Natural sounding, open and airy bass, enhancing the mid range of the system. Deep extending bass. The deep and extended bass are chilling when it is set up right. Just the right amount of slam, preventing from listening fatigue. I had too many cheap subs with too much slam leading to listening fatigue. Perfect blending with the main speakers. Beautiful cabinet.

The REL Stadium is expensive. It takes a while to set up and tuning to the system. REL is somewhat more room dependent than other subs I had before.

It has been an ever-ending obsession of finding the best subwoofer under 2K. After four years of experimenting different sub, more than ten years of the audio hobby and more than ten subwoofers came and left my system, I have learned a lot about the different characteristics of subwoofers, placement and setting up. To make the story short, the REL Stadium II recently came to my system and I couldn't be any happier. It's difficult to understand what makes the REL sounds so good. It definitely sounds better than the Storm III I had before, even though it has less rated power! By far this is the most impressive subwoofer I have the pleasure of owning.

Similar Products Used:

REL Storm III, Bag End Infra sub 18 (twice), Velodynes-HGS 12 and ULD 15, Paradigm PDR 12, Definitive supercube I (twice), Outlaw and have heard too many too list.

Wonderful deep and well defined bass.

Not as impactful as M&K. Needs careful setup.

I decided to buy this after auditioning it at the dealer's shop. Initially thought of upgrading to the Storm III from the Strata, but after doing A-B tests on the Stadium II. There is an obvious tonal improvement on low freqs. The ARM loading gives the Stadium an edge, even though the power rating was lower than the Storm III. At the same time I was testing out the Stadium, I also had the opportunity to listen to the M&K. The M&K's had more punch and was great on dynamic tracks. However, they also tended to produce some low-mid bass which drew attention to the sub as a source. Certainly responding down to 12hz -6db has its benefits. I'd reckon that if anyone can't hear the diff between the Strata/Storm III and the Stadium II, its probably due to improper setup rather than the product's performance.

Similar Products Used:

M&K, REL Strata

Has the speed to match any speaker period Improves your two channel sound so much that it's like turning a light from the off position to the on position.

Absolutely none. That there isn't a higher rating on this site, because this sub deserves much higher rating then 5

I got an incredible deal on this sub and would pay more if I had to,it's that good. Unfortunately,some people don't realize that sound character is based on your complete system being able to produce it's part of the link in the music signal. Using highend components this sub is awesome. It improves the sound out of your front speakers so much that you will be bewildered.If you could'nt see the sub in my listening room, you would not know I was using one, it's that good.

Similar Products Used:

Velodyne, Bag End, Jm Lab,polk,psb etc

Solid contruction. Seemless integration into all home audio
systems. Very deep, clean and clear bass. Wood veneer
finish is of fine furniture quality.

None

I am so satisfied with the remodeled Stadium III that I
would be willing to challenge any subwoofer at $5,000.00
or less. The fit and finish of this piece is spectacular,
with either the walnut or rosewood veneers being of the
higest quality. With separate LFE and line level inputs
and gain controls along with the extremely variable crossover and speaker level inputs this unit has to be the most flexible on the market. In addition, the ARM loading
controls the movement of the woofer so well that I am still
amazed that it is a single 10" driver and a 200 watt RMS 400 watt peak setup. The deep bass extension is truely amazing! I have found my final subwoofer (that is until the Stadium IV is produced).

Similar Products Used:

REL Stadium II

powerful and yet transparently blending in with my system

It blends in with and complements my Wilson Watts Puppy 5.1 very well. Can't be happier!

sound, build, finish

volume control

This is a fine piece of furniture (in cherry finish), with pro Volt driver and interesting internal structure (ARM loading). I used it in various rooms, with various speakers and equipments. It always sounded controlled, effortless, extended, and more important, seamless: it always blended well with the main speakers.
A pair would work the best, but if used solo, corner placing seems to provide the best coupling to the room.

Hints for settings: use 120 degree cones instead of spikes; volume setting depends on room size, xover settings depend on ancillary speakers, equipment and recording. Relative position of the sub, main speakers, listening position and room dimensions all play a role in phase conditions. It is quite difficult to find the optimum. I tried to focus on filtering out primary room resonances.

I find the volume control not precise enough, and the volume knob too small. A high quality stepped attenuator would be better, especially because high resolution is needed at low levels (usual range is between 7 and 12 o'clock). There is some midrange breaktrough, but remember it has a 2nd order xover, which has its good advantages for smoother blend. I am seriously thinking about upgrading the volume pot to a DACT stepped attenuator (www.dact.com).

The most useful feature of the sub was an easier matching of the speakers' bass to the room, rather than only having low-end extension (which in turn is also excellent).
Midrange is also affected, becomes warmer and softer. Not always my piece of cake, but I don't use the sub with every kind of music. However, it helps a lot with harsh recordings.

Price/quality ratio is very high in present market context. This is the only sub in its price range which I would even think about to use for music listening. Maybe more expensive RELs and Audio Physics could drive bigger rooms and could offer more (or in different way), but the Stadium II has excellent quality compared to anything at any price, and it is value for the money as well.

Similar Products Used:

REL Strata II, Audio Physic, Dali, Velodyne, B&W

I have listened to the REL Acoustics Stadium II subwoofer for over six months, and am amazed with its performance. Having owned many home and auto subwoofers, I was not prepared for this kind of depth, precision, and accuracy. This performance is due inpart to an incredible enclosure, internal DC amplification and a superior 10" driver. Along with a high level input cable (included) that runs from the main amps' speaker terminals into an internal variable crossover allowing for seamless blending with the main speakers. It even duplicates your amps sonic signature since its fed the amps' speaker level signal (don't worry its a strong 100 kohms resistance drawing insignificant current). This is a must audition piece!
My system consists of a Meridian 500 Transport, Meridian 586 DVD and Sony A-2 DSS into a Meridian 518 digital preamp to a Meridian 566 DAC and to a Classe CA200. The speakers are B&W 802 Series III and the Stadium II. All digital cables are Illuminati D-60, Cardas Gold XLR interconnects, and Cardas Golden 5-C biwire speaker-wire. (DSS uses Kimber Optic cable)

The Rel Stadium2, needs patience and perseverence to make it work. It needs time to find an optimum room position, and then more time to get the fine and coarse tuning right.But after all this hastle, it works magic in the way it adds more of everything, be it depth, and frequency extentions at both ends of the audio spectrum.
Voices seem more 'natural', and 'right'. You can actually relate to their 'rightness'. Once you get it right, it is very difficult to take it out of the chain.

Alright, I'm 22, work at an audio store and have "golden ears". The deal is this, if you want a full bottom end, better imaging from your main speakers, and want to rock n' roll, the rel stadium is for you. Upon first hookup, the sub doesn't seem to be there, the bass seems to eminate from the speakers. Imaging becomes more detailed, the soundstage opens up, and when the music comes WHAM! Here I am it says, I make the system. One listen to Pink Floyd's "Welcome to the machine" or Marc Cohn's "true companion" and this sub proves why it's the best for the money. Rich, warm, deep, tight and snappy, all I can say. If you're looking for a true "sub" woofer, the stadium II is the one!!Associated equip.
Proceed avp
Rca Dvd player (HA! D/A conversion done by avp, why bother!!)
Denon DCD1520 Cd
Sonus faber concerto
Sonus faber Solo
Mission dipolar sides
Mission Direct firing rears
Aragon 8008x2bb (2 of them)
Aragon 8008x3
Monster M series cables/interconnects.

Let me guess you work at Tweeter.Because of your equipments.