REL Gibraltar G1 stereo subs.

[Msegal]

Originally Posted by Sunnyboy1956

Congrats. The REL GIs are truly awesome . Have to be heard to be believed. Just curious what's your room size and how far are the subs from the corners/sidewalls ?
Cheers

Room is asymmetrical with a 20' front wall, 35' depth. The right side scallops inward 4' about 8' back from the front wall. The subs are almost up against the side walls about 36" from the back wall. They are 6" behind the plane of my Focal speakers. They are angled inward about 20 degrees on the left and 5 degrees on the right.

Thanks for your enthusiasm.

Mike S.

[Sunnyboy1956]

Mike
Many thanks. Your room is way bigger than mine. My GI s are in the corners almost touching the side and facing walls about 10" behind the Aviors. The corner placement makes for a bass boost, hence I have the setting at 10 and the low pass filter at 28hz.
Njoy

[Msegal]

What are you guys doing for cables? The supplied power cable and interconnect are sub par.

I heard that Shunyata Anaconda power cable to the subs is magic but they cost almost as much as the G1 itself.
Has anyone had Shunyata make a Neutrik cable?

Thanks

Mike S

[Sunnyboy1956]

I use the supplied neutrik cable/connector. Remember a post long ago on Agon where someone got a performance boost with an after market neutrik cable. Sorry that's all I remember . For the p/c I use whatever discard is available in the system as any branded pc is better than the stock p/c supplied by REL. I am using a pair of ancient Transparent pcs. I would not opt for a high end Shunyata for a sub. YMMV
Cheers

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by Sunnyboy1956

I use the supplied neutrik cable/connector. Remember a post long ago on Agon where someone got a performance boost with an after market neutrik cable. Sorry that's all I remember . For the p/c I use whatever discard is available in the system as any branded pc is better than the stock p/c supplied by REL. I am using a pair of ancient Transparent pcs. I would not opt for a high end Shunyata for a sub. YMMV
Cheers

At one of the Fine Sounds events at Paragon I asked John Hunter the Designer of the REL G1 whether any benefit would come from replacing the supplied neutrik connector with a higher quality aftermarket unit. His response was probably not. Something about how low of a level of signal was being send. (That is my memory, not that he explained it poorly ) He suggested it would be much better to allocate those dollars to a upgraded power cord.

[Sunnyboy1956]

Jim
Thanks for your response. I have 5 REL subs in house, 2 G1s for my stereo rig, 2 505s in the main HT and a solitary 305 for the bedroom HT. Interestingly, the neutrik cable supplied with the G1 is heavier gauge and copper as opposed to the cheaper cables that come with the lower REL models. Even if the neutrik connector per se may not matter I am inclined to believe that a superior neutrik cable should make a difference. Just my 2 paise .

[4RE]

There is only one way of doing subwoofer right: Stereopair.

who ever marketed the idea of a single subwoofer and summing the L/R signals sure was a great marketeer but no audiophile.

still this pitch has been sold to amass 'you need a subwoofer'.
Would any audiophile disconnect one of the woofers in his fullrange main speakers?
why would anyone buy a single subwoofer then?

The scientific part on the non-directivity has been used in wrong sentence, a single cycle tone of say 35 Hz is indeed non-directional, but were listening to reproduction of recordings of music, no single tone. That's why many experience and quote that after long trail it sounds better without subwoofer.. And consequently resell the sub, and pityfull left with an negative experience about 'subwoofers'.

Furthermore two finely tuned in REL G subs are much more about soundstage then bass.
The extra bass foundation is there, but at the same time it is totally natural as a whole.
Once you experience stereosubs there is no way back, but even done in true stereo it still takes time to dail and position.

[redm]

Originally Posted by Msegal

I just installed a stereo pair of REL G1's onto my Focal Utopia III Scala speakers . I had wonderful assistance from my local dealer and the Sumiko rep Allen. I can not stress enough what a fantastic job Allen did at dialing in these babies.

I am running them off the amplifier output taps of my MC275LE's. We tried the LFE input and were all extremely disappointed. After positioning the Focals we moved the subs out from the back wall lateral to the Scalas. We moved incrementally until the sound from the bass drivers of the speakers were in perfect time with the G1's.

Once this was accomplished we listened to numerous songs on digital and analog sources. We adjusted the subs high pass crossover setting and the sub volume. Since the REL uses a second order crossover the subs influence is much higher than the crossover setting. I would have expected a low setting of 25-35 Hz. Interestingly with a low crossover setting the bass was too fat on the very bottom and poorly integrated. Allen wisely increased the crossover setting to 50, 60 and 70 Hz. To my surprise this sounded SO GOOD! I felt embarrassed that I was giving into my mid-fi internal adolescent but Allen said "Wow that sounds good". He too was surprised but indicated that he often finds stereo subs sound better at a HIGHER crossover with less gain.

Ultimately we settled on 48 Hz and a gain of "16" out of a possible 36.

The improvement is miraculous. I am not one to say great things about rig upgrades but in my humble opinion this is the GREATEST improvement I have ever heard on any stereo rig upgrade. The added air and low level information transforms the sound to a degree that the illusion of being transported to the recorded venue is complete. This is especially apparent on live recordings where the ambient auditory cues are needed.

Interestingly, I have found the sound of the treble to be altered by the added bass. I have confirmed this by simply unplugging the Neutrik connector on the sub and listening. As far as I can tell there is an alteration in the perception of the sound with the added lower harmonics. I certainly do not believe that that the G1's are adding anything to the high end but the harmonic resonance of the tympanic membrane seems to clarify ones perception of the higher frequencies.

I can not say if it sounds better, worse or the same as any other sub. I can only say that I am ecstatic about the G1's and would recommend them to anyone to audition.

This is a pretty common theme I've noticed when people add a second sub. Maybe they should sell them in pairs.

[JCR]

I know this thread was started quite some time ago but I enjoyed very much reading other's experience with the REL G1. So I thought I would share my experience with it!

Pairing with my Sonus Faber Aida, I started by buying one REL G1 and was so impressed that I got a second one. As other here found having a stereo setup of REL subwoofer add a lot of texture and sounddstage to your speaker system. In fact, it was SO GOOD with two G1 that I decided what the heck, lets build a 6 pack! So based on a promise land from my local dealer representative I got a total of 6 REL G1, allowing me to have three per channel, stack on top of each other, beside each speaker.

The result is nothing short of spectacular and funny enought, the type of music where the 6 subs makes the most difference iis classical music!!! I would never be able to reproduce the air, soundstage and concert hall feeling of classical music with the G1s. Not to mention it also makes the sound super fluid and smooth (not less detailed, just more spatial and smooth!).

I too though I would only need to put the crossover of the subs very low like 20 or 25hz but in my room I ended up finding the the 6 subs cut at 33hz gives me the best result. I leave the volume control on the subs at about 13 or 15 (my room absorbe bass quite a bit)...

Hope this is useful. Feel free to ask me any question on the G1s setup...

[4RE]

+6 ! (pun intended)

better to set somewhat higher in frequency with little less volume.

cruisin at around 35hz with volume set at 5.

Speaks are about 84db opposed to a claimed 89db.. this happens all the time.

LOVE the REL's.