Rel subwoofers...anyone using them in a swarm set up?

I know that using two REL's for a stereo set up is preferable to just one. I use two in this manner and the benefits are worth it. I was thinking that perhaps a swarm set up of REL's might make even more sense...although I'm not sure how one would connect such a set up. Anyone using a swarm of REL's...and how are they connected to your gear?

 

Define swarm.

 

Sh*tload?

 

Interesting point. I think it probably depends on the size of your room...but probably at least three and more likely four or more.

 

My listening room is so small that the 2nd Rel T5i that is arriving soon will make it a swarm.

 

wow, that must be really small

My room is also small...and two wouldn’t qualify as a swarm

 

The Swarm Subwoofer System

 

Not to be overly pedantic (although it's a given with me - most of the time ) but had I meant that, I would have said Swarm (a trademarked thing) as opposed to swarm (the generic noun) - which the OP had posted (in reference to what I assume was a bunch of REL subs).

The Swarm does look interesting, and the use of four subs in the system is probably the sweet spot in terms of cost / reward - although there's a bunch of other factors that come into play.

I've previously mused (hypothesized, dreamt, fantasized) about having a room where all surfaces (except, perhaps, the floor) were of a material that both satisfied the function of being a wall / ceiling, and was capable of generated a full spectrum of sound. Not in-walls. Not in-room speakers. Just a material (perhaps yet to be invented) that is a great transducer. And the electronics to activate just that portion of the wall where you want sound to be produced at any given instant. Perhaps depending on the frequency being produced, more (low) or less (high) of the surface would come into play at any given time. You could place sound (instruments, sections of an orchestra, etc.) wherever wanted / needed. The surface would also be capable of sensing sounds as well as reproducing it, so anti-sound could be produced as need be to eliminate standing waves etc. - and to provide sound isolation for the room itself. Rooms could be made more, or less, lively to user tastes. It could be used in all sizes of rooms. Such a beast would go well beyond a swarm, or Swarm. It's just a matter of developing the material (I can think of some that could be used now, but these are nowhere near what I envision to be the end product.) The computing horsepower, sensors, etc. all exist today.

Jeff

 

Perhaps something like Sony's Acoustic Surface Audio+™ used on their OLEDs?

 

My REL dealer has a six-pack (3 stacked per channel) of the new REL S/510 on demo. Pretty amazing. He already sold it to one of the symphony musicians who said it finally sounds like a real hall when playing orchestral music. $14k+

 

Interesting!

I would think that stacking six subs like that would at least negate some of the benefits of multiple subs.

For the same money (or less) I'd probably go for two much more capable subs instead of two stacks of three lesser capable subs.

Perhaps the PSA S7201 or PSA TV42 Ipal. Perhaps something from the SVS 16-Ultra Series.

But that's just me.

Jeff

 

how do you hook up 3 REL’s that way?

 

They’re designed to be stacked on top of each other. 3 high is safe and ok for sure. They bolt or lock together somehow, with hardware from rel. not sure if it’s included or not with the purchase.

 

They have link connectors for chaining them together. It's all part of how it is designed.

 

I think that is the physical connection, but not necessarily the electrical connection. Anyone know how to hook up three or four REL’s with either their high level or low level platform?

 

I am talking about the electrical connection. They link using Neutrik connectors. Go to the website and look at the image of the back of the S/510. I have seen it setup.

 

What kind of REL subwoofer we talking about exactly for the thread starter?

on a side note, I have two REL t5i’s and I feel kind of bad I wish I got the t7i or t9i.... I feel they jusr don’t go low enough. Anyone know if a down firing sub like the T5i has a “front” like front facing subwoofers? they say to point it down diagonally across the room but how could I if it’s downfiring?

And would getting a single “S” series subwoofer help at all?

 

I use 4 REL Q201E subs set up as a distributed bass system . 2 weeks ago I add a 8 " Velodyne SPL sub too make it 5 subs . It was icing on the cake . As far as bass response the room disappeared .

 

It all depends on what your looking for. Too much bass will kill/distort the music. If your looking for a pyrotechnic sound for movies that's a whole different thing.
Should add that I've never felt a need for a sub in my main listening room with floor standing Sonus Fabers.

 

Most people have the wrong impression about Subs . More is better . You have to look at multiple subs as active room correction . I speak form experience having done it .

 

I have also, couldn't tell you how many subs and sub arrays I've had, and some pretty cool spectrum analyzers to dial them in with.

 

Understood . Its all about the room . To get the sound of a big floor stander in my room the distributed bass works for me

 

It's not about more or louder bass, it's about getting better bass, and filling out the response. When you get that right, everything else benefits too.

I convinced my wife a sub improves a system by playing the Bach Solo Sonatas and Partitas for Violin. While she was enjoying that I turned the sub off without her knowing. She wanted to know why the violinist dropped out of the room and his instrument no longer had that wonderful woody timbre.

She was completely against adding a sub before that demo, and totally for it afterwards.

 

I'm not relating to any particular REL model. Anyone using multiples as a swarm is who I am interested in.

As for why you are not getting enough bass response from your twin T5i's...I suspect that this could be a factor of your room dimensions and if you have any bass trapping or other room acoustic treatments. I also have two T5i's and in my very small room, the bass is more than sufficient. Certainly, two larger driver based subs would probably drop down lower...but at the more than likely risk of totally overloading the room! Even with room acoustic treatments ( like I have), the probability of overload would be high. If your room is much larger, then it could make sense to increase the size of each sub. ( depending on what you are using as your main speaker...something like a very fast electrostatic--maybe not in that instance).
Also, keep in mind that the specs of the T5i -all the way up to the T9i, are that they do drop off in the mid to low 30Hz range. ( although with multiples, I would think that the drop off would be a little more accurate--not necessarily lower!).

 

Room modes are caused by reflected sound waves that interact with the original source wave and its own reflections as that reflected wave decays. This creates large peaks and valleys in the frequency response. The swarm method is an attempt to smooth the peaks and valleys by putting more sources throughout the room.
What the swarm method misses is how to control the decay time for the bass waves.

There is no free lunch with bass. You either remove the boundaries that reinforce the reflected waves, not possible indoors, trap them, or live with them. The swarm approach is another way to deal with them while ignoring the decay issues. If you have the room and the desire, building a big enough trap placed in the right location is much cheaper than a swarm and it controls the decay rate. If not, throw money at it.