Planning on upgrading the disappointing 10-inch Mirage PS-10 subwoofer that I am currently using, I visited my local dealer recently to audition REL subs, which are known for their musical accuracy. I auditioned the REL Strata II, a small sub featuring a 10-inch downfiring woofer and a 60-watt internal amp.
My Mirage PS-10 subwoofer sounded good in the store, but I probably did not listen to it all that well (in the store) because it has not sounded all that good in my listening room.

Like alot of cheap subs, the Mirage sounds rather overbearing, muddy, and opaque and lacks musical insight. The sub can play low enough to satisfy with home theater, but when it comes to keeping up with fast moving bass lines, the result is a blurred mess which lacks pitch accuracy and definition. The Mirage lacks the bass speed and transparency to keep up with my monitor speakers and the result is rather disjointed and unconvincing whenever music is on the program.

I auditioned the REL Strata II with the ultra-transparent Sonus Faber Concertino bookshelf speakers. The join between the sub and the Tinos was completely seamless, as in undetectable, utterly perfect. The Tinos just seemed to reach down into the abyss of bass extension. I listened to Vangelis' "Blade Runner" soundtrack and was stunned by the amount of low bass that the REL revealed on the recording. The REL's bass response was not only tight and fast, but exhibited the same ultra-transparent quality as the Tinos. The results were simply breathtaking.

The REL Strata II had no trouble keeping up with the fast moving bass lines in dance music and it's 60-watt amp sounded more powerful and more confident than the 100-watt amp in the Mirage PS-10. I have found the sub for me.

The REL Strata II sounds powerful, it plays low, and displays the kind of transparency, speed, and pitch accuracy that rivals the finest full range loudspeakers (like the B&W N801 that I recently auditioned). The Stata II offers staggering value! Consider that the combination of the REL Strata II and the Sonus Faber Concertino costs $2000, but rivals (to tell the truth, outperforms) the $12,000+ B&W Nautilus 801s. This is what I call a steal!

Bass Extension *****

Pitch Accuracy *****

Bass Speed *****

Fidelity *****

Build Quality *****

Value *****

They are just perfect. I could string along a bunch of flowery colorful adjectives, but I won't. At first, I was amazed at how much of the lower frequencies were simply not being reproduced by my ML ariues speakers. They are so musical and blend so perfectly that sometimes I shut off the subwoofer just to make sure that it was working. When I do, and the bass just disappears, I smile and know I have achieve the purest integration of sweet mid, quick accurate highs, and real bass. Not over boomy make some moves at the dance hall base, but bass as it really occurs in music. It almost seems like a waste though. I have it tuned to the almost the lowest cross-over point possible. Anything move and you hear the subwoofer, anything less and it drops out altogather. when I really tune it up, it does sound like a dance hall. And that's not just my opinion, but that of my neighbors too (mind you they are two floors up :-)
--Matt

Seamless integration of sub and mains. Nice appearance. Cats can't claw at the downfiring speaker!

I had to read the manual three times before I "got it".

I heard about this unit through these reviews. I went to a couple of stores and listened to what was available and this one had the tightest bass.

I took it home and mated it to my Sonus Faber Concertinos (replacing an old set of Advents). Starting with crossover frequencies to the mid-low 30s I was able to quickly get a natural sound (Thanks, Stephen) that blended in with the main speakers. I put on a vinyl version of Saent-Saens Organ Concerto and was impressed by hearing and feeling the bass without any hint of being overdone. These are keepers!

By moving one of the knobs one click, I can get a bass boost which works well when watching TV movies (explosions, car chases, 2001 theme song). Otherwise, the Strata doesn't draw much attention to itself until needed.

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I have own the Sonus Faber Concertinos for 3 months already. Before purchasing theses babies, I was thinking of the bigger brother too..the Concerto. It is really true that the Concerto perform better in the midrange region and especially in the lower bass part......However, the differnces are not that "great" to warrant the extra money fork out for it. So I stick to the concertinos.
And recently I acquired the REL Strata II subwoofers for USD$150 second-hand!!! And I must say that it has improve the performance of my system tremendously. The quality ( transparency, details, midrange and soundstaging) of the Concertinos are not being sacrificed the slightest bit.The midrange becomes more focused than before, it could now par the performance of the Concertos in this regards, if not better!!! And needless to say, in the bass region, it has added more excitement. Bass is deep and tight, I hear sound not int the realm of small bookself speakers. Bookshelf speakers do have this inherent problem of not producing low bass, and the REL complemented it perfectly. Soundstaging (depth and width) benefits the greatest from the addition of the REL Strata II. Vocals was very good with the Concertinos alone already, and now with the REL, it simply becomes much better.

Well, for the people trying to get out the best from small bookself speakers, really, having a good subwoofer is advisable. And for people who decides to change your current small bookshelf speakers to a bigger speakers , why not add a REL sub to your system??? This is by far the most efficient and cost-effective method to improve the quality of the sound. After I had this subwoofer, I never listen to music without it.