1994 coincided with our former company SUMIKO taking on REL for distribution in North America. It also, conveniently, marked the release of the Robert Redford movie Sneakers about a former computer security expert being dragged back into his work by dangerous events. A stellar cast (Poitier, Ben Kingsley, David Strathairn, Timothy Busfield, the list goes on) allows this to hold up decently even today, though obviously the tech is dated.
From the beginning it was obvious that REL wasn’t another “bangin’ and boomin’ subwoofer line. Thus began our journey to learn what and how to tune these lovely beasts into the magical devices they are today.
After searching for a single track that could simultaneously help us determine the correct phase setting, optimize REL placement, and fine-tune crossover and gain, we found that a cut from the Sneakers soundtrack, “Cosmo…Old Friend,” was the only one that did all of these perfectly.”
What makes this tool so powerful is that it delivers gentle, deep (32Hz) rhythmic bass pulses in a symphonic setting with remarkable regularity of intensity and timing. In short, we quickly realized it was the perfect single cut to allow us to dial in RELs and over the past three decades, we’ve not found another song that performs as well. Thanks to the REL community, Amazon continues to offer the cd and does so at remarkably affordable pricing. If you still have access to a cd player, buy one before they’re gone.
We’re excited to announce thanks to the generosity of senior executives at Qobuz (thank you David Solomon) and TIDAL, REL has managed to get this quintessential REL subwoofer setup tool available via streaming for the first time. In addition, Qobuz has offered an extended Free Trial (60 days instead of the standard 30 days) exclusively for REL listeners. Start your free 60 day trial with Qobuz today to gain access to REL's Setup Tracks.
PRO TIP: Make sure to set the playback to 16kHz/44.1 resolution (it was always a cd, never recorded in higher bit rates so don’t think that trying to force it higher will do anything good for your sound). Qobuz delivers an excellent version. If you want to hear it even better, download it to your computer’s hard drive and run a decent USB cable from computer to DAC solely for the purposes of dial in—it’s amazingly good at that point. TIDAL’s version is also good, but not quite up to the level of Qobuz. But either can help you dial-in your system better than the Youtube uploads, I won’t even get into that. We also recommend a hardwired connection, as Bluetooth can introduce delay and distortions.
Stream “Cosmo…Old Friend” (Sneaker Track 4) Now on our REL curated Subwoofer Setup Playlists:
Qobuz Playlist: Listen on Qobuz
TIDAL Playlist: Listen on TIDAL
Thank you to the REL community, without your numbers and support, this could never have happened.
Best,
J
P.S. Share your experience with us on our social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, or our REL Moderated Facebook group “REL Fan Forum” for a chance to be featured on our social media!
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