The high end of our hobby is all about the extraordinary experience. For a product to be accepted as high-end, it should possess the following merits:
- Its sonic performance must be exceptional.
- Its build quality must be exemplary.
- Its style and industrial design should reflect the care taken in developing its sound.
- The craftsmanship that goes into each should be as close to perfect as humanly possible.
- It makes everything around it better.
Meet Commodore, quite possibly the most extraordinary subwoofer cable (.1/LFE) ever released.
We realized we needed a cable capable of keeping up with the monstrous speed and dynamics of our latest subwoofer designs. A senior member of our team, someone who’s worked with some of the most respected high-end cable manufacturers, spent an hour listening using techniques our engineering team developed to isolate the .1 cable as the only variable. When he came out of the studio, he said, “That’s the finest $1,500 subwoofer cable I’ve ever heard.”
Except it’s not $1,500. Or $1,000.
It’s priced using the same performance/value metric we apply to all REL designs, just $399 for a 3M cable. We’re only able to offer it at that price because we’ve built a global distribution network that allows us to sell in volumes that benefit you, our customer.
But enough about that. What makes this design so important?
We care deeply about more than just making a subwoofer go boom. We learned theater from legends, people at the most successful independent film studio of all time. We’ve been trained to listen far into a mix, seeking out the spatial and timing cues that “sell” a scene.
So, we approached this cable the same way we approach our subwoofers: by listening across the full sonic spectrum, not just the bass. Only by doing that could we identify and refine the overlooked details that matter most.
Too often, “subwoofer cables” are built from the cheapest base models a cable manufacturer offers. If you're lucky, the “step-up” version is just dipped in a thin coat of silver. This might create a flashy, zoomy kind of sound, but it often feels artificial. It highlights leading-edge dynamics in a way that quickly becomes fatiguing. That’s the kind of fake intensity that makes too many home theaters feel exhausting halfway through a blockbuster.
So, we went deeper.
We developed a specific listening technique to isolate the “sound” of the cable, listening for the kind of naturally explosive quality that makes you wince or duck when hit with ultra-fast bass.
Commodore uses no rare earths or exotic metals. Its geometry is relatively simple. We use OFC (oxygen-free copper),chosen not just for sonic purity and clarity, but also for its reliability. We include a dedicated ground wire and a copper braid to reject outside noise—important in an era where many homes are flooded with Wi-Fi signals. And then, because we listened, we added an aluminum foil shield as a final noise barrier. Why? Because it made everything a little quieter. And dynamics—the difference between quiet and loud—are everything.
We chose master craftspeople—those who know precisely when to back off the heat while soldering, who have built thousands of cables, and who understand the countless tiny techniques required to achieve perfect construction every time.
Our connectors are compact, because let’s be honest, space is tight behind AV receivers and processors. They’re beautifully crafted using high-quality materials. We even experimented with the size of the center pin: too thick and it stresses the delicate female RCA input; too thin and it makes poor contact. Attention to detail wins the day.
And the cable itself? Supple and slimmer than most—easy to run along baseboards and a joy to work with.
Shock and Awe.
What’s the benefit of all this? A cable with lightning-fast reflexes that delivers the shock and awe needed to bring out the best in our subwoofers. Its build quality is impeccable, and its connectors are as refined as anything we’ve produced.
Did I mention the left-handed threads on the barrels? They actually tighten as you remove them, rather than loosening—because we thought about what happens every time you have to reach behind your receiver to add an Apple TV, a projector, or any new gear. Working with cables shouldn’t be a pain. We even include a Velcro cable organizer to help you keep your setup tidy.
Seek out a Commodore.
Honestly, it’s even better than I’ve described here. If you have a high-end theater system, it’s one more step toward true suspension of disbelief. Don’t be afraid to retune your system, it doesn’t have that thick, bloated sound that plagues lesser sub cables.
Own a Serie S or Reference model? Commodore is a natural fit. Running HT/1510s? You’ll hear them come alive in a new way. It’s beautifully made, musically revealing, and a genuine upgrade for anyone who loves the art of home theater.
Enjoy!
—John
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