REL Quake

So anyway, I was down at the hi-fi shops(where I'm from, all the hi-fi shops reside in one building) yesterday evening strolling around, having a look at some eye-candy. So I decide to walk into the REL dealer and have an audition of a subwoofer (I had in mind to purchase one to add to my system). The dealer is nice and friendly, sets up the Q150 and the Quake, pops in sheffield's drum track and plays the solo-drum track. Everything sounds nice and well-behaved(sorry, I wasn't paying attention to the reference system), then the guy goes, "ok, on (Q150)." and boom, everything gets thrown out the window. I play in a band, and I know what a real kick-bass sounds like, and damn, with the woofer on, it was mighty mighty close. can I say "OH MY GOD!". Then he goes "off now", well, he didn't have to say it, cos when he switched off the sub, everything collapsed, even my tin ears could make out the difference. And he proceeded to go "on, off, on" it was like heaven, earth, heaven.
I was sold.
He then hooked up the Quake, and put in some Jacintha. For those of you who don't know, Jacintha is a singer from my home country, she's got an absolutely luscious voice that can literally put tears in your eyes. Same thing, everything played nice and friendly, and then the guy goes "ok, on" and suddenly, I'm looking at Jacintha standing in front of me, living and breathing (I once sat in the front row of her concert, but this was much much better). It was magic, I've never heard such a vast improvement in sound, the sheer realism and depth of the performance, simply from adding a sub.
I said, "Stop, how much."
So Monday, I'll be a proud owner of a REL Quake (the Q150 is a tad too big for the limited space in my room)
I can't wait.

 

Way to go, Kelly.

;-)

 

Good choice, I think the Quake is much better with music than the Q150... :beer:

 

You manage to explain the benefit of these new woofers to music very well. It is not about more BASS only. Some how it brings that bit more life and clarity to the whole presentation.

With an eye on the other thread about big vs small speakers.... I really sympathize with Lowrider. When I replace my pure stereo set to an AV system and found out there are actually some gain to be found going this way. I don't understand why some people are so reluctant to explore beyond the traditional road to hifi nirvana.

 

It takes time and some skill to set up a subwoofer properly and many dealers don't help themselves by taking the time to do it properly which wrongly puts many people off the concept of using a subwoofer for music.

 

It takes a lot of time to understand what is going on before you get it right, most people give up before they know how it works...

 

Guys I have heard a decent multichannel setup and loved what it did in movies, but just can't relax when sounds come at me from behind, although it sounded fine in background, but not for me with serious listening, although I'm not knocking it like some, It's just not my cup of tea.

Just on another note, for any unbeliever that don't think ATC actives have bass, should take a listen to Bubs setup, personally I think he could do more with the imaging side and poss, even try toeing in his speakers, but Bub likes it as he is not a "sit in the sweet spot guy". one thing it does really well though is play music.

 

Wolfgang,

I actually came at it from a different direction - high end AV into two channel. I found the gains in musical terms far to obvious to stick with AV, so am not a fan of multichannel.

Still I would never argue that subs cannot work, indeed only the potential arrival of some big speakers will ween me off and i have used subs in every system I have owned.

The new Velodyne DD series is mindblowing in it's capabilites, the only issue is the lack of weight in the upper bass compared with big speakers. Having said that, the advantages of seperate bass enclosures are only just becoming understood, and hopefully in future digital processing will allow the true potential to be exploited.

As for multichannel music, I'm with Analogue. It just doesn't do it for me, and I belive there are very good reasons why people generally find it less relaxing than the two channel or mono equivalents.

 

I never understood this supposedly earth-shattering (in the figurative sense...) improvement that subs can make to a hifi... I've heard plenty of subs in plenty of systems, including two very nice ATC subs in my own system, and the difference between having the sub on and having the sub off was never more than just deeper bass extension. It helps for some music (big orchestral stuff, electronic, hip hop), but does very little for most. I have never, ever noticed an improvement in soundstaging or any of the other wondrous things people say their subs do for them. And believe me I've spent plenty of time setting up subs and I know when a sub isn't set up right.

Anyone live near Edinburgh and claim to have a sub that works miracles on their system...? Care to give me a demonstration...?

Dunc

 

Trust me Dunc, you HAVEN'T heard one set up properly

 

Nothing shouldnt come at you from behind...

Seriously, if the system is properly setup you dont hear the surround speakers with music, just increased ambience...

As you shouldnt hear the subwoofers...

 

The only multichannel music disc I have are a few DVD videos. The famous one that we all know is probably Diana Krall Live in Paris. If you are refering to the 5.1 surround effect of this example then I totally argue with you as well. The sound engineers have not got it right yet.

The so call AV system has a Tag processor as the heart of it and fortunately an improvement to my previous set up. Are the newer processors better now? Not sure since I have not been affected by upgraditis yet. However, this new Velodyne sub you describe may have awoken a small sign of the serious disease.

 

But LR are good 2 channel setup does this better, and is more relaxing, I think its something basal in that we are wary of sounds that we hear from behind come from our days of living in caves and chucking spears. I'm glad you like it and have always admired how yoy have set up ypour room but I yet to be more seduced by MC than 2C. Still not saying one day they won't get it right, but sound engineers are only coming round to the idea that bass can be mixed in stereo, its gonna take them a long time to get the mix correct for audiophiles, they will no doubt tune it for the masses and as a result they will use effets to impress the MP3 generation rather than lean towards musical reproduction.

Paul

 

Wolfgang

I had TAG, eventually upgraded to DP, a huge improvement over the original, then I got the Krell, the difference is mainly in the analog area, the first more polite, the second more lively, lately I did set up a Denon 3805 for my brother and was quite impressed, although not as versatile as the more expensive separates...

As for those bells and whistles subwoofers, I am not so sure, the people that rave about them are the specs oriented ones, and that fashion is fading away, as usual...

Analogkid

A properly setup surround, (I have to play with surround volume for many discs), is very confortable to listen to, of course it wont be if the speakers are agressive or set too high, also, if the speakers are not all at the same distance bass management wont work properly, it does the delay thing first, then mixes the bass, with resulting out of phase sound...

 

I have just been over to the velodyne website and I have to say, it does look rather impressive. The new subs would appear to address some of the problems I have encountered regarding integration with sat/sub systems.

 

Robbo,

Seems Antonio is not convinced they would better the class leading Rels though:banghead:

Maybe he should get a demo before taking the usual over defensive posture based on undiluted bollox

 

Merlin have you not had enough of digs at antonio leave him to lick his wounds for a while

 

Agreed Robbo,

It is good to see a company trying to tackle the very real problem of distortion and poor integration that has hampered those seeking quality from third party subwoofer manufacturers over the years. I'd say they will be the first of many.

 

You know Merlin, he wont let go...

As for subwoofers, I know two Strata III work very well, actually never heard a contrary opinion from anyone that had them, and I have read many saying Velodyne wonder subs dont work with music, it is one more of those glaring novelties that fade really fast... :JPS:

Well, back to the game, hope we manage to stick one up the Spanish... :moony: