable down the middle which is fiddly. Whichever way you can, it’s worth it.
Enjoy your new purchase… you’ll never want to be without one from now on!
I’m using a custom cable from a company in Nottingham (am I allowed to name them here?) that basically replaces the cable supplied with the sub. It allows stacking the banana plugs. They developed the cable in conjunction with Naim according to their site.
I presume you are referring to Designacable, who make copies of Rel’s Bassline Blue cables at a much lower price. Yes, you are allowed to talk about them.
If you’re stacking the banana plugs, that suggests you’re connecting to the amp speaker terminals rather than the pre-amp out terminals. This would be a high level connection. Apologies if I’m missing something.
Sorry, it’s the High Level Input I am using (Neutrik Speakon. Silly name if you ask me…) with a Designacable cable (I shouldn’t try posting when at work and can’t fact check myself)
Glad you’re enjoying your new sub. You mention you are using the high output, have you, or are you able to also try the low output? I have a pair of Rel subs and tried both methods. I found the low level better in my system, so it may be worth (if you can) giving it a try . Another reason for using the low level for me was timing. The signal goes straight from my pre-amp to the sub. Also, I don’t understand why Rel suggest placing the sub in a carner, maybe this is preferred for HT setups, but again, I feel this changes the timing as the bass has to travel further (don’t forget processing time as well in the sub) to arrive at your listening position. My subs are are located just inside of each speaker, and approximately three inches in front of the main speakers.
These are just my thoughts!
Great timing - I was just about to start a thread on subwoofers. I am looking at one to pair with Harbeth P3s and was looking at the Buchardt Sub10. I like the idea that
It can be connected between pre and power amp and then delivers no low bass to the speakers, freeing them up to produce mids and highs
Has built in room correction using an iPhone or microphone
Has DSP functions such as manual EQ
So it seems a completely different approach to the REL - they really do push the idea of the high-level connection so that the subwoofer sees the same signal as the speakers
I really don’t know which approach works best and would love it if experienced users would weigh in.
Or if there are others out there using subs with P3s??
The Buchardt sounds like it has some neat feature compared to the Rels…. I use a pair of Rel S510’s and would have welcomed some of the features mentioned above but that said the Rels are very effective and have great speed.
