Why REL's Classic 99 Is NOT "just a" SUBWOOFER its a HiFi JOURNEY'S END

Рет қаралды 19,002

Күн бұрын

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@PursuitPerfectSystem Ай бұрын

Thanks for watching the video and dont forget to check out my reviews for the Wharfedale Super Linton speakers and the QYAD 33 and 303 as that will help complete the picture for this review too. Thanks

@deanwhiteley3065 Ай бұрын

Very happy owner of the Rel Classic 98 here. Wouldn’t be without it in my system 👍😊

@MarkLloyd-yo4li Ай бұрын

I love the 99's . I heard a pair with a pair of Polk R700's and was so impressed . I heard warmth from the polks and the 99' added to it . Classical music ,and classic rock was very cool ,but I enjoyed them with all genres . Im so glad I was able to hear them together to reaffirming what I was contemplating on buying. I will order them in February for my birthday once mt pair oc REL T9x's and SEBO Felix vacuum are paid for . 👍🎉

@thewillwilliams Ай бұрын

Great sequence of videos, Terry; The Supers, The Quads and The Rel…classic brands and future classic bits of kit! I think I have now got somewhere I am happy with for my Super Linton’s. It has involved going back to my Willsenton R8 to tame the upper octaves of trumpet and saxophone, which were too piercing with my other amp. But the Willsenton drives the supers very well and it always struggled a bit with the 85s. So all good.

@PursuitPerfectSystem Ай бұрын

Remember they need some time for that part of their sound to settle down too, at first it really stands out as I was saying in the Super video but yeah thank you

@thewillwilliams Ай бұрын

@ it’s got to be said that in combination with the R8 I am now falling in love with these speakers! That little bit of warmth combined with the great sound staging and decent punch that amp has is just a great combination for me. VERY happy.

@vladimirdorta6692 Ай бұрын

Great video. Many years ago I owned a REL Storm, and it helped flesh out the soundstage. I could demonstrate that to friends by turning the REL off and on. The extra bass was just a bonus.

@Taffy84 Ай бұрын

Totem had a sub called Storm also.

@anthonyfellows3345 Ай бұрын

Great video, I’ve a pair of mono blocks running with a pair of BK-200 subs. They do exactly as you described to the music, wouldn’t be without them. Thanks for the video.

@ibdam1 Ай бұрын

Does the down firing sub have an advantage our disadvantage when firing on a hard surface like wood floors or on a carpet surface?

@robertmata4293 Ай бұрын

I like my 2 Rel t5xs they blend flawlessly

@mrt6349 Ай бұрын

How big is your room, i am going to buy 2 rel subs for a 14 sq meters.

@jeromephilipon750 Ай бұрын

Always enjoyable. Thank you Only regret after owning a strata III was it dying after many years of great service to be followed by a T9x. The T9 does the job but I was gutted when the classic range launched as what I really wanted was the quality wood look. Not the black box mehh......timing is everything.

@Birmingham_racing Ай бұрын

When it comes to rel you know you're guaranteed quality bass

@pcorf Ай бұрын

Not a cheap sub and down firing sealed is not all that common. But I know this configuration can work very well.

@adsph Ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing

@Justwantahover Ай бұрын

13:10 To get a warmer voice sound you could try placing the speakers 6" closer to the back wall, and you might get the sound you want without turning on the tone controls on. My NAD C356 sounds leaps&bounds better with the tone controls off (chalk&cheese). 😂

@PursuitPerfectSystem Ай бұрын

Yes moving back will increase the bass some but not that much and it would make the sound stage worse. To get anything like the bass as from the REL I would have to corner load the speakers and then I would totally kill the sound stage I get as I have had that setup before. Not all tone controls are created equal it depends on how they are implemented analogue or digital too.

@cpg8000 Ай бұрын

Good comment 👍🏽 I have a similar experience.

@globaltune8580 Ай бұрын

Many people comment about how much adding a subwoofer helps voices coming alive and the mid range improvement in general. Many people also say that adding two subwoofers is almost twice as good. So now the difficult question becomes would it be better to get two 98’s or one 99. I think the answer is if you have small monitors and want to cross them over higher let’s say at 110 Hz then it would be better to go for 98’s. But if you have larger speakers and crossing over at for example 70 Hz then you might as well just go for one big one. What do you think?

@PursuitPerfectSystem Ай бұрын

two is better than one for the reason I mentioned in the video more bass sources help to improve how the bass behaves in the room - generally speaking. 110hz is a very high crossover so bass is directional at that point so you would want a sub positioned near each speaker in that instance and you would also need to know the sub will play that high as I didn't test that to know for sure, there might be a roll off at freq that high. Check with REL directly

@johndaddabbo9383 Ай бұрын

6:36 Time alignment - can you please elaborate on how you achieved time alignment, i.e. the hookup / setup (as well as with Phase if you care to). Thank you.

@PursuitPerfectSystem Ай бұрын

I do it by ear, I listen and move the subwoofer forwards or backwards or sometimes side ways if I have two of them until the bass locks in with the main speakers. I have spent so many hours doing this with digital delay controls for system calibrations I think have trained my ear for what to listen for. Not intentionally just by spending so much time doing it. The same with phase, listen to it both ways 0 or 180 and normally one way sounds broken compared to the other. That is good enough for me when the rest is right. I used to measure this and check and check and measure again that didn't get me anywhere further on so I dont do that anymore.

@johndaddabbo9383 Ай бұрын

@@PursuitPerfectSystem - Great, Thank you. What in this particular setup is providing the Digital Delay Control that is being used to ultimately align the Subs to the Main speakers by ear? -OR- are you saying that there isn't any Digital Delay Control in this particular setup, as you simply used placement and the Sub's Phase control to then optimize the setup by ear? Thanks again.

@PursuitPerfectSystem Ай бұрын

yes no digital controls at all, the subwoofer is fed a signal straight from the amplifier with a low pass built into the sub. So everything stays analogue so that means physically moving the sub for the time alignment. You would think this doesn't work well, but it does seem to I because really the sub becomes an extra extension to the speaker so your just setting up the same as you would a speaker in terms of placement

@johndaddabbo9383 Ай бұрын

Oh great, Thanks!

@alexandervonbernstorff3822 Ай бұрын

@@PursuitPerfectSystemI Are you saying that you won't go beyond 0/180 degrees phase setting?

@janschreurs6142 Ай бұрын

Thinking about buying the 98 or 99 I have a pair of pmc twenty 24 in the narrow part of an L shaped room. Do you think it will work well with transmission line speakers?

@PursuitPerfectSystem Ай бұрын

I dont think it makes any difference what the speakers they so long as you set the rel up correctly it will benefit in the same way. Especially with small PMC speakers as they are quite bass lean speakers

@GreenArrowNetwork Ай бұрын

I have my single 99. I bought from REL directly because they have a 60 day free return policy. I went for the 99 and it did take more than 30 days for me to get them dialed in. I'm glad I had the extra time. If I couldn't get the 99 integrated in my room, I was going to try the 98. Don't have to now. I also use it for home theater using the .1 LFE input and your description is spot on. It definitely goes low on movies and that also sounds great (startling sometimes).

@peterjackson142 Ай бұрын

Off topic question, where did you get that big white diffuser at the front of the room?

@PursuitPerfectSystem Ай бұрын

That is 9 GIK Gotham diffusors that I painted white and put up as a 3x3 grid. Given the complexity of the design painting it white was a challenge. All my acoustic treatment is from GIK

@RW-ur7ym 6 күн бұрын

What brand are your equipment racks? It looks awesome, I would like to duplicate.

@PursuitPerfectSystem 6 күн бұрын

It’s a mish mash of old hifi racks podium reference they are not in business anymore, they are the outer ones. In the middle is a quadraspire evo rack I think it’s called. There is details in my video description box

@Fluterra Ай бұрын

Nothing beats my FUNK Audio. I don’t love the front grill mounts, they should be built into the cabinet.

@andreyhristoff1933 Ай бұрын

What do u mean by high crossover? 80? More?

@PursuitPerfectSystem Ай бұрын

It possibly was around 70- 80 Hz yes, my meaning is I see a lot of people think they should only cross a subwoofer over below what their speakers are doing for bass extensions, based on the spec sheet. I think that is a mistake. The higher you go with the crossover the more you have to pay attention for time alignment too so that is something to think about as well

@andreyhristoff1933 Ай бұрын

@@PursuitPerfectSystem I got you, but lets say the speakers goes down to 50hz at -6db, if the sub crossover is set to 80Hz, don't you get overlapping above 50Hz? How we deal with this? If we turn down the gain It will lower the output not only above 50Hz and its not an option.

@bocrux Ай бұрын

Overlapping is not necessarily a bad thing as long as you end up with a linear response. Use room curve measurements to confidently dial in all those variables.

@jocool7370 Ай бұрын

This one's supposed to be a new Storm model, right?

@ductritran8637 Ай бұрын

A single Rel classic 99 or two t7x which one give you more control and balance sound ? Which one is more suitable for HE full range single driver speaker ?

@PursuitPerfectSystem Ай бұрын

Two subs will in 99% of cases allow you more control in the setup and easier to balance the sound in the room. However it depends on your room size and speakers too

@joeythedime1838 23 күн бұрын

@@PursuitPerfectSystem Excellent review, Terry. I am in the exact same situation. With a $2K USD budget. Do I purchase two T7X's or a single Classic 99. I have an open floorplan with the living room, kitchen and dining room. The combined room size is about 1,000 sq. ft. with 12' ft ceilings. My speakers are T+A Criterion TCD 210S connected to an Accuphase E-4000.

@adamwebster8046 Ай бұрын

Again another Stella review .... remember to smash the like people 🎉

@PursuitPerfectSystem Ай бұрын

Thank you very much

@adamwebster8046 Ай бұрын

@ I love ur reviews very honest and on point many years at richersounds has turned me into a av nut and ur reviews help in future purchases or even little tweaks

@alexandervaneijken7741 Ай бұрын

When one reviews a subwoofer it might be useful for the customer to inform them how low frequency sounds behave. Just a suggestion

@PursuitPerfectSystem Ай бұрын

Comment noted, sorry can you confirm what you mean here please?

@selassie123GA Ай бұрын

that is exactly what he does, just an observation.

@alexandervaneijken7741 Ай бұрын

@@PursuitPerfectSystem For stereo listening one needs two speakers. Now add ONE subwoofer (so not two) to the system and it still sounds the same but for the low frequencies. (one would expect two subwoofers)

@PursuitPerfectSystem Ай бұрын

Bass below a certain frequency is produced mono anyway so one subwoofer can be fine, however generally with monoblock amplifiers it would be advised to use two subwoofers. That is why I said in the video one was very good, however two would have been better and allowed me to do more. I only had one so I couldn't talk about two anymore than that

@BRICS313 17 күн бұрын

Way better performance in 2025 for that money.

@vtkz 5 күн бұрын

Way to overpriced for what it is. 2k for an 12", and only 450 W and propably not even an 60L Cabinet 🙄. Way too small and underpowered for home theatre use and way too overpriced for Music setup because one sub allone is never an good option. When you go the DIY way, you can build at least 2x Subs incl PA Amp for one REL (propably even more). Than youve an Multi Sub and an way better start to set it up via DSP than one single REL will ever have. I know Reviewers cant make videos about DIY and need this companys... but REL is completely overpriced. And on top you need also an miniDSP or some kind of Alignment (Dirac, AcourateCV, Trinnov whatever..) to set everything up perfectly. I would NEVER set Subwoofers up with Potis on the back.