Stereo Pair REL Subwoofer Placement

Why is placement important?

The correct placement of your REL can drastically enhance its performance and transform your listening experience. Every room is different, in terms of size, material used in constructions, and reflectivity These factors make up the acoustics qualities of your room. As sound is being played through the REL, low frequency waves travel throughout the room bouncing of materials and the walls.  The distance and angle of the REL to the wall can greatly impact the way these low frequency waves travel around the room and reach your ear. Essentially, the room is an instrument itself and the REL like your speakers needs to be tuned to the room.

Because RELs are engineered to produce foundational low bass, it is beneficial to place pairs into front structural corners, immediately behind the main front speakers. Turned inward toward the center of the room to a position that points directly or almost directly at the prime listening location. For stereo pairs, this basic approach of corner placement may work well. However, for larger RELs, especially in small or medium rooms, it may work best to place the subwoofers in close proximity to the main speakers, just behind and to the outside of main speakers. Doing so ensures that these larger RELs and the main speakers act like a single unified whole, and with 2 large RELs there is almost certain to be sufficient output, making corner placement unnecessary.

* These are recommended best practices for positioning a REL Subwoofer, always refine placement and angle by ear.

** To obtain optimal performance from a REL subwoofer and extend the performance of your speakers, your main speakers must be setup properly. Always follow the setup instructions from your speaker manufacturer first, before setting up your REL.