REL Strata 5 Subwoofer issues
Discussion
Hi Folks,
I have an REL Strata 5 sub which is integrated in to both my HiFi and my AV system.
It has been behaving very erratically over the last few months - sometimes getting very loud (house shaking bass for normal TV viewing) but more often doing nothing or very little. Turning off and back on again sorts out the "too loud" issue but not the "too quiet" issue.
The sub has always been left on if that makes a difference.
We rented the new Bond film last night from Sky and annoyingly there was no bass at all - even when I cranked up all the settings on the sub.
I could feel the driver moving when I touched it but it was not doing much. It recovered a little bit during the film but it was still barely noticeable. No slam and thump etc even when the action was at it's most intense.
I switched over to the HiFi as a test and played a track that would normally have very pronounced bass - no dice.
I have read that the amps on these subs can fail so I guess this is what is happening / has happened to mine.
I like the fact that it can be integrated in to my HiFi system by connecting to my stereo amp (Musical Fidelity A308 pre and power combo) whilst also connecting to my AV amp (Yamaha RV-X 3067).
Any suggestions for either how to get this fixed or if this is not possible, what to replace it with? Happy to go S/H - as long as I don't buy a dud!
I have a reasonably decent HiFi set up so what ever I did replace with with would need to be good enough to keep up. My main speakers are KEF Reference 205/2s and are stunning - but a bit of extra, controlled subtle and well integrated bass does help. Put another way I don't want to buy a sub that just rattles windows.
I have an old KEF sub in the attic that I'll hook up today to make sure the rest of the system is working, but this won't be good enough as a permanent solution - and it won't integrate in to my HiFi system either.
Ta in advance for any suggestions
I have an REL Strata 5 sub which is integrated in to both my HiFi and my AV system.
It has been behaving very erratically over the last few months - sometimes getting very loud (house shaking bass for normal TV viewing) but more often doing nothing or very little. Turning off and back on again sorts out the "too loud" issue but not the "too quiet" issue.
The sub has always been left on if that makes a difference.
We rented the new Bond film last night from Sky and annoyingly there was no bass at all - even when I cranked up all the settings on the sub.
I could feel the driver moving when I touched it but it was not doing much. It recovered a little bit during the film but it was still barely noticeable. No slam and thump etc even when the action was at it's most intense.
I switched over to the HiFi as a test and played a track that would normally have very pronounced bass - no dice.
I have read that the amps on these subs can fail so I guess this is what is happening / has happened to mine.
I like the fact that it can be integrated in to my HiFi system by connecting to my stereo amp (Musical Fidelity A308 pre and power combo) whilst also connecting to my AV amp (Yamaha RV-X 3067).
Any suggestions for either how to get this fixed or if this is not possible, what to replace it with? Happy to go S/H - as long as I don't buy a dud!
I have a reasonably decent HiFi set up so what ever I did replace with with would need to be good enough to keep up. My main speakers are KEF Reference 205/2s and are stunning - but a bit of extra, controlled subtle and well integrated bass does help. Put another way I don't want to buy a sub that just rattles windows.
I have an old KEF sub in the attic that I'll hook up today to make sure the rest of the system is working, but this won't be good enough as a permanent solution - and it won't integrate in to my HiFi system either.
Ta in advance for any suggestions
Get a BK sub, they’re brilliant. Ours switches itself off when there’s no signal so no need to leave it on all the time.
I’ve got one of these
http://www.bkelec.com/hifi/Sub_Woofers/P12300SB-DF...
Works really well with film or music, paired with ProAC studio floor standing speakers.
I’ve got one of these
http://www.bkelec.com/hifi/Sub_Woofers/P12300SB-DF...
Works really well with film or music, paired with ProAC studio floor standing speakers.
Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 20th November 09:30
wormus said:
Get a BK sub, they’re brilliant. Ours switches itself off when there’s no signal so no need to leave it on all the time.
I’ve got one of these
http://www.bkelec.com/hifi/Sub_Woofers/P12300SB-DF...
Works really well with film or music, paired with ProAC studio floor standing speakers.
Wow they do look very good for the price and have excellent reviews.I’ve got one of these
http://www.bkelec.com/hifi/Sub_Woofers/P12300SB-DF...
Works really well with film or music, paired with ProAC studio floor standing speakers.
Edited by wormus on Saturday 20th November 09:30
Not the prettiest bit of kit out there but for the money they do look very tempting.
Hmmmm. Just off to check the bank balance!
TorqueDirty said:
Wow they do look very good for the price and have excellent reviews.
Not the prettiest bit of kit out there but for the money they do look very tempting.
Hmmmm. Just off to check the bank balance!
Ours is satin black so just a big, black cube that sits on the corner. They are very well made, by hand in the U.K.Not the prettiest bit of kit out there but for the money they do look very tempting.
Hmmmm. Just off to check the bank balance!
OK an update.
I was hovering over the "pay now" button for a new unfeasibly large BK sub but decided to wait until Monday as I had a couple of questions to ask before buying.
I then spent most of the day reading the manual for my existing REL sub, and the staggeringly long and complicated manual for my Yamaha RX-V3067 amp (166 pages!).
Before I did anything else I tested out a Blu Ray....... and the sub seemed OK. The plot thickens! (The Fifth Element was the disc for what it is worth and I wasted more time just enjoying watching it).
After confusing the crap out of myself by reading the unhelpful Yamaha amp manual I started to go through the on screen menu for the amp looking at all the settings - many of which are utterly indecipherable and appear to be largely pointless unless you are feeding it with a 1980's VHS machine.
Eventually I stumbled across a hidden sub-menu of a sub-menu of a sub-menu and in the "Load settings" for the Sky Q input select and there was no tick in the tiny box that says "Surround". I ticked the box and saved the settings. Hey presto, the sub sprang in to life.
So, it now seems that whilst there is clearly some sort of intermittent fault with the sub, the main culprit has been my amp settings.
Christ alone knows how the box got unticked and then saved - but no doubt I did it a long time ago. Still not sure if the amp is actually playing the true 5.1 signal or if it is trying to manufacture it with some pointless sound processing software but the system has come alive.
In summary I have effectively been driving a Ferrari in first gear with flat tyres and the handbrake on all this time. Plonker.
I'm still going to buy a new sub though because after all this hassle I deserve a treat.
I'll be back next week asking how on earth to set up the sub.
I was hovering over the "pay now" button for a new unfeasibly large BK sub but decided to wait until Monday as I had a couple of questions to ask before buying.
I then spent most of the day reading the manual for my existing REL sub, and the staggeringly long and complicated manual for my Yamaha RX-V3067 amp (166 pages!).
Before I did anything else I tested out a Blu Ray....... and the sub seemed OK. The plot thickens! (The Fifth Element was the disc for what it is worth and I wasted more time just enjoying watching it).
After confusing the crap out of myself by reading the unhelpful Yamaha amp manual I started to go through the on screen menu for the amp looking at all the settings - many of which are utterly indecipherable and appear to be largely pointless unless you are feeding it with a 1980's VHS machine.
Eventually I stumbled across a hidden sub-menu of a sub-menu of a sub-menu and in the "Load settings" for the Sky Q input select and there was no tick in the tiny box that says "Surround". I ticked the box and saved the settings. Hey presto, the sub sprang in to life.
So, it now seems that whilst there is clearly some sort of intermittent fault with the sub, the main culprit has been my amp settings.
Christ alone knows how the box got unticked and then saved - but no doubt I did it a long time ago. Still not sure if the amp is actually playing the true 5.1 signal or if it is trying to manufacture it with some pointless sound processing software but the system has come alive.
In summary I have effectively been driving a Ferrari in first gear with flat tyres and the handbrake on all this time. Plonker.
I'm still going to buy a new sub though because after all this hassle I deserve a treat.
I'll be back next week asking how on earth to set up the sub.
darreni said:
I have the xls200DF in a 20x18 room, set correctly it’s brilliant.
Great with music too.
Ordered this today!Great with music too.
http://www.bkelec.com/hifi/sub_woofers/xxls400df.h...
Got it in light oak
http://www.bkelec.com/hifi/sub_woofers/XXLS400-DF_...
Called them up to ask for some advice and was secretly hoping that they would recommend the Monolith plus (huge overkill obs).
In actual fact they suggested the XXLS400-DF because it is a sealed unit and provides tighter more controlled bass with music - whilst still having the capability to go really low and shake the room when watching films.
Given that my HiFi set up is much higher end than my AV system I took their advice. What ever tiny amount I might lose on the AV side I think I'll get back in spades in terms of HiFi.
Also the room is only 18 x 18 ft (albeit open plan) so I suspect that 400W will be ample!
Should have it early next week and I'm very much hoping that it will run rings around my old REL Strata 5
Looking forward to hearing / feeling a whole new sonic experience.
mgv8 said:
Often the new AMP,s will software update in the background with you knowing. This may have added the hidden button or changes its state.
Entirely possible, but equally likely to have been me aimlessly pressing buttons trying to figure out what the hell it all means.Out of interest has anyone had issues with getting Netflix to play in 5.1 via the app in Sky Q? Some of the older shows seems to only come through in mono despite me selecting 5.1 in the Netflix menu.
Lastly am I right in thinking that if I select "Straight" on the Yamaha amp then the amp will deliver just what it gets from the source and not apply any audio processing?
TorqueDirty said:
Out of interest has anyone had issues with getting Netflix to play in 5.1 via the app in Sky Q? Some of the older shows seems to only come through in mono despite me selecting 5.1 in the Netflix menu.
Lastly am I right in thinking that if I select "Straight" on the Yamaha amp then the amp will deliver just what it gets from the source and not apply any audio processing?
Correct, I have a Yamaha Aventage amp and straight will play the channels based on the signal without processing. Sometimes that does mean it sees 5.1 but sound only comes out of 2.1. Netflix can be very iffy in that respect.Lastly am I right in thinking that if I select "Straight" on the Yamaha amp then the amp will deliver just what it gets from the source and not apply any audio processing?
Don’t forget to set your speakers to small and set the crossover to 80hz. Then it’s just about setting the gain on the sub so it blends in with music.
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 22 November 17:37
wormus said:
Don’t forget to set your speakers to small and set the crossover to 80hz. Then it’s just about setting the gain on the sub so it blends in with music.
Interesting, thanks for this info.Edited by wormus on Monday 22 November 17:37
I had actually read that setting the front Left and Right speakers to "Large" and then adjusting the sub crossover to the the point where the main speakers roll off provides a better solution for HiFi listening.
I should add that I have the main front speakers (Kef Reference 205/2) driven by my Musical Fidelity A308 Pre / Power HiFi setup - and use the AV amp pre outs to feed the front left and right signals to my A308 power amp for when I'm watching TV / Blu Ray etc.
I'd be keen to understand if this is the right / wrong / up to you way of doing it.
TorqueDirty said:
Interesting, thanks for this info.
I had actually read that setting the front Left and Right speakers to "Large" and then adjusting the sub crossover to the the point where the main speakers roll off provides a better solution for HiFi listening.
I should add that I have the main front speakers (Kef Reference 205/2) driven by my Musical Fidelity A308 Pre / Power HiFi setup - and use the AV amp pre outs to feed the front left and right signals to my A308 power amp for when I'm watching TV / Blu Ray etc.
I'd be keen to understand if this is the right / wrong / up to you way of doing it.
I also have a power amp driving my fronts but have connected everything to the AV amp, including a PC which is used for playing all content - film or music, I’ve ripped all my CDs and Movies so this makes sense to me. I see no value in a separate pre amp. Still sounds amazing. Output from the PC is digital, using the DACs in the AV amp which in an Aventage are really good.I had actually read that setting the front Left and Right speakers to "Large" and then adjusting the sub crossover to the the point where the main speakers roll off provides a better solution for HiFi listening.
I should add that I have the main front speakers (Kef Reference 205/2) driven by my Musical Fidelity A308 Pre / Power HiFi setup - and use the AV amp pre outs to feed the front left and right signals to my A308 power amp for when I'm watching TV / Blu Ray etc.
I'd be keen to understand if this is the right / wrong / up to you way of doing it.
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 22 November 19:16
wormus said:
TorqueDirty said:
Interesting, thanks for this info.
I had actually read that setting the front Left and Right speakers to "Large" and then adjusting the sub crossover to the the point where the main speakers roll off provides a better solution for HiFi listening.
I should add that I have the main front speakers (Kef Reference 205/2) driven by my Musical Fidelity A308 Pre / Power HiFi setup - and use the AV amp pre outs to feed the front left and right signals to my A308 power amp for when I'm watching TV / Blu Ray etc.
I'd be keen to understand if this is the right / wrong / up to you way of doing it.
I also have a power amp driving my fronts but have connected everything to the AV amp, including a PC which is used for playing all content - film or music, I’ve ripped all my CDs and Movies so this makes sense to me. I see no value in a separate pre amp. Still sounds amazing. Output from the PC is digital, using the DACs in the AV amp which in an Aventage are really good.I had actually read that setting the front Left and Right speakers to "Large" and then adjusting the sub crossover to the the point where the main speakers roll off provides a better solution for HiFi listening.
I should add that I have the main front speakers (Kef Reference 205/2) driven by my Musical Fidelity A308 Pre / Power HiFi setup - and use the AV amp pre outs to feed the front left and right signals to my A308 power amp for when I'm watching TV / Blu Ray etc.
I'd be keen to understand if this is the right / wrong / up to you way of doing it.
Edited by wormus on Monday 22 November 19:16
If accept that if I had a much better AV amp everything would be much much simpler (the wiring behind my system is crazy) - but right now I can't afford a top end AV amp - and I do love my Musical Fidelity kit.
The other option would be to have a separate room for HiFi and Cinema, which I do have space for but the all in one room solution works well for me.
Food for thought though.
TorqueDirty said:
I guess the value to me for using a separate pre amp is that the A308 is a very good amp (IMO), and whilst my Yamaha RVX3067 is certainly quite good it is frankly not in the same league. When I listen to CD's I use the Pre / Power A308 combo and the Yamaha is turned off - so I get the best 2 channel sounds I through the big Kefs.
If accept that if I had a much better AV amp everything would be much much simpler (the wiring behind my system is crazy) - but right now I can't afford a top end AV amp - and I do love my Musical Fidelity kit.
The other option would be to have a separate room for HiFi and Cinema, which I do have space for but the all in one room solution works well for me.
Food for thought though.
You have the option with the BK to have a high level connection for the music side and an LFE/.1 connection for the AV side - the high level connection would be set up as you mentioned above for music and the LFE can have a separate setting with 80hz crossover; REL recommend a high level connection with the Neutrik cable for music applications, they've got lots of excellent set-up videos on YouTube (and your current REL would have very likely been made by BK back then) but there's the other train of thought that your AV receiver doing the crossover will integrate it better (especially if your AV receiver has room correction?) There's a tricky to find Subwoofer section on AVForums that has a lot of set-up info/advice https://www.avforums.com/forums/subwoofers.127/If accept that if I had a much better AV amp everything would be much much simpler (the wiring behind my system is crazy) - but right now I can't afford a top end AV amp - and I do love my Musical Fidelity kit.
The other option would be to have a separate room for HiFi and Cinema, which I do have space for but the all in one room solution works well for me.
Food for thought though.
TorqueDirty said:
I guess the value to me for using a separate pre amp is that the A308 is a very good amp (IMO), and whilst my Yamaha RVX3067 is certainly quite good it is frankly not in the same league. When I listen to CD's I use the Pre / Power A308 combo and the Yamaha is turned off - so I get the best 2 channel sounds I through the big Kefs.
If accept that if I had a much better AV amp everything would be much much simpler (the wiring behind my system is crazy) - but right now I can't afford a top end AV amp - and I do love my Musical Fidelity kit.
The other option would be to have a separate room for HiFi and Cinema, which I do have space for but the all in one room solution works well for me.
Food for thought though.
This is the way I used my system when I had the 308 pre, power and CD. I kept the 2 channel source and pre for ‘Hi-Fi’ listening and tried various AV processors for AV duties all using the 308 power for front L&R. I used various subs ending with an SVS PC13 ultra. If accept that if I had a much better AV amp everything would be much much simpler (the wiring behind my system is crazy) - but right now I can't afford a top end AV amp - and I do love my Musical Fidelity kit.
The other option would be to have a separate room for HiFi and Cinema, which I do have space for but the all in one room solution works well for me.
Food for thought though.
I used balanced inputs on the sub for AV, RCA for stereo.
My ‘goal’ was to find a processor good enough to replace the 308 pre with DACs good enough to replace the 308CD. After various big Yamahas, Denons and Marantz I finally tried a Krell. The Krell got close but none of the others (for my ears and room etc) ever matched the 308 pre and CD feeding the system. Even the Krell missed out on that top end sparkle.
Maybe things are different now. The Marantz pre I had (8003) had Audyssey XT but I wasn’t keen on the effect it had especially with music. With all effects off it sounded flat with 2 channel.
I gave up eventually, replacing the whole AV side of things with an Arcam sound bar and tiny BK sub (which needs another plate amp after failing for the third time…). I’ve lost the impact, depth and sheer fun when cranked up with a decent movie or live concert from BR disc but my Hi-Fi listening is left (IMHO) uncompromised.
I get that this isn’t the answer for everyone but my time was always split 90/10 between music/AV so it made sense to me at the time. Maybe modern systems with new EQ solutions have changed things but I can’t be bothered to start all over again
The one little box of tricks that worked wonders for me was a DSpeaker anti-mode - an EQ for the sub. Worth reading up on. Compared to the price of multi-thousand £ processors and amps it was a relative bargain and essential in awkward rooms.
legzr1 said:
TorqueDirty said:
I guess the value to me for using a separate pre amp is that the A308 is a very good amp (IMO), and whilst my Yamaha RVX3067 is certainly quite good it is frankly not in the same league. When I listen to CD's I use the Pre / Power A308 combo and the Yamaha is turned off - so I get the best 2 channel sounds I through the big Kefs.
If accept that if I had a much better AV amp everything would be much much simpler (the wiring behind my system is crazy) - but right now I can't afford a top end AV amp - and I do love my Musical Fidelity kit.
The other option would be to have a separate room for HiFi and Cinema, which I do have space for but the all in one room solution works well for me.
Food for thought though.
This is the way I used my system when I had the 308 pre, power and CD. I kept the 2 channel source and pre for ‘Hi-Fi’ listening and tried various AV processors for AV duties all using the 308 power for front L&R. I used various subs ending with an SVS PC13 ultra. If accept that if I had a much better AV amp everything would be much much simpler (the wiring behind my system is crazy) - but right now I can't afford a top end AV amp - and I do love my Musical Fidelity kit.
The other option would be to have a separate room for HiFi and Cinema, which I do have space for but the all in one room solution works well for me.
Food for thought though.
I used balanced inputs on the sub for AV, RCA for stereo.
My ‘goal’ was to find a processor good enough to replace the 308 pre with DACs good enough to replace the 308CD. After various big Yamahas, Denons and Marantz I finally tried a Krell. The Krell got close but none of the others (for my ears and room etc) ever matched the 308 pre and CD feeding the system. Even the Krell missed out on that top end sparkle.
Maybe things are different now. The Marantz pre I had (8003) had Audyssey XT but I wasn’t keen on the effect it had especially with music. With all effects off it sounded flat with 2 channel.
I gave up eventually, replacing the whole AV side of things with an Arcam sound bar and tiny BK sub (which needs another plate amp after failing for the third time…). I’ve lost the impact, depth and sheer fun when cranked up with a decent movie or live concert from BR disc but my Hi-Fi listening is left (IMHO) uncompromised.
I get that this isn’t the answer for everyone but my time was always split 90/10 between music/AV so it made sense to me at the time. Maybe modern systems with new EQ solutions have changed things but I can’t be bothered to start all over again
The one little box of tricks that worked wonders for me was a DSpeaker anti-mode - an EQ for the sub. Worth reading up on. Compared to the price of multi-thousand £ processors and amps it was a relative bargain and essential in awkward rooms.
I'll report back when the new sub arrives.
I'm also very much in the camp of "can't be bothered to start again" when it comes to setting up a whole new system so going to stick with what I have and hope that the new sub with the right setup does the job for both HiFi and AV. I'm pretty close already - now that I have iron out a few set up gremlins on the AV side - so I think all will be fine.
TorqueDirty said:
This exactly mirrors my thinking and my priorities regarding HiFi vs AV. Glad this setup approach worked for you too.
I'll report back when the new sub arrives.
I'm also very much in the camp of "can't be bothered to start again" when it comes to setting up a whole new system so going to stick with what I have and hope that the new sub with the right setup does the job for both HiFi and AV. I'm pretty close already - now that I have iron out a few set up gremlins on the AV side - so I think all will be fine.
Each to their own but I would say there’s a lot of convenience from having all digital sources in one place, all my CDs are in the loft because I’ve ripped them in lossless format, same with blu rays and DVDs. They sit alongside the usual streaming providers for film and music so I can watch or listen to whatever I want, when I want. The latest, high end AV amps are designed to do just this and ultimately blend your speakers together to provide the best sound for your room. They are not just for watching films.I'll report back when the new sub arrives.
I'm also very much in the camp of "can't be bothered to start again" when it comes to setting up a whole new system so going to stick with what I have and hope that the new sub with the right setup does the job for both HiFi and AV. I'm pretty close already - now that I have iron out a few set up gremlins on the AV side - so I think all will be fine.
For example https://www.sevenoakssoundandvision.co.uk/p-53879-...
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