I have used a pair of 812s along with ATC SCM40s. I have been very happy with the system which is used almost exclusively for music. You do get a bit more extension at the low end which, to me, seems to pull out some textures I don’t hear without them. The bass drum is more realistic and detailed. Same with bass guitars. But, it doesn’t sound more “bassy”. I much prefer the two sub setup (I started with one). Using one seemed to alter the imaging and it snapped back into place with two, properly positioned.
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Well, my S812 arrived about half an hour ago 
, so unpacked and done a quick check to make shure it works. It does work, so all good 
. Got this for £1700 ex display, well worth the money. I’ve now got the rest of the week to get it dialled in properly. First impression though is just WOW.
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Your set up looks amazing. Glad you got a great deal on the Rel S812!
To many wires and too much junk in the background lol. I’m reading so many different views on placement that i decided to try it in the middle for the moment. I won’t get to fully hear it until next door goes to work in an hour or so.
I’m impressed and very tempted to bring my sub (Totem Storm) back to the music room from the lounge and try again with the settings. Problem is the girls like the sub in the lounge with the Nova and TV. I originally had it in the music room and moved it when I upgraded to the 552/300, but now I’m having second thoughts. I might just get another Totem sub for the music room - maybe the Kin Sub 10, which can be set up wireless with a transmitter, or a used Storm (they are discontinúed, but there are a couple of used ones available in the US).
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REL have just released new models, so the old range are now on sale at bargain prices for the S812, S510 and Carbon Special that I got. Worth a look because they are excellent at what they do, especially for music, where they are probably the best out there.
Considering the very high quality of your electronics, a very high quality subwoofer would match very well with your system Mike.
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Thank you once again for your excellent write up. I found it very inspiring and motivating, and as you can see in the photo above, the sub is now back in the main system. To be honest, I had hesitated with trying the sub in this system again as I found most advice rather complicated and off putting. But your experience was so much common sense and just listening with excellent results that gave me the push to try again.
Now I also have a confession - the Totem Storm has a switch to enable and disable the cross over and I had always had this disabled it seems…. The Storm is rated with a frequency response of 26 - 150 Hz and the main Forest Signatures have a response of 28 Hz - 22 kHz, so with the cross over disabled I suspect that gave me poor results previously with some smearing of the lower frequencies. With your advice I have set the crossover to 40 Hz (and enabled!), which is the lowest it can be set too and have settled to a gain of 8:30. Initially I tried the sub to the left of the right main speaker and was pretty happy, but felt the imaging was a bit off and a little of the mid range had moved back a bit:
After some more on-line reading I have moved the sub to the exact middle between the main speakers and in-line cone-to-cone. Well, that has just snapped everything tight, solid and deep, with fanastic imaging - I’m delighted with the result.
The test Bluray image on the screen is Mystery’s “Caught in the Whirlwind of Time” that I have been using. Lots of great bass playing and bass pedals from Francios Fournier. Check out “The Shadow of the Lake” if you can - Michel St-Pere’s guitar solo is epic or “The Willow Tree” for guitar duelling and some immense drumming and bass pedals.
A quick spin of Rush’s Power Windows on the record player confirms all is well and that Geddie Lee knows his way around a bass guitar.
With the sub in the middle I have had to use a RCA extension cable from the DIN to RCA one I have, so will need to organise a better spec longer DIN to RCA to connect direct to the 552PS.
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That’s really great Mike and the Sub is a perfect match for your main speakers so the integration will be top notch. Good that you have now dialled it all in to optimise the sound. I’m very pleased for you and good to know I was of some help.
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I had my local electronic shop rewire my DIN to RCA lead to 2m long and have installed that now. I also swapped a Naim Power Line from the Core to the sub. So, all done now.
Funny though, the shop co-owner is a big hi-fi fan and they sell some nice gear, including REL subs. It just happens that he has a 6-pack of S812s…..which he says are rather good. His takeaway is that it’s not so much about bass reinforcement, but expanding the imaging/sound stage and making the presentation razor sharp - like that very final focus on an image.
Enjoying my SACD of Wish You Were Here to celebrate.
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After much moving around of speakers, crawling around the floor and moving the sub 5 times i’m now in that happy place 
The speakers ended up back where they were at the start and the sub ended up where i didn’t expect to lol. It doesn’t look too bad either, but will look better when i add another one. Was this worthwhile and worth the money ? you bet ya it was. I really did not expect the entire listening experience to change so radically. The amount of “body” that even just one sub adds to all the music i have thrown at it is minblowing. Weight, texture, soundstage, detail. The mids have been lifted so much (they were good before). I’m really really looking forward to adding another 812 when i can find one.
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Those Rel subs really do add something I agree…. I had always assumed they were for “bass heads” but the way they lift the entire sound is pretty special.
Enjoy
Gary
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It will look great with one on each side.
I am loving two S 812s. I can’t imagine the system without them now. I can see me going for 4 at some point.
I am glad I started this topic. It seems alot of us are becoming converts to subs.
For me it widens the soundstage and adds more power to the system. I turn the preamp lower as the subs do so much with 800 watts each.
The bass is highly controlled and deep. For movies I am getting a huge benefit also. Spending around £4500 for the 2 Rel 812s including new cables for LFE and shorter better quality high level cables it is a huge upgrade.
I am loving my system so much!
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« Wish you are here »? A new album. What is the band, never heard of that title.
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And hopefully in time most will also unburden their mains of frequencies up to around 90Hz 
Anyway one step at a time 
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Is that an old photo? Your profile says JL Audio Gotham, but the photo looks like two Fathoms.
I know because I used to own two F112’s.
Just installed an exdemo S/812 and it’s just seamless with my KEF Reference 5. I’m only listening to 2 channel music.
So far I found ( it can change tomorrow) in my room with my Naim electronic and my ears;
- Signal cable connected to speaker output in the amplifier end with all three wires in stereo. (High level)
- Sub positioned as in picture not in the corner. Wall distance important.
- Low volume 3-4 click ( with both red and yellow wire connected)
- Maybe as high as 95 Hz (minus 10 click)
I have ordered REL Bassline blue for Naim as new signal cable.
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If I’m reading correctly, you have the crossover set ~95hz? This is higher then you’d typically run with a larger floor stander/full range-ish speaker. At that type of frequency you typically can start to localize where the bass is coming from, would also have significant overlap on the bass your speakers are already producing. I would usually start much lower, say ~45hz & adjust from there (lower crossover point/higher gain setting).
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Yes this a bit of surprise for me too, but the overlap is so seamless and give that extra. My speakers go down to 40Hz…
However I will fine adjust this so we’ll see what happens 
I love the look with the whites for decor and speakers/sub.
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I was going to start off by saying something however I’ve forgotten what I wanted to say 
Anyway profile has been updated. Due to a change of location no system at the present.
The subs in the picture are a pair of Fathom f112 v2’s working in tandem with a CR-1, split from mains and crossed over at 90Hz A lovely sub-sat system 
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