Rel quality,18hz

Port design.

I reviewed the Storm 3 a while ago in this group and thought i would give my follow-up. I was thrilled with the storm3 at first,but after much testing with material such as music and movies in all formats,i found that the port design on the storm gave to much of a "halo" effect on much of the bass... which in turn effected its recovery. I do think that if you have the option to locate the sub where you wish that effect could be controlled,but in my case i am limited to where my sub could go. I in turn purchased the REL stratta3 which uses rels "Q" suspension for their driver instead of the port design. Being a sealed box design gives the Stratta3 a much cleaner sound and instant recovery in bass response and overall sounds a tad quicker than the storm(you will find this " Q driver arrangment" in Rels other subs more designed for HT)while still sharing the Storms "box tuned" enclosure. The Stratta3 seems to be the best of both designs wrapped up into one,and for less money.

Similar Products Used:

Rel stratta3,mirage stratta1000,1500

Accurate bass,tuneful and transparant.

None,none,none!

Well,i have been around the block a few times trying to find the perfect sub for Music and ht...and finally my search has ended with the STORM3. Mirage is and has been my first choice when it comes down to speakers..but for subs..well their good,but a little "boomy" at times..and mind you that i spent 4 months trying to like my substrata1000. The Rel strata3 is,with out a doubt, the best sub i have heard in my home. In just 30 minutes i had the Rel singing WITH my mirage om7s in harmony. Rel has a winner on its hands and i feel its worth every penny. I have
both lfe AND highpass connections made at the same time...other companys should take note on this very useful feature....the result is Tuneful AND powerful bass!


5 STARS ALL THE WAY

Similar Products Used:

Mirage150bps, mirage substrata1000, mirage substrata1500

Very musical and accurate

I spend too much time listening.

I think I may possibly have some idea what this undesireable "Halo" effect is. When I first got the Storm I felt is was a little loose (very little) with a hint of boom at the setting I liked. I then replaced the stock computer grade 18 awg power cord it come with something a lot better. It made a world of difference. The bass is as tight and accurate as any I have heard.
Someone else made the same comment about a "Halo" effect and port noise with the REL Stadium and also went with a Stratus. I cannot believe the Stratus beats the Storm and Stadium is they are set up properly. The Stratus is excellent in its own right, but does not go as low as the others, so depending on the quality of your system and how low your speakers go, the Stratus may not be low enough.
Best to try them out and see for yourself. Try adding a better power cord first. Happy listening to all.

Better focus and sound stage at all frequecies !!!

None

What a nice product. I was always skeptical of subwoofers for music, but in this case I am wrong. The Storm III improved my system from top to bottom. I was going to get new speakers, but now I do not need them. I have a room that is probably on the small for this sub. I hear no port noise mentioned before. I will say that the folks at Tweeter had the REL subs wired up totally wrong, which may or may not explain the problem. I asked them about it and they said the REL Rep set it up to "maximize" the bass. I was later at another Tweeter and it was wire the same incorrect way. Who knows ???? 5 stars easy.

Similar Products Used:

Velodyne

Deep, warm and full bass. Beautifull cabinet!

none

Since last week I'm the prowd owner of this beast. I was looking for a sub that could enlarge the soundspectrum of my Dynaudio Audience surround set. The set exists of a pair of 122 frontspeakers, a pair of 52 as rear and one 122C as centerspeaker. The sound produced was already 'deep' but I wanted more 'feel-bass' rather than 'hear-bass'. At first I used a DIY sub but due a redecoration that thing had to go. Now the Storm supplements my system and I must say that its doing its job perfectly and almost without any effort. I had some work trying to find out the best setting but I'm happy with B5 (rolloff frequency 38Hz) and volume at 11:30. The bass is heard and most important, it is felt! When listening at the latest Santana CD the bass is heavy present but not overwhelming. Deep Purple rocks and Dire Straits are warm and yet crisp. I surely can and will recommend this beauty to anyone who is looking for that extra 'thing'.

Similar Products Used:

DIY subwoofer

See previous review
Power efficient
Completely disappearing

Heavy like hell for such a skinny guy like me

The longer it stays in my system, the more I love it. I am saving up to purchase a second Storm III. Oh, it loves clean power: I plugged it into a PS Audio P300, and the bass is unbelievable. First, REL is honest when they say in the user's manual that the Storm consumes only 7w at idle. Even at musical climax the P300 display didn't even sputter. Second, the lowest octaves become better and better blended with the rest of the music spectrum that if I cover the REL with some fabric cloth, I swear anybody would think my mains are full range speakers.

Similar Products Used:

HSU HRSW12V, M&K, NHT

Gets out of the way of music reproduction
Integrates VERY well with main speakers
Somehow enhances the soundstage, image, and true timbre of the overall sound
Crossover down to 22 Hz, providing many fine points between 22 Hz and 95 Hz
Easy to set up and sound good

Heavy (68 lbs)
Expensive

Just got a second Storm, and oh my God how it makes things even better. Phase reversed on both units, which are placed at the two corners behind the main speakers along the longer wall, enables the whole system seem to "lock in" with the room. Wonderfully tight, articulate, and unobtrusive bass appears to come from the main speakers. There was not a moment when I could detect the sound coming from the subs.

Enhanced with a better power cord and AC power (Hydra or Monster HTS-2000 plugged into FIM AC Outlets), the subs just nicely go under the spectrum of the mains, giving them a solid foundation.

Similar Products Used:

Hsu, M&K, Velo, NHT

Transparency, controlled deep bass

Setup, I have heard more slam in this price range

This sub works. The first time I auditioned this sub, I kept asking if it was on, I stared at the thiels the sub was partnered with and assumed that the tight, deep bass was coming from them...and then the sales person turned the sub off.
So now after serveral months in my system, the Storm III has me completly satisfied with it, and wanting a better room. Im a fan of monitors and this sub makes them feel like they are much bigger. Compared the other subs, very low frequency acoustics of the recorded venue were not even audible except for the REL which pours bass into your listening space.

Similar Products Used:

Sunfire, B&W, Klipsh(sp?)

everything a sub should be.

none

All I was going to say on this review was just ‘18Hz baby, yeah’. But I’ll think more elaboration is needed.

Firstly, before even started the review, heed the warning on the first page of the user manual. This states “This item is heavy! To avoid risk of injury, take care when handling”. Being all eager to get it installed I tried to get it out of the box in the normal fashion but only proceed to hurt my back – so please, this warning is there for a reason.

Now to the review. After obtaining the rest of my system as stated above I began to look for a decent subwoofer. With my tastes more biased to music I found most of the home theatre subwoofers were too harsh when considering a match with my main stereo speakers Mission’s 773e (see my review of the 773e on this site). What I needed was a subwoofer that was as smooth as the 773e and must not interfere with its sound.

Listening to subwoofers by Polk, Yamaha, Jamo, AE, I found that they were very good home theatre subwoofers with the Polk impressing. However they were not what I was looking for. Then I got the chance to listen to REL’s Q100E was impressed by its flexibility and so this became the subwoofer of choice even though did stretch my budget a bit. I met a retailer who gave me an audition of one of REL’s high-end ST range viz. the Storm III. But as much as I wanted it, I knew the prices and this was certainly out of my range. After some severe arm-twisting he finally sold me his ‘baby’ (he upgraded to something larger) at the price of the Q100E (because he was the previous owner he also offered the full warranties etc.). Needless to say I was pleased.

After my initial sub-related injury I set up the sub using both the recommended high level input signal and the low-level ‘LFE’ input. It took about an ahour to get it set up to a satisfactory point. I tried the box in a few places but it eventually ended in the corner, as this was physically the only place that I had for it. REL actually specify that the positioning does not really matter as they have a system called the Active Bass Controller or ABC, which can be used counter any room effects and it actually works. This uses a balanced (or unbalanced) input at high level so that the subwoofer receives exactly the same signal as the main speakers. This allows for a greater level of integration. While using the LFE option worked well I found that high-level input was definitely the better option by offering a greater degree of integration. After a few days of trial and error I finally found the ideal settings.

The high level of control made available by using the ABC does ensure that the subwoofer does integrate well with the main speakers. The subwoofer blends perfectly with the Mission 773e with the ABC cutting off the top end of the subwoofer at just 38 Hz, which is also an indication of the low end of the 773e.

REL call their subwoofers ‘Sub-Bass Systems’ since it should just enhance the lower frequency bass and not overwhelm it. And what a lower bass it is – all the way down to a solid 18Hz and then there it starts to roll off. Playing Enya’s Watermark album showed what it was all about. Some of Tracks from Vangelis’ Reprise has bass that is only felt making this truly a sub-bass system.

The plan was to use the REL only for home theatre even though it is actually meant for hi-fi but I found the REL actually enhanced the entire soundstage of the Missions by rounding out the bottom end. Switching off the subwoofer during music just removes this bottom end showing a perfect integration by not ‘hearing’ the sub’. After my initial skepticism I now use the REL for both home theatre and music. Using Ray Brown’s jazz CD, Superbass, which has very intricate bass tracks, the REL matched note for note with the 773e, which has exceptional handling of the most demanding transients. Not only does the Storm III go down to 18Hz it also can handle the transients without a fuss.

Using the REL for home theatre is just as impressive, along with the 773e its just once again just enhances the bottom end. The bass antics of the Matrix is impressive with exceptional handling of the music as was The Fifth Element. The various explosions and gunshots were always at its best and those deep down rumblings coming through to you. Thunder sounds like the storm is (no pun intended!) directly above you. Through all this, the REL always remains calm and composed, never losing its hold on the bass.

Build quality is exceptional as expected at the price and the all you need to do lift it up to determine this. A metal mesh protects the downward facing driver and next to it is fairly large port. I have not heard any port noise thus far. The REL comes with all the connections necessary including gas tight Neutrik connectors (for balanced and unbalanced inputs) for the high level input and it accepts stereo low-level LFE inputs as well as balanced XLR inputs for more professional use, i.e. more than enough inputs to satisfy everyone. It comes with very sturdy spikes to give solid contact to the floor and the exterior finish is flawless. The electronics have a ‘Set-Safe’ feature that protect the driver and amplifier in case some people get extreme with their setup, however this should not be a problem as the driver can handle a great deal. This sub’ takes it job very seriously.

The Storm III does not come cheap but there isn’t much out there to compete with its abilities so its actual performance versus price ratio is very good. For those that want quality bass, and a significant amount of quantity as well then look no further. I was (almost literally) blown away by its performance and it gets the maximum ratings and recommendations from me. Now to try to get another!

Similar Products Used:

Polk, Other RELs, Jamo Velodyne

Superfast, black, brutal bass, don't influence the balance of the main system (see my review)

None

I have two REL Storm III subwoofers (for a year I had only one, and couldn’t believe how big the difference was with two of those babies in the system). My main speakers are Ensemble Reference minimonitors. They are fed by tube monoblocks in push-pull mode with zero feedback, neither local nor global, which receive their signal from a Wadia 8/12 CD combination. I always have loved my system for its dramatic vividness, and the subwoofers don’t compromise any of that since they run in parallel to the speakers, fed directly from the amp without crossovers from the minimonitors. With this, my main speakers still work as two-ways, completely unchanged. The subwoofer amps are fed from the main amps through a high-impedance connection, thus receiving only signal from the amps without drawing power from them.

Now I have the best of both worlds: the vividness of minimonitor sound and the deep bass of a full-range system: my system now IS a full-range system. And actually, I have never heard such great bass anywhere else. Yes, the slam was greater in a big system with a Wilson Wow subwoofer coupled with a Watt/Puppy in a very large room, but I have never heard such speed and blackness of bass as in my system. Certainly not from any passive three or four-way speaker system. Varese’s “Arcana” and “Ameriques” (Concertgebouw Orchestra/Chailly on Decca) now features tremendous orchestral blackness and weight in the low range, with precision and speed of instrumental slam to give you chills. The bass and bass drum on Metallica’s “… And Justice for all” are just amazing and totally addictive now. The speed is like switch on - switch off for every single note, with absolutely no overhang. Never heard this anywhere else, and certainly not with such concomitant authoritative absolute blackness of bass (the Wadia CD player certainly has its share in this, Wadia CD sound is famous for its bass). The almost ghostly speed is no artefact: in music with slower bass the bass is reproduced as such.

The crossover of the sub is set on 60 Hz, phase neutral. The transition between minimonitor and sub is inaudible - seriously.

Wonderful!!!!!