It’s not just about bass, brah.
A demo of REL’s line array, six-pack subwoofer system to the uninitiated always begins with the same track – Ella Fitzgerald’s “Miss Otis Regrets.” The reason I picked this track is that it has no low bass to speak of. What, a subwoofer demo that doesn’t start with pounding electronica, or that way overplayed Chris Jones song that you’ve heard everywhere, way too many times? No, because Ella illustrates what a REL line array delivers that no other subwoofer does. It adds depth, texture, and low-frequency harmonics in a way that you’ve never experienced before. I guarantee it.
To those unfamiliar with the way REL handles the lowest of frequencies, your first thought upon seeing all those cones in a six-pack array (6 active drivers on the front face and 6 passive ones on the bottom face) might be strictly about the amount of air these two stacks can move. This is not the only thing, however, that a REL line array is about.
Moving on to a great test track with major bass extension and impact, Mickey Hart’s “The Eliminators,” from his At The Edge disc. This begs to be turned up loud. Really loud so you can feel those big drums push your chest cavity in. This is the magic of the six-pack. Regardless of the volume level or program material, it takes your system to a level it has never quite reached.
That’s what makes the $5,000 each Carbon Special Black Label ($30k, if we’re doing all six) worth every penny. In the context of a $600k – plus system, the main question when going to a system with the array, and a system without: “Are the RELs bringing another 5% to the table?” Everyone having the chance to audition my main reference system, anchored by the Clarisys Auditorium Plus speakers ($190k/pair), in a 24 x 26-foot room answered with a resounding “yes.”
But in reality, it brought the tonality, resolution and focus of this world class system up by at least 30-40%. I’d say 100%, but then you’d call me a fanboy. So we’ll call it good at 40%
Even bringing up the foundation of a much more modest, yet by no means inexpensive system, consisting of a pair of $30k YG Acoustics Carmel 3 speakers, the $30k REL array still more than doubles the experience, and as part of a system costing a bit more than $100k, it is still well worth the cost.
The paradox
While a single REL Carbon Special (this is the latest version – the Black Label model, due out as you read this) will still add a tremendous amount of musicality to your system, and $5k is probably a lot more reasonable and approachable than $30k, this review centers around the full line array.
I have used a six-pack of no.25s in my last reference system with incredible results, as well as a six-pack of the S/510s in system two for a few years now. Up until recently, a single (original version) Carbon Special has been in the main system. Getting the whole array to mate with the huge Clarisys panels has been an exciting proposition. To the rest of you that don’t use panel speakers, it’s safe to say that if the RELs will integrate transparently with a pair of big ribbon speakers, they will do the same for you.
The irony of the situation is that a solitary REL delivers enough sheer output to bring 60-80% of the weight that a six-pack does, but this isn’t about bass weight, and merely moving air. The REL array is about nuance. You can add a larger turbo and increase the boost on a turbocharged 3-series BMW to get 500+ horsepower. That’s easy. But it won’t deliver the drivability, control, and throttle response that you get from a Porsche 911 GT3RS or a Ferrari 458. Torque everywhere and a low 3-second zero to 60 time isn’t like a 500+ horsepower, normally aspirated car, with a 9,000 RPM redline. Both are fun; one is sublime. The REL array is beyond sublime, if a word even exists for that. The truth is, you can start with one or two, but to get the experience, you need six.
A quick side note
If you are not familiar with the way REL implements their low bass strategy, here’s a quick overview. They take a high-level output signal from the speaker terminals of your power amplifier (which does not load down the system in any way, as it is at about 100k ohms) instead of using a line-level signal from your preamplifier. In an array configuration, they merely daisy chain one to the other, with each sub having its own level and crossover adjustments.
Their approach is to run your system full range, feathering the output of the subwoofer(s) up to match your main speakers. Not only in level, but in character, because they are fed from the speaker outputs. They do offer line-level and LFE inputs if that’s the only way you can roll, but having tried it all three ways, just to satisfy my curiosity – speaker-level is the way to roll for optimum effect. It’s still good, but not as close of a match because you are no longer matching the sonic signature of the sound going directly to the speakers.
This is why a correctly set up REL array blends seamlessly with the main speakers. If you can hear the sub(s) as a separate entity in your system, you’ve got it set up wrong. It’s that simple.
Setup and installation
I’ve often referred to the finish on a REL by borrowing the famous quote from Nigel Tufnel in Spinal Tap, saying, “How much more black could this be?” Yet the new Carbon Special Black Label is even more black, and even more elegantly finished, if that’s even possible.
The reason it’s so beyond black, is not just the shade and shininess of the finish, it’s the depth. When you look at a REL sub in the most harsh sidelight (to expose any surface roughness), you’ll notice there is none. Try that on a $300k Porsche. The finish on a REL is like that on an Aston Martin or Bentley. Perfect, flawless. No imperfections whatsoever. REL’s designer, John Hunter, is a perfectionist about quality, and like me, an OCD car enthusiast if there ever was one. “We do it the old-fashioned way, with a special primer, a lot of careful sanding, and more careful sanding between each one of the eight coats of black. It takes three days to make a Carbon Special Black Label cabinet.”
The Carbon Special Black Label features a new wood-slatted grille, or you can order a black fabric grille. In my system, the black cloth provides a perfect level of understatement. Or you can go sans-grille, exposing the beautiful carbon fiber driver. REL claims the hardwood grilles take nearly a week to build by hand, and increase the airflow compared to the fabric grilles. We will get a set in at their convenience and provide a follow up on this. (Image courtesy of REL…)
Even the decorative, machined stainless steel curved handles on the side of the Carbon Special Black Label are anchored by thick, internal aluminum plates, making it easier to lift the new model, which is now 20 pounds heavier than the original Carbon Special.
Now that I’ve been through the procedure several times, it’s easier to describe what happens in the process of installing a REL array. It is critical to confirm that your main speakers are set up to perfection before proceeding – even if this means spending a day or two fine-tuning them further before starting with the subwoofers.
At close to 100 pounds each, the new Carbon Special Black Label is just heavy enough that you will probably want to enlist a friend to lend a hand, especially when hoisting the 2nd and 3rd on top of the array.
The first cube is the anchor of the system, providing much of the actual weight. Because we have the sheer output that the array provides, we can disregard the standard REL instructions for corner placement (taking advantage of room gain) and focus on integration with the main speakers. This usually ends up being slightly behind and off to the side of the mains in my listening room, as it is here.
As you will be placing two more 100-pound cubes on top of your bottom subwoofers, make sure that your floor is perfectly level. If it is not, notice that the Carbon Special Black Label has heavy duty, machined, knurled billet cylinders that can be easily rotated to achieve perfect balance.
Once the output level, crossover frequency, and phase are determined, moving on to the other side (though I always start with the left side) of the system and duplicating perfect integration with the main speaker gets the lion’s share out of the way. Mr. Hunter always uses a combination of tracks, centered around the Sneakers soundtrack, and Jennifer Warnes’ “Ballad of the Runaway Horse.” I’ve heard these tracks hundreds of times now, and because of Hunter, I use them myself. As my old pal Lew Johnson from Conrad-Johnson used to say, “Find a couple of excellent demo tracks for setup that you don’t love, because you won’t love them after you’ve played them about 500 times.” That said, I still love Ella. But a tool is a tool is a tool. And no, we didn’t play “Chocolate Chip Trip.” That’s becoming as much on the don’t play list as Patricia Barber around here. Ha.
With the anchors in place, the next step, is to place the next cabinets on top of the bottom woofers. REL provides anchor plates and hex bolts to make sure everything is secure. When you’re playing your favorite heavy tracks at mega volume, those subs can move around on that shiny finish.
Unplugging the bottom subs, the middle ones are adjusted to provide the sock in the array. As Hunter is fond of telling me, “You don’t hear a gunshot from a little cube in the middle of nowhere. You experience low-frequency energy from all around.” These two subs are crossed over just slightly higher than the bottom two, but slightly louder.
After careful fine-tuning, they are unplugged, and we move on to the top two. This is really where the magic happens. When set to perfection and the entire array engaged, the already large soundfield generated by the 7-foot-tall Auditoriums expands dramatically in all three dimensions. A friend dropped by the other day to listen, and as he was pacing between the speakers, agreed with me that it was like swimming around in a giant pool of music. Once you’ve experienced it, you can’t go back.
It’s also worth pointing out, that if you are a heavy vinyl listener, installing a line array of RELs may have you rethinking the physical setup of your turntable. With this much low-frequency information now available, your current iteration may need some assistance. I know mine did.
REL supplies the necessary cables to connect the Carbon Special Black Label to your amplifier, but you will need to contact your dealer for the short cables that go between the individual subs in the array. In the event that you just can’t run another pair of cables in the room, sometimes the best wire is no wire. Quality cables are a given in high end audio systems. Wire matters, quality connections can be the difference between sonic indifference and magic. REL delivers the ultimate solution (optional) for this challenge. Airship Direct™ delivers wide bandwidth, compound signals such as delivering High Level and .1/LFE simultaneously. This allows for never having to adjust volume levels when moving between music and movies. All this is done via a single Airship Direct per channel, even when used in a Line Array. And it plugs directly into a socket on the rear panel, invisible from the room.
Further listening
The total effect is indeed incredible. After revisiting at least about 100 of my favorite tracks that are more on the bass heavy side, just to feel it, more serious listening sinks in. If it’s your first time with a REL array, you’ll notice that tracks you thought you knew intimately take on a new level of involvement. (Another justification for the expense) Some catch you off guard. Not only can your system reach levels of low frequency extension that you might not have thought possible, the amount of textural information now at your disposal is truly staggering.
The synth bass at the end of Prince’s “Here on Earth” (From Prince – 1 Nite Alone, Prince and Solo Piano) has a level of sustain and variability that didn’t exist before. Not only does the bass hit harder than ever with Snoop Dogg’s “Gin and Juice” (from Doggystyle), but the additional depth to the system also makes the backup singers’ cooing, “yeah…” sound like they are sitting right in your lap.
Playing Jeff Beck’s “Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers” (From Jeff Beck, Performing Live This Week at Ronnie Scott’s) at concert level in my room now feels incredibly close to what the late guitar icon sounded like when I’ve seen him up close at multiple venues over the years.
Regardless of the music you love most, it will come alive with a REL array like you have never heard it before. If you consider it for a minute, some companies charge more than $30k for a pair of AC power cords. Framing the six-pack in this context makes it the best value in high-end audio. Wrap your brain around that for a minute.
And on and on. With so many internet pundits claiming that “no matter how much money you spend, you’ll never recreate the level of a live performance in your listening room,” adding the REL array makes it damn close. I say this as a veteran of hundreds of shows. This is convincing stuff here.
Even though it looks like the outgoing model to the untrained eye, everything is different. John Hunter never introduces a new model solely for the sake of creating a new SKU. It has to be demonstrably better, outperforming the old model by a significant margin to warrant a change.
What makes it special
Great as all this is, there is a lot lurking underneath the surface. Borrowing from the ratios in the Reference models, everything here is built to a tighter tolerance than ever before.
The new REL Carbon Special Black Label is not only a significant upgrade from the past model, it is really closing in on the performance level of their two reference subs – the no.31 and no.32. Reflecting on my experience with the no.25s, the no.31 and the previous Carbon Special, I’d say that this is the way to go if you don’t have the room for a full six pack of 31s or 32s.
A big part of this springs from REL’s all analog input filters. Second in speed and transparency only to the ones built into their two Reference subs. Their 900 watt power amplifier combines near class D efficiency, yet is an AB design, that only uses 40 watts at idle. The power transformer alone in the new Carbon Special Black Label weighs 15 pounds, and along with additional heat sink area can deliver up to 1250 watts for an extended period of time if required. (photo courtesy of REL)
Finally the 12” all-carbon driver handles three times more peak power than the one it replaces. It’s 60mm (2.5”) fore and aft motion combined with a dramatically improved suspension makes for improved low frequency reproduction from soft to loud and everywhere in between.
The value proposition is tremendous. In the context of my system, with the large Clarisys panels, it’s sheer perfection. If you’ve been reading TONE for any length of time, you know these are not words I use casually. The new Carbon Special Black Label does everything the old one did, but better, faster, and more refined in every aspect. Just as I always wonder how Porsche keeps finding 30 or 40 more horsepower in the next generation 911, I wonder how REL keeps making such exceptional products even better in such a dramatic way.
In nearly 25 years of experience with many of the world’s finest audio components, the REL Carbon Special Black Label Six-Pack Line Array offers a more engaging musical experience than I’ve ever had the pleasure of enjoying, anywhere at any price. Say that ten times as fast as you can.
As I’m driving him to the airport, Hunter mentions that there is “a certain very wealthy man in Europe” who has a large room and a ten-pack of Carbon Special Black Labels in his system. With a wry smile on his face, he says, “You never know…”
Brah, you need em. All six. Or maybe ten.
Peripherals
Digital Source dCS Vivaldi ONE
Analog Source SME 20 w/4.5i arm and Hana Umami Red cart
Phono Pre Pass Labs XP-27
Preamplifier Pass Labs XS Pre
Amplifiers Pass Labs XS 300 monoblocks
Speakers Clarisys Auditorium Plus
Cable Cardas Clear, and Clear Beyond. Cardas Iridium to the array
