News & Updates

The deep voice on the other end of the telephone growled, resonant with a unique mix of Australian and German accents. It was Joe Reidiger, a celebrated audio distributor, calling from Australia. “I am going to tell you about the most remarkable product, something that transforms every audio system we’ve ever tried it in,” he said. That was my introduction to REL in early 1994. From its inception, REL Acoustics has been driven by a singular purpose: to deliver uncompromised audio excellence. Founded by Richard Edmund Lord (the "R-E-L" of REL), this remarkable journey began with dissatisfaction. Frustrated by the subwoofer offerings of the day, Richard built his own. What began as a mammoth, custom-built design integrated into a bay window quickly became a phenomenon. Celebrated by audiophiles, it was dubbed the best-sounding subwoofer they had ever heard.  Today, REL’s commitment to redefining the possibilities of audio continues, pairing innovation with artistry to craft the world's most reliable, high-performing subwoofers.  Revolutionizing Audio from the Start Richard’s first groundbreaking contribution, the High-Level Input, revolutionized the industry. Unlike conventional subwoofers that rely on preamp signals, REL’s High-Level Input connects directly to the main amplifier’s speaker outputs. This ensures that REL subwoofers seamlessly blend with speakers, delivering sound as cohesive and natural as the original recording. It’s like hearing music with open eyes and ears—no corrections required. This innovation became the cornerstone of REL’s legacy and remains a defining feature today. Another practical breakthrough followed soon after: the addition of a dedicated .1/LFE input with its own gain control. This feature allowed a single subwoofer to handle music and theater sound effortlessly, eliminating the need for cumbersome manual adjustments. While other subwoofer makers instructed users to “turn it up for theater and down for music,” REL’s elegant solution provided seamless integration for both experiences, embodying its ethos of simple yet transformative engineering. The early 2000s saw another milestone with the launch of the Britannia range. This forward-firing design combined substantial power with sleek cabinets, appealing to a broader audience and setting the stage for future innovations. Elevating Every Listener’s Experience  Our focus has always been on how the entirety of a system integrates, not just the bass. Early models like the Strata 2 and Stadium set the stage for REL’s reputation, delivering solutions that were as innovative as they were musical. Audiophile Alex Peters once described replacing his traditional subwoofer with a REL as “unlocking hidden dimensions of my music collection. Suddenly, it felt like I was sitting in the concert hall, surrounded by sound.” This is the REL difference—precision engineering that doesn’t just deliver bass but completes the audio experience. The R-Series, introduced in 2005, embraced modern Class D amplification. Compact yet powerful, these designs paired beautifully with piano black lacquer finishes, showcasing REL’s ability to blend performance with elegance. This range laid the foundation for today’s Serie S models, which continue to push the boundaries of design and capability. The G-1, launched in 2010, marked a pivotal moment. With its stackable design, it introduced the concept of line arrays to the consumer market, igniting a passion for systems that deliver unprecedented scale and depth. It also brought faster crossover filters with an impulse response of just 4 milliseconds, ensuring crystal-clear sound and dynamic performance—a hallmark of REL’s Reference designs. Pioneering New Standards in Bass Performance REL’s evolution reads like a roadmap for industry innovation. From the Britannia range’s powerful forward-firing designs to the Mid-Century Modern-inspired T-Series introduced in 2007, REL consistently balanced style and substance. These models featured simplified crossovers and innovative cabinet designs, paving the way for today’s Serie T/x. Technical breakthroughs like the PerfectFilter™ and LimitLess™ limiters, introduced in the 2015-2020 era, brought unprecedented control and clarity to subwoofer technology. These advancements allowed REL to deliver powerful deep bass without sacrificing precision. Imagine the thrill of an action film where explosions feel visceral yet never overpowering. Or a live jazz recording where the bassline breathes life into the performance, grounding every note. That’s the promise of REL—subwoofers that integrate seamlessly into your life and your soundscape. REL’s driver designs have continually evolved, with innovations like reducing moving mass by 20%, resulting in faster and more dynamic transients. This meticulous engineering ensures that REL subwoofers respond with unmatched speed and precision, capturing every nuance of the music or cinematic experience. The No.25, released in 2016, introduced groundbreaking innovations like dual parametric EQ. It addressed common room acoustic challenges, allowing users to elevate bass performance below 30 Hz while taming upper bass boom. This model also set off the 6-pack phenomenon, where customers discovered the joys of stereo pairs and expanded to full line arrays, enhancing their listening experience step by step. Always Looking Ahead Our commitment to innovation extends far beyond what the eye can see. Even components as subtle as internal insulation and capacitor design are scrutinized to ensure every REL subwoofer exceeds expectations. The No.31 and No.32, launched in 2022, epitomize this philosophy, combining tonal color depth, dynamic precision, and unmatched reliability. What’s next? As we explore new forms of subwoofers and uncharted directions, one promise remains: REL will never stop being curious. We’re here to surprise and delight, blending performance with beauty in ways the industry has yet to imagine. The REL Commitment At REL Acoustics, we don’t just build subwoofers. We build experiences. Experiences that redefine how you listen to music, immerse yourself in cinema, and connect with sound. Our journey is guided by the same principle that started it all: if it doesn’t exist, we’ll create it…and we’ll create it better. Here’s to sound without limits. Thank you for joining us on this extraordinary journey. Best, J

March Madness, the most exhilarating time of year for college basketball fans, is finally here! This season, transform your game day experience from ordinary to extraordinary with REL Acoustics. It’s not just about watching basketball—it's about feeling every moment, every shot, and every cheer with heart-pounding clarity and excitement. Picture your living room transformed into a roaring stadium, the palpable intensity  as your REL subwoofer puts you center court. With REL, you're not merely a spectator; you're immersed in the heart of the action. Feel the rumble of the crowd's roar, the squeak of sneakers on hardwood, and the powerful bass as the ball swishes through the net at the buzzer. A properly integrated subwoofer does more than just add bass—it recreates the full sonic environment of a live game. The deep resonance of a packed arena, the echo of an announcer’s voice, and the physical impact of a last-second shot all come to life with REL’s precision-engineered low frequencies. By extending sound deeper and faster than standard speakers or soundbars, REL ensures that every moment carries the intensity and scale of a true courtside experience. REL Acoustics elevates every sound, turning  each game into a sensory event you won't soon forget. The Madness, The Music, The Moment An authentic March Madness experience isn't complete without the perfect atmosphere, that’s why REL Acoustics has carefully curated a March Madness Playlist specifically designed to amplify your game-day energy. Loaded with powerful rhythms, dynamic beats, and high-energy tracks, our playlist creates an unmatched atmosphere that builds excitement from the opening tip-off to the final buzzer. Invite your friends over, gather around your TV, and turn up your REL subwoofer to let the music energize your gathering. Feel the anticipation in the pre-game buildup, the adrenaline of a game-changing dunk, and the suspense of those final, nerve-wracking seconds in a nail-biting matchup. With REL subwoofers, every note and every cheer resonates with precision and power. Precision, Power, and Performance Just as NCAA players deliver precision shots under pressure, REL subwoofers provide accurate, detailed, and dynamic sound performance. Engineered with meticulous craftsmanship, REL subwoofers capture every subtle nuance and powerful moment. Experience the thrill of that perfect buzzer-beating shot as if you're courtside, where each sound—every bounce, every whistle, and every cheer—is vividly enhanced. REL's innovative technology ensures that your sound is delivered flawlessly, adding depth and emotion to your viewing experience. With REL, you don't just witness the madness—you live it. 🎶 Play the REL March Madness Playlist 🎶 Feel the Madness with REL Acoustics on Qobuz Experience high-resolution streaming like never before—start your Free Trial with Qobuz today and immerse yourself in unparalleled sound quality and an extensive music music catalog!  For those listeners currently on TIDAL please enjoy our March Madness Playlist. Pro Tip: We strongly recommend using a hardwired connection from an audio streaming device whenever possible. Using a Bluetooth wireless connection from your handheld devices may cause distortion or delay,  negatively impacting performance. This season, elevate your March Madness celebration. Turn every game into a remarkable event filled with intensity, emotion, and unforgettable moments. Let REL Acoustics bring the bass-filled excitement and unmatched clarity that college basketball deserves. Watch, listen, and feel every shot, every triumph, and every unforgettable moment with REL Acoustics. Don’t just watch March Madness—experience it fully with REL.  

Stop! Please read this even if you don’t think of yourself as a home theatre enthusiast. On a magic night in March each year, the film world comes together to celebrate another year of the magic that is movie-making. It is no accident that this award bonanza takes place in the DOLBY Theater. Dolby is largely a sound company. As most people know, Dolby is credited with reducing noise in music recordings going back to the late 60’s. In the past 30 years, they’ve absolutely revolutionized movie making, first by the creation of Dolby S (the standards, techniques, and equipment needed for making modern digitally processed movies) and Dolby Digital, known originally as Dolby Digital  5.1. For me, the real stars behind the scenes are the sound designers, without whom the sound and magic simply doesn’t happen. People like Walter Murch, whose work on Apocalypse Now is credited with lighting the fuse that was to follow.  Using incredibly difficult live sound, Apocalypse Now is studied in every college-level course on sound design, and he’s won 3 Oscars to back it up. Ben Burtt went directly from USC’s film school to creating the sound that made an entire generation or three fall in love with the movies in the late 70’s. Star Wars has so many wonderful original sounds; think of the cute bee boop of C3PO or the “Aaaargh” of the Wookie. Was there ever a time when we hadn’t heard Darth Vader's deep baritone and heavy breathing? Thank Mr. Burtt.  It’s the Sound: Sound is the single creative element most responsible for creating and carrying the emotion in a movie. Reducing the sound level by just a few clicks in a horror movie reduces much of the terror in the scene. Tom Cruise flying the canyon in Top Gun Maverick -even on a good 4K panel-- doesn’t induce the same white-knuckled tension as he performs increasingly impossible twists and rapid direction changes. It’s the sound that is used to build the tension. Yet with the sound turned down just a few clicks it remains a feast for the eyes, but the tension falls away.  Movies can be beautiful, scary, thrilling, or simple and modest. But no matter the theme, we go to the movies to be transported. For two hours, we can sit down, forget about the world outside, and travel through time and cultures—even galaxies—to arrive changed  by the end of a great movie.  Who can forget the iconic, awe-inspiring start to the first Star Wars? As the massive battle cruiser slowly rumbles overhead, the audience is reduced, awed, and made to feel small and insignificant. Mute the sound, and the computer-generated graphic (do try not to be critical of early CG, at the time no one had experienced anything vaguely like it) still traverses the fake blackness of supposed interstellar space, but all of the emotion drops away,dead in its silent tracks. Slightly silly…did we ever find that intimidating? This is Why We Take Movie Sound So Seriously: Back in the 90s, through the good works of Terry Medalen…who may well be the finest trainer in the history of high-end audio, we (as an owner of SUMIKO, we were allowed to bring some 34 training classes through for tours) were fortunate to be able to work closely with and learn from the Saul Zaentz Film Center. Theirs is the studio that created The English Patient, Amadeus, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and the Unbearable Lightness of Being, all Oscar winners for Best Picture. From them, we learned firsthand how difficult it is to make the painstaking adjustments to gain, phase, amplitude, and directional steering that sell a scene. And, how critical it is to have whip-fast deep bass. REL applies lessons learned from the very best to help our customers bring the magic home. Subwoofers make the movies. Rather, the impact that great subwoofers can impart on the home theatre experience may be the biggest improvement over the past 20 years in increasing the enjoyment of streaming and movie watching. Certainly, having Atmos (Dolby advancement that adds speakers above to replicate full height in scenes), or large channel count processors like a Marantz Cinema 40 AV processor that offers 15 channels ( unthinkable 25 years ago.) Even more so, the 36 channels of a maxed-out Trinnov processor can wrap one in a 3-dimensional hologram. Be careful - this requires a minimum of 8 subwoofers to pull off this effect. Audio processing brings wonderful benefits to the party.  Even if all you have is a quality 2-channel system in a modest home or flat, the addition of a truly high-quality subwoofer, such as we at REL build, can be revelatory. It’s the subwoofer’s contribution that brings enormous impact and drama to the home viewing experience. Check out The Diplomat on Netflix; without giving away the scene’s time stamp, a British aircraft carrier is severely damaged by an explosion in the first episode. Even when played through a quality 2-channel system at a necessarily high level to attempt to emulate the experience, the scene lacks all tension. It’s a modest boom. Big deal. Drop a REL back in, and even when you know it’s coming, you still flinch. I’ve even turned down the volume 2 clicks to a level more common for the kind of casual viewing many of us experience and the REL-supplemented system still thrilled. We’ve all watched more television at night since COVID-19 began. And Netflix and all the other streaming services that are offered have continued to benefit. Netflix-and I’m  using them as a proxy for all streaming services simply because they’re  the largest –(expanded from 180 million subscribers in 2019 to over 300 million late last year). The reality is simple: whether you think of yourself as a home theatre lover or not, you ARE spending a lot of time watching “television,” and most people aren’t getting anywhere near as much enjoyment out of it as they could be.  So, here’s a short list of what great subwoofers deliver: Drama. Majesty. Scale. Wonder (how do you think directors achieve the sense of awe and wonder when looking up at a star field?) Deep bass, barely heard, perhaps only felt. Slam. Ducking as a cannon shell bounces by (Patriot). Deafening (final shot of John Wick 2).  Wonderful sound at lower volumes. No, really. By not having to turn it up so loud (most people crave room drive, whereby the room pressurizes and comes alive), the volume level can be reduced and still be enjoyable.  Great subwoofers make for a great movie experience. Enjoy the Oscars, revel in the special effects, and start listening for the wonderfully subtle effects that great foley sound delivers, like footsteps on concrete going through a short tunnel, then giving way to the same footsteps as the walker transitions to gravel. This is the art that sound designers deliver and thousands of more gradations. Our job is to deliver the bass and the space in the movie in equal proportions.  

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!

It’s Game Time! This year, you don’t need box seats at the stadium to feel the electrifying energy of the Super Bowl. With REL Acoustics’ sub-bass systems, your living room transforms into the ultimate front-row experience. When it comes to creating the ultimate Super Bowl experience, don’t just watch the game — feel it! As the anthem plays and the teams take the field, you’ll feel the atmosphere build in real time, as if you’re standing amid the sea of fans in the stadium itself. Imagine the rumble of the stadium echoing through your walls, the roar of the crowd so real it sends chills down your spine, and every thundering tackle shaking the floor beneath you. That’s the immersive power of REL subwoofers — precision-engineered to bring the excitement of live sports right into your home. REL sub-bass systems deliver every note with rich, resonant depth, turning your pre-game routine into a full-on celebration. Have your very own tailgate party and set the mood with classic band tunes and iconic game day music – Show your friends just how powerful your REL is.  Explore REL’s curated & diverse ‘Game Time’ playlist, designed to showcase the incredible depth and precision of our sub-bass systems. From powerful cinematic scores to energetic sports anthems, this playlist is crafted to enhance your audio journey and bring every moment to life. Whether you’re hosting a game day party or relaxing after the final whistle, our playlists ensure the perfect soundtrack for every game day occasion & every listener.  Every roar, rumble, and rally will transport you straight into the heart of the action. Whether your team rises as champions or falls short, one thing’s certain: your REL system will make every moment unforgettable! Stream Our Playlist Now: REL Playlist on Qobuz Experience high-resolution streaming like never before—start your free trial with Qobuz today and immerse yourself in unparalleled sound quality and an extensive music catalog! Pro Tip: We strongly recommend using hardwired connection from an audio streaming device whenever possible. Using Bluetooth wireless connection from your handheld devices may cause distortion or delay, and negatively impact performance. This Super Bowl season, elevate your game day with REL Acoustics. Because when it’s game time, there’s no better place to be than right in the heart of the action — wherever you are. Experience the Difference.