Sub recommendations

I think I will go with SVS SB1000, if someone could just help out with how to best connect them they be great. Imagine I’m 5 years old haha

 

Yep; way to go, and the way I use to hook up my vintage receiver to my sub. Sadly, fewer and fewer subs feature hi level inputs these days.

 

Looks like the amp has a subwoofer out jack. For sake of simplicity, I'd just get a decent WELL SHIELDED RCA cable and jack into the LFE In jack pictured below.



I would then use the procedure described by our man Avanti1960 to dial in the variable phasing.
Subwoofer Variable Phase- How to Set Perfectly and Easily

Easy peasy, will take you 45 minutes, I reckon.

 

Rel Cable has 3 wires that connect at the amp end for your class AB amp check this video here: Standard Connection (Class A, B, A/B amps)

When you buy a Rel you get a 10m cable which looks something like this: REL 3 Wire Sub Speaker Cable. Neutrik Speakon to Spade end. Sub | eBay

I'm not sure if what you get is spade terminated or bare wire.

 

If you're in a semi-detached and thinking about your neighbour I think a Rel would be more suitable. They supposedly integrate better in a 2 channel music system than other subs and aren't all about vibrating the walls.

I don't actually have a sub but I'm in the market for one and also live in a 1930s semi with a suspended wooden floor and thinking about my neighbour I think the T5i is what I'm after.

 

Oh great, now it comes out. I had one 20 years ago, suggested as the best subs out there by all accounts, and the damn thing drove me nuts. Especially since it was hooked up to the critically acclaimed Magnepan 1.6 QR’s which turned out to be one of the most lifeless, boring, gaslighting jokes I ever had the pleasure of wasting my time with. It took serendipitously coming across the new JBL 100 Classic to make me realize I had wasted 30 plus
years on overhyped nonsense.

 

RSL speedwoofer May be a good way to go also. For the money they are nice.

 

One of the benefits of decent (cheap) measuring equipment becoming available is that it is easier for reviewers to sort the wheat from the chaff (and forums, might I add).

REL had a mystique as wonderful until people in the UK started measuring them and they were producing so much distortion that the fundamental was inaudible.

It turned out some of the best subwoofers available cost next-to-nothing. I remember the Paradigm Servo 15 was hugely impressive when measured. It sold for about £400!

This in turn has improved manufacturing processes. The days of an eccentric in a remote country house designing things 'by ear' are numbered. Thankfully.

 

That’s very helpful thank you.

 

My buddy has one of these. It's a good affordable sub for music. I have a ported PB-1000 on my secondary rig, and I do think the sealed subs are better for music... I upgraded to a sealed servo sub from Rythmik for my primary rig, and I just wanted to give a quick shout-out to consider giving them a look as well. I think they're very musical. They're not as aesthetically appealling as most of SVS offerings (although I don't think the SB-1000 and PB-1000 are the best examples of the "pretty subs" SVS makes), but I think they give great sound quality at good price points.

 

I have an SVS SB 3000 for music only and it’s excellent!

 

So just to be totally clear I will connect to the same terminal as my speakers are rather than to channel B?

 

Yes, you would then insert your speaker cables into the SAME terminals as the Rel cables are connected to. Could a REL user confirm this to the OP so he has more than one person stating this?

Also note that REL advise different connection methods if you have a Class D amp or a tube amp.

 

It is likely your Yamaha can be set for a highpass crossover internally though I don't know how-peruse your manual; in some Yamahas it's in a YPAO setting. Your Dali look nice but the woofer is not big. The highpass crossover will cut the lowest bass out of those for more unstrained output, and increase amp headroom by removing the low frequency voltage.

To anyone who asks "well then why does REL recommend speaker level connections, aren't they the sub maker, don't they know what they're doing?"-I have no idea. My hypothesis is it is probably easier to integrate the subwoofer that way-less variables to tune-and so cuts down on complaints and support calls.

 

That’s exactly how my friend has set up his Rel. Spades for the Rel cable, speaker cables with banana plugs, connected to the same terminals. Rel cable yellow wire to left positive, red to right positive, black to either negative.

 

Thanks for all your help. I’ve just ordered REL 5, last question regarding the set up. What do I set for high/low level and LFE level min/max? I’m assuming crossover has to be set at 60hz as Dali zensor 3 frequency range starts from 50hz?

 

Really you need to measure your room as this effects the crossover frequency that you set. Getting volume level and crossover correct is super critical in a 2 channel setup.

I would start with a crossover of 80hz...