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To Sub or not Two Subs – that is the question. Product: REL 528SE (until very recently - no longer manufactured) R-528SE Specifications Type: Front-firing active woofer, down-firing passive radiator Active Drive Unit: 12 in., (300 mm) carbon fibre aluminum chassis Passive Radiator: 12 in., (300 mm) carbon-carbon Lower Frequency Response in Room: 21 Hz at -6 dB Input Connectors: Hi Level Neutrik Speakon, Lo Level single phono, LFE phono Gain Control Range: 80 dB Power Output: 500 watts (RMS) Phase Switch: Yes, 0 or 180 degrees Amplifier Type: Class D Protection System Fully Electronic with SET-SAFE: Yes D.C. Fault: Yes Output Short: Yes Mains Input Voltage: 110-120, 220-240 volts, for certain markets Fuses: 9 Amp semi delay 115 volts operation 5 Amp semi delay 230 volts operation Dimensions (WHD): 15.5 x 17.5 x 17.2 in., (394 x 445 x 436 mm) Net Weight: 58 lbs. (26.3 kg) Finish: Gloss Piano Black Lacquer Gloss White Piano Lacquer - Special Order See more at - http://rel.net/ REL make Subs and pretty good ones at that. The whole Serie R model and line that I auditioned has since been made redundant and replaced with the S line which has already received some great reviews. They look fantastic too. This REL is the Special Edition and only 546 are in existence worldwide. What makes it special? It employs the same driver as the monolithic Gibraltar G1 sub – a beautifully constructed 12 inch carbon fibre driver, and a tweaked amplifier. Now on paper this Sub seems like a bargain considering the G1 is over twice the retail price. The G 1 of course has different amplification, class A/B and a gargantuan sealed and braced cabinet. Do they sound the same? In a word no, the G1 is deeper, meatier and has more presence. The SE does a very good job at keeping close to its performance though. This is impressive. The REL can run duel High Level and LFE line to the pre-amp. This high level connection which REL calls the Neutrik Speakon, is a supplied 10m cable with connects to the back of the amp – to the speaker terminals. This ensures that the Sub gets exactly the same signal as the front left/right speakers in two channel stereo. More here: http://rel.net/support/rel-connectivity/ Set up was a breeze and I fiddled with the volumes and crossovers until I thought they sounded good. This was by no means a professional shuffle but more of a rudimentary ear by ear calibration. With only a subtle hint of High Level volume adjustment (perhaps 30-40%) stereo music certainly had more bass and filled the room with more ambience. The SE was both subtle and prominent when it needed to be, dependant on what music I was listening too. Playing anything from acoustic, strings, cello, to hip hop and RAP provided entertaining and enthralling listening. This made the system of two Monitor Audio PL300’s (already great in the bass department) bigger, deeper, wider, resonating sound from beyond the boxes. The system sound reminded me of listening to the rather large PMC MB2SE’s which I recently had the pleasure of hearing. This was very good indeed. With a good run period of a week I found the SE’s got deeper and louder and I had to turn down the high level connection a notch or two. Moving onto soundtracks such as the Thing and The Dark Knight – the system reminded me of listening to the DAC – Chord QBD76 HDSD , a fuller richer sound with plenty of low end adjustable thump. Placing the SE’s on spikes and then sitting them on Blue Coast spike stands, made a huge difference to the sound, dampening excess resonance through the hard wood floorboards. The resonating is an issue in my listening room, as the floorboards sit on hard wood joists (stumps) which are around 90 years old. Moving onto movies in DTS was an excellent transforming experience. The SE’s are deep, tight and extremely fast Subs. There is no presence of sloppy, tired or slow effect here. The word I’m looking for is extremely precise. Yes they will not go as subterranean as some larger varieties, but they certainly go low enough for my needs and for me, the accuracy far outweighs the trade-off of lower thumping units. One SE was great – but what about two? I set up one at the front of the room, and one at the rear of the room in the opposite corner. It was the only place I could fit them! I had a demo from REL at the last Melbourne Audio show. They played an excerpt from the western 310 to Yuma. In this particular clip, two shots are fired from a pistol. They played the clip with one sub, then again with two subs of the same model (R218’s I think). The difference? The sound of the gun shot resonated with much more presence, surrounding the listener, there was much more grunt to the sound, more echo, and more realism. I really didn’t expect to hear such a difference. I tried the same experimentation with the SE’s with the film Jack Reacher. At the very beginning of the movie a sniper fires a rifle. The lead up before the first shot is some ambient incidental music which sets the scene nicely. I wasn’t really prepared for the sound of the first shot as it made me jump. That doesn’t happen often; especially I as knew what was coming. The crack and ambient sound of the first shot reminded me of being on the rifle range, great realism - it was excellent. From then on I was hooked, playing quite a few movies and excerpts from car chases, helicopters and star ships. One sub was good, two was magnificent. Given the rudimentary set up – with proper time, effort and calibration, I can only assume that the SE’s will sound even better. The build quality of these models was the usual high standard from REL. My models were white, and in the flesh I much preferred them to the black ones you always see. The white cabinet contrasted with the black carbon fibre driver looked quite stunning. My only gripe would be that REL does not supply a remote. The thing would be to calibrate – set it and forget it. However if you’re like me and you like to tinker around sometimes – dependent on the quality of the sound recording or mastering, it’s always handy to do adjustments on the fly. Sadly these models are no longer made. If you can hold of one (or two) I highly recommend a serious listen. They have a great all round ability with music and movies and provide detailed precise bass that blends in seamlessly with the system. Two G1’s – now that would be something… and in washer dryer configeration -