I need some advice & guidance please from you all. I am thinking of buying a REL T/zero Mk3 but am unsure how to connect the subwoofer to my SA30. I am thinking of low level as I don’t want to interrupt the high level (speaker signal) in any way so thinking of the Amplifier Pre-out for a low-level connection. The T/Zero has one low level & one .1/LFE level input, neither is marker left or right. So my question is, do I connect my pre-outs to these or am I missing something.
Hopefully I have made my confusion come over in the hope that someone can put me on the right track.
Thank you all
Hi Luke I had an older REL T5 plugged in to my SA30 and at times I switched between using both High Level and low level and both options worked great with my Dali Oberon 5.
The biggest downside is that you cannot high pass the lower bass from the SA30 so it still comes out of the speakers and the sub, but that is more a case of getting the sub dialed in for your speakers. That is an where the Bluesound PowerNode was way ahead of the SA30 even though the SA30 is miles ahead in terms of SQ.
So you can happily try both options and see which you prefer.
Good luck and enjoy the setup
Hi Mike, thanks ever so much for the quick response. That sounds promising cheers. Are you are to explain to me how to use the actual low level connections on the T/Zero Mrk III i.e. the ones labelled low level & one .1/LFE level inputs. Do I use both at the same time connected to the SA30 pre-outs? Thx in advance.
Hi Luke you just use the one cable, either L or R from the pre out, and use the other one on a second Sub if you really want to spoil yourself and get the party started.
If you do not already have one, buy yourself an Sub Woofer RCA connecting cable of the length required and plug it into the sub out (L or R) and into the Low level input of the Sub woofer (while the sub is powered off) and then turn it on and start to set up the cross over and volume level and off you go.
Some people use the LFE into their AV amps and just do not use them at the same time.
If you have the REL high level cable I would test that as well and see which you prefer
Thank you again for the explanation. Well I have gone for it and ordered the REL T/zero Mk3 and look forward to setting it up. I hope you don’t mind me asking you one more question please? When the sub is connected to only one channel, either high or low, it will only get the signal from either L or R; does that not mean than it only receives the relevant signal from one channel and it would loose out of the signal from the other channel. Hope that question makes sense Mike.
Thank you again and apologies if that is a silly question.
Sorry Luke I had a manic day yesterday and only just seen this.
It really does not matter if it is left or right as sub base non directional.
The general consensus is that two subs is better than one, but I never consider it related to stereo separation. But in my experience having only one sub and one channel setup has never been an issue in my experience. But if you go high level, unless you have mono blocks you can connect to both speakers anyway. Having done this myself I saw no real difference
I am currently bidding on a second REL Quake myself to have two small subs in my man cave
No worries at all. We all have jobs to support our HiFi addictions
I’ll give it a go with the high level connection first and see how we go. Good luck with your purchase too. Fingers crossed. BTW SSAV have a store closing sale so worth a look on their website if they have what you need.
I have a new REL T/9X. I use a high level connection as recommended by my dealer. My SA30 is pre-amp out to my PA240 (arcam). And i only i have 1 sub, so the high-level connection was recommended. I have to adjust the Gain and Crossover for each Input. Getting that dialed is most challenging in the beginning looking for that ‘tight, kind of flat & wide’ sounding bass. I suppose if i had 2 subs, i would need to use the LFE connection unless i could somehow Bi-Amp it.
Rel subs are designed to use the high-level input. The low level input should only be used for home theater applications,
The input impedance of the rel is so high that the sa-30 has no idea that you’re hooked to the speaker outputs, you’re also getting a cleaner signal and it’s same signal as as your speakers are getting, and no problems with delay. I’ve been using rels for 30 years the high-level connection is by far the best way to go for sound quality on music. Just my experience, as always enjoy the music
Also if you are going to use the pre out on the Arcam which I don’t recommend with the Rels, don’t drive the Rel with one pre-out from the Arcam. Get a y- adapter or use two cables from the Arcams pre-out into the left and right on the sub. Or use the y adapter into the lfe on the rel either way will work fine. Also it will give you more gain which will drive the sub better. Again the speaker level is superior than line level for the Rels. As always enjoy the music
Thx Norway for your input. Much appreciated. I am going to go with the High level connections as both you and Mike suggested. Will report back once I have had the chance to give it a try. Stay safe both.
This is not totally correct if you have a Rel with a low level as well as high level and HT input.
I have used both the low level and the high level on the same sub to good effect.
It can require a little more work to set up but it worked fine when I moved to a dual mono block and was struggling to connect the high level cables.
I still haven’t had the opportunity to try it, life does get in the way at the best of time hey. Promise to let you know how i get on. Your input is very much appreciated.
Good luck when you do
I managed to snag a second hand Rel Quake for my man cave and currently on the lookout for a second one now (I had not realized how close to death my Rel T5 was
Mainly been focused on getting new speakers for the main living room SA30s system and got myself some Spendor d7.2 yesterday and oh man they sound breathtakingly good.
Hi Mike & Norway. Hope you’re both well. I am finally getting down to connecting my amp and the REL up but have a question. Do I connect the black wire? As the SA30 is a class G amp I am not sure. Online it says on class a/b amp to connect the black wire to one of the Negative speaker terminals and on Class D amp it says to leave it out. Please advice chaps. Many thanks in advance. Can’t wait to give it a whirl. Luke
Red to left positive speaker connect and yellow to right positive speaker connect. Hook the black wire the ground, to the ground of the built in phonostage on the sa-30. You must hook up the ground or the sub will him like crazy. That’s it good to go. Enjoy!
Hi Greg. Thanks ever so much for letting me know. I wasn’t sure if our amp was seen as a Class a/b switching to Class G at High volumes and there the black cable would go to the negative speaker terminal or attach as you said to the ground of the built in phono stage on the amp. Appreciate the advice and I’ll give it a try. have a good weekend. Luke
Hi Mike. Glad you managed to get your second REL ground shaking Quake. Someone is going to have some fun this weekend. I did look at the videos online but got confused on what our amp is in terms of Class i.e. Class A/B or G. As I said to Greg above “I wasn’t sure if our amp was seen as a Class a/b switching to Class G at High volumes and therefore the black cable would go to the negative speaker terminal or attach as you said to the ground of the built in phono stage on the amp.” There wasn’t a definitive answer that made me feel; safe in terms of damaging the amp or the Sub. I’ll give Greg’s advice a go and see how I get on. Let us know how you get on too. Good luck. Luke
