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Multiple RELs: The Insider Use Case
Explore the benefits of upgrading to multiple subwoofers – from pairs to line arrays
We’re here to help clarify why you might consider adding to your current REL setup—whether it’s expanding a single REL or upgrading a pair to achieve the pinnacle of bass performance: the REL Line Array. And this goes beyond what you might initially think.
If you search “multiple subwoofers in a music system,” you’ll often see the standard answer: multiple subs enhance headroom (maximum output) and reduce room resonances. While this is technically correct, it doesn’t explain why these factors benefit you or describe how they sound. What if you don’t regularly listen at 105 dB levels—how do these enhancements still matter? We’ll explore these questions and more in the following sections.
1. Stereo Pairs: The journey into multiple RELs often begins with stereo pairs, a straightforward yet transformative upgrade. Adding a second REL allows each subwoofer to serve a dedicated channel—Left and Right—addressing challenges you may not even realize exist. By positioning each REL near its respective speaker, you can fine-tune the system, perfectly balancing Left and Right channel performance. You’ll likely find each subwoofer needs different settings: one channel may require a notably higher volume or a distinct crossover setting. Why? Room acoustics. Common differences of 2-6 dB between left and right channels often require these specific adjustments.
When dialed in correctly, your system will open up like a stage on opening night. First, transparency and clarity are immediately noticeable. Then, with practice, you’ll achieve coherence and solidity in the soundstage and imaging that many believe impossible to reach. Systems previously limited to the space between the speakers, can now produce a soundstage that extends beyond speaker width, delivering greater depth across the entire stage. Moreover, this setup allows the system to play louder with less effort, producing richer bass without strain or boominess.
2. Two Stacked RELs per SideTotal of Four: A “4-pack” is often a step toward a full REL Line Array and provides a significant upgrade in scale and power output. This configuration amplifies headroom and tackles room resonances on a whole new level, making a dramatic difference. Living with a 4-pack at home, I found it provides far more “muchness”—to borrow the Mad Hatter’s phrase. Technically, the 4-pack easily overwhelms common room suck-outs, those spots where bass can feel thin or boomy, no matter how much you adjust a single sub or stereo pair. In our open floor plan home (1,500 square feet), this setup filled the entire space effortlessly, reaching even distant corners. Standing 45 feet away in the kitchen, it was hard not to notice the coffee cups rattling, even at lower volumes. Deep bass has a way of doing that.
3. REL Reference Line Arrays (aka the “6-pack): Three REL (Serie S, HT/1510, and all Reference models current or past) subs vertically stacked per side (total 6) produce a wholly surprising result. Naturally, all the “muchness” of the 4-pack remains, but the top tier of two delivers a shocking dose of transparency and high-frequency harmonic structure that must be heard to be believed. Seriously? Highs from big subwoofers? Truth. It also—and this is why I say I’ve never heard anything deliver what these do––allows for the reproduction of real-world height that only a very few full range speakers can and those all cost over $200,000 per pair and are not for the faint of heart when it comes to setup. The REL Line Array has one other ability that those behemoth speakers can’t deliver. We can make sound, very much like the sound of those multi-hundred-dollar/euro/pound equivalents in rooms as small as 13’ x 20’ (4m x 6.2m) using speakers as small as quality stand mounted designs, such as KEF’s Reference 1’s. Below appears a photo of a Line Array of S/812 with a new speakers line from Germany called RA Acoustics in just such a room.
Starting with a stereo pair of RELs opens a world of imaging and dynamic energy that no other component upgrade can match. Adding more, with partial arrays or full Line Arrays, is a greater investment but yields significant returns. As one satisfied customer at a recent show shared, “I’ve never heard anything transform my system like my Carbon Special 6-pack. I used to doubt the high-end reviews, but once I tried it, I was blown away. I’ll never go back. Thank you.”
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