Just a warning to Storm III owners who bought their subwoofer around 2004 maybe into 2005 or 6. REL has changed the configuration of their amp without notifying owners or calling a rebate. I believe the original amp could be faulty, as mine was, and the new version is considerably better. Beware of driver burn up, rarely seen, and try to get Sumiko to replace the amp before your warranty expires or your amp blows.

Be aware that REL, sometime since 2004, has changed it's faulty amp to a modified model, possibly 10x better than the old, without telling it's customers or offering a recall. Had my amp not blown out the drivers 2 weeks before the warranty expiration, I would have had to pay $800 for a new one. It is unheard of for these 4 transistors to just burn up. Though Sumiko was very helpful, it is the only facility in the USA to repair REL as private contractors are not given specifications, for good reason it seems, Therefore if you live far from Berkeley CA you have to ship the amp long distances.

The bad news is I've been listening to an inferior product for three years. The good news is the new Storm III is quite remarkable. However, the integrity of REL is certainly questionable in my mind.

Easy to set up Adds detail and acoustic space to Cds and movies doesnt call attention to itself. Build quality is first rate. Can shake walls when called upon.

None, I am very pleased with the REL

This sub sounded "right" from the moment I hooked it up. The first thing I noticed was how every CD I played sounded more detailed... I am hearing things in music Ive listened to for 30 plus years that havent noticed before. Not boomy at all! I would recommend this product without hesitation. It does great on movies also. The D-Day scene in Saving Private Ryan was room shaking.

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auditioned M&K 350thx,Paradigm 2200,Def tech,Phase tech,NHT,Velodyne.

small budget equates High-End budget

budget for two

All you audiophiles with derisory budgets, hear me for my cause, and be silent that you may hear. Please help us, don't help us. From the wits of Martin Colloms to Alvin Gold down to Peter Walker, Deep Bass Weight is indispensable to absolute sound reproduction. Our experiences with live concerts attest to our analysis. Bass blows your heart out with natural music. I think !!! the best appropriate design should consists of a very high quality monitor (horn/2-way) and a very high quality subwoofer (like REL). Crossover distortion is minimized to trifling level. To contemplate searching for the most near-perfect midrange quality speakers, delivering bass weight only up to mid/bass level and its consorted subwoofer should take care of the rest. How about adding s super tweeter (from Tannoy). I'm just trying to imagine the superlative outcome of canorous replication. Break-A-Leg....and just remember, Hopper's afraid of birds.

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BA,B&W,Jamo,Tannoy

Speed that is on the same page with single driver Fostex and Lowther speakers. Warm, tuneful, impactful bass quality Disappear, blend well into the music Break in time is relatively short compared with some >500 hours on other components. Superb look and build Extremely low cut-off frequency (22Hz) makes it easy to integrate with mains. Great idea of connecting to main amps via the speaker level => No wonder other high end companies follow suit

Imported from U.K. so they're not as affordable as other U.S.A counterparts

Absolutely agree with Mario. I'd like to add some personal points. I have had two REL Storm IIIs for over 2 years and thought they are pretty good. Well how wrong I was. After a recent upgrade to a better digital source (a state-of-the-art in my opinion), the ModWright 9000ES, I began to realize how impressive a pair of RELs could be. For the first time in my room, with the same amplifiers and speakers and the same CDs, I heard prodigious bass that is fast, tuneful, and impactful. The shaking and growlings of bass notes are all over the room and plesantly give a lot of goose-bumps. And yes, I spent $$ on better more expensive high level cables, and finally settled with the CAT5 single strand to get that satisfying bass quality. It's no longer a separate lower frequency part of the music; it blends totally with the main speakers so that no one can tell where the bass comes from. I often have to remind myself that the wondeful bass isn't coming from those little HornShoppe speakers, but I frequently fail miserably.

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HSU (owned) NHT, Velodyne, M&K (auditioned)

Creates bigger soundstage w/small spkrs Completes the musical spectrum Rivals expensive floorstanders One of the best audio-upgrade path

burn-in time (>50hrs) needs audiophile grade spk wires (H-Lev)

After contiguous researches and comments from other reviews, i settled for this baby with my 3yrs old SF Concerto. Analyze it with your favorite musical piece (CD/DVD). I consider Sonus-REL combination the most natural in music reproduction. If your into Acoustic-Jazz, Slow Pop/Rock, Classical and all unplugged concerts, consider this on your list. Any amplifier driving conventional speakers seems to lack overall power to naturally reproduce the bottom octaves of the musical spectrum, whereby High Quality Subwoofer comes into picture. As a middle-income-earner, this is the best-buy path to musical nirvana (have a listen). Suggestions on how your budget fits: (Good/Better/Best) 1 - SF Concertino - REL Q150e 2 - SF Concertino - REL Strata3 3 - SF Concerto - REL Strata3 4 - SF Concerto - REL Storm3 5 - SF Signum - REL Storm3 6 - SF Auditor - REL Storm3 7 - SF Amati - REL Studio (dreams)

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MF A300, Mrtz CD94

Totally seamless integration, even moreso than the good PV1000. The Storm is partnered with Sonus Faber Grand Pianos and I have never been so excited about an improvement to my system. Really fabulous. After only a few days use, I can barely imagine how much it can improve after settling in a bit longer.

None. A front-mounted volume control would be nice (as on the PV1000), but otherwise I am totally won over.

A superb piece of equipment. I thought my Boston PV1000 was the cat's whiskers until I heard the (much more expensive) REL, and was overcome with delight at how this sub performs. My home subwoofer is now the REL Storm and it is a stunner in every respect. This is a genuine enhancer of music, not a mere home-theater item.

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Boston PV1000. A very good unit and easily the best I had heard until I experienced the REL. Now I know that for the extra few hundred dollars, a remarkable improvement and step up in class is patentl

It became even better(see my pevius report)

After many hours of burn in period the bass got even better and more controled.I repeat this is a musical sub and not a boomy one.Of course it can be laud but not like others(106db max).It makes my 805Nautilus sound bigger(like 802N or even better,I listened 801,802,804).It is fast enought to follow my speakers(they are fast)and I really enjoy my choise.

Excellent integration with Magnepan 1.6QR speakers. Superb bass control.

Less time with my wife.

If you own a pair of Magnepan 1.6QR, I highly recommended that you should integrate it with Rel Storm III. Some of the instruments suddenly appeared which I have never hear before. I'm not only talking about bass instruments, it also improve on the mid and high frequency. The soundstage becomes larger and deeper. Instruments sound so real and lifelike. I have a fright when playing a track from Hiroshima's black & white album, I heard a human voice speaking at the far corner behind my left speaker. Initially I thought it was a ghost. My system : Sunfire Power Amp Conrad Johnson PV11 Pre-Amp Musical Fidelity X-Ray CD Player Magnepan 1.6QR Speakers JPS Lab interconnect & speaker cables

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Sunfire MKII subwoofer

music

none

I just wanted to update from my review before. I just upgraded by interconnect from the pre-amp to the amp from Transparent Cable to Siltech London and WOW what a huge difference. The bass extension is very noticable now...if you are lucky enough to get this sub, I recomend you lok into upgrading the interconects, too! I needed the Siltechs to really apreciate how great this Rel is!