3 Top Subwoofer Brands Face Off: Which One Will Come Out On Top? REL, JL Audio and SVS talk.

We can't just sit here and pretend that Funk Audio and Harbottle dont exist.

What do you think of the B&W DB line compared to the JL?

Any thoughts on the 1205 for movies?

New RSL speed sub can go down to 20htz for only $799 is it a steal ,¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Rel is made in China drivers are .made in China

Finally someone that actually agrees with me on using 2 different subs. 1 larger subs for the lower frequencies and a smaller musical quicker sub for the higher/midbass. SUBSCRIBED

Great video, also liked the screen video as well. I am unable to locate your home tour video. Can you share a link.

Hands down the best video I've come across explaining the different character of subs from different brands.
Would be great if you did a video series on best subs in different price ranges and which type of sub would serve which application.

⭐ Promo SM

What is your opinion of the HT line by REL? Have been reading that the 1510 Predator is fairly musical while delivery good home theatre performance.

I’m planing to get dual svs sb16 for my theater, what you think

I like the RSL SPEEDWOOFER 12S with wireless remote.

I like my Rhythmik with its horizontally opposed 15 inch drivers.

Please let me know when you’re in the Nashville area, I would like to hire you to fine tune my Rels T9X and JL Audio subwoofer fathom V2-13.5

I have a pair of Martin Logan Descent I’s in a 28x14 room. They are sealed, servo controlled wit 3-10” drivers and a 750w amp. I’m really happy with them but wanted a bit more punch for movies. I added a REL HT-1510 Predator, Mission accomplished.

I have two older SVS Utra 13's that weighs 90 lbs each Finished in piano black So glad that SVS has an upgrade path as I've replaced to the upgraded plate amps with 1,200 watts RMS 4,000 peaks Everything is now controlled with DSP via their phone amp I also upgraded to their SVS isolation feet

What are your thoughts on near field subs?

I know you’re a dealer/ seller or whatever and I’ll admit I haven’t watched the rest of your past videos yet…. So naturally I guess you’ll only talk about products you personally sell

But…….


How can you talk about musical subs and not mention the rythmiks

Perlisten subwoofers i would say compete directly with JL, they start around the fathom f110 price and go up from there. I have their entry level R210S subwoofer and i have it turned way down and i can feel the room shake under 20hz and its super quick but can rumble when it needs to. JL is amazing aswell i was about to buy an f110 before i heard the perlisten.

Untreated room...

Always fun to see a shootout, but I feel you are giving som really misleading advice as well. A ported sub is NOT less musical than a sealed one, technically it is really the opposite because of lower levels of distortion. Some people argue that more group delay makes ported sub worse but there is not too much evidence to support this. Also, almost all speakers are ported and some are pretty musical I would say....

I totally disagree about "buy yourself out of a problem". Bigger drivers and bigger enclosures are always better when it comes to bass. But more money is better(usually) at a give size. My point is that a big inexpensive could outperform at small expensive sub on most parameters. However it does occupy a fair bit of real estate and might not be welcome.

However there is much more difficult to setup a big and/or ported subwoofer in a small room, the reason many people think sealed subs are more musical.

I do agree JL are about as good as you can make a allround sub, if you can afford enough of them. Also SVSs bigger models are really good. But if you set them, or REL if you like, up against the ported JBL HDI 1200P and they will all struggle on "musicality". Calibrated lots of all, even up to a pair of Gothams.

I sell audio myself and a pro tip in any price range is to have someone who knows what they do set it up correctly. A good tuning based on measurements and someone with the knowledge to analyse them correctly. It will make the world of difference, even if your amp/receiver has build in roomcorrection it can be "tuned" further by a professional.

Sorry in advance for any bad english. :)

i decided to separate my home theater and 2 channel audio systems. I use 2 SVS SB 16's for my 2 channel system, and I use 2 monolith 215's for my home theater, I can get 120db @ 20hz at 6ft, they're huge but they get the job done, I get sticker shock when I see an $7000 subwoofer that can't match the output of the monoliths!

If you have the skills to build your own subwoofer you should.

I have 2 JL Fathom 113 v2 and I love them. I don't think you can better them anywhere remotely close to their price!

What about jtr and perlisen

Hi I hope you can give me some advice sir. I have klipch rp-8000f11 fronts with a klipch rp- 600m 11 bookshelf rears and 4 klipch ceiling speakers I’m looking to replace a rythmic 15 sub with two new ones my budget is around 3,000. My room is a living room,kitchen and dining room all combined. Really want the subs to be able to handle music,tv, and movies any suggestions would be very much appreciated sir! Oh forget klipch rp-504c 11 center lol

İn general subs has Class D amps.Rel has class AB and class D models. Do amp class make a difference for musicality. Also JL has dsp. What do you think dsp implementation? Do we need?

I have 2 rel s812 with bassline blue cable on my focal sopra 2 and they sound incredible.

Ever heard any Arendals? Seem to compete with SVS with maybe an edge in value?

What about monolieth

REL's for music cannot be beat.

PerListen 👍

I’ve been wanting a Rel sub for a while, but I can’t pull the trigger. I wish Rel, went away from that cheesy garish branding, and went for a more classy sophisticated style. Rel branding is so ugly

Hi do you just use the high level cable with the rel subwoofers, and not the lfe cable , I assume if you used 1 sub for your left and right channel and 1 sub for the centre, and had a 3rd sub using the lfe for all the other speakers , so in theory the fronts and centre you would calibrate as large , and using the 3rd sub with the lfe cable and set your speakers to the relevant crossovers , hope this makes sense 🤔

A violent beauty........ a Terrible Beauty is Born.... the classic Oxymoron. Easter 1916. W.B. Yeats

I love the breakdown of the subs. I am a musical sub guy first. I got my Velydyne DD 10 right before the new JL's came out. I wish I could go back in time. It just does not integrate well anymore.

rythmik fvx12 It's supposed to be good for movies and music

Rythmik??

"Musical" bass... in other words WEAK to avoid a boomy/muddy sound. Use multiple subs and move them around, move your seat, and use measurements and DSP to get a smooth response at your seat and big subs will sound plenty musical. A high gloss finish doesn't make a sub sound better, but the stuff I listed here definitely does.

Another cool thing about the SVS PB3000 is that it ships with really tight fitting optional port plugs so it can operate in sealed mode if you like. That PB3000 is one great product. Bravo SVS!

I have 2 Rel S/812 paired with Focal Sopra 3s. I have them hooked up for music via direct connect to amp out and for theater via my Marantz AV receiver sub out. In my room the S/812 absolutely kill it for both music and theater. When the LFE hits on a movie my house and everything in it is energized and so impactful. Of course everything is room and system interaction dependent but I am really happy with REL. And I also have a lot of love for JL having had experience with them. I understand the RELs are expensive but I do not feel I did not get my moneys worth based on my results

For me, my non negotiables for a sub are post -warranty servicing ( obv for a price) in the continent I'm on and an app to configure the sub. The app allows for quick A/B of settings that's otherwise impossible. Makes it so much easier to dial in. This helps me eliminate essentially 90%+ of companies.

Nice presentation! Paul over at PS Audio talks very highly of REL, and owns one in his home system. HERE's something different. I read thought all the comments so far, and someone wanted to know if you would include in a future test a sub from the Martin Logan Dynamo series.

My dealer mated my Martin Logan Classic 9 electrostats with their Dynamo 1600X with ARC. It's a wonderful thing and I run it in downfire mode because I am on a hard floor.
Granted, this is strictly a 2.1 music ONLY system, but that subwoofer works quick enough to keep up with the E'stats and conservatively set, adds just that extra octave below the bass modules on the mains, and it's xover setting at 35Hz. I also feed the sub with speaker outputs from the Parasound A-21 amp, much like your recommendation with REL.

Thanks again! 🙂

Lmao, big boxes. 18" is medium 21-24" is big. The sealed boxes absolutely can do give you omph, shake your insides and chair. My ultimax does it and Im also building 2 more 21" subwoofers to hit 5hz in room because room gain is very effective. Its also super cheap to just make subs

I've been using a pair of Sumiko S9's (10" sealed with passive radiator) with my Elac Adante tower speakers for a few years now and am very happy with how the Sumiko's blend with the Adante's (using the high level inputs on the subs) in my room for music. My music comes from CD's, vinyl, and streaming through a PS Audio DirectStream DAC with a Rogue RP5 preamp and a pair of PS Audio M700 monoblocks.

I have a JL TW3 in my Land Cruiser and a Rel S3 in my home for music and theater.

It would be cool to see another comparison of flagships from JTR, PSA, and Rhythmik to see how they compare to these. Both sealed and ported.

Hi David, thank you for your informative subs overview. I have a Pass INT-25 integrated amplifier (no line level or subwoofer outputs) and PureAudioProject open baffle Trio 15 Classic Voxativ PiFe’s (which reach into the low 30Hz) with their 15” woofers. Would you care to recommend a subwoofer pair compatible, reasonably easy to integrate, to add some low organ pedal power and fullness to mid to upper bass….leaning more towards the musicality range with no interest in home theater. The REL Carbons or JL Fathoms are beyond budget although I could consider REL S or JL E. Thank you in advance!

I currently have a Mirage Omni S8 8” ported, SVS SB1000 pro 12” sealed, SVS PC2000 pro 12” running in ported mode and HSU VTF-3 MK5 HP 15” running in one port open mode. The little 8” is the least musical/tight sounding/articulate/fast/however you want to describe it. The biggest the 15” HSU actually has the edge in musicality over the 12” subs. A good big ported sub can be musical in my experience.