REL Studio III vs. JL Audio Fathom 113

I had the F113, and thought it was fantastic; deep, very very fast and woderfully built. But I switched to another sub and eventually ended up with the Rel B1. I have never found it slow at all, could just be my set up, but I think it's the fastest sub I have ever had. It could be the crossover options are just so much better with the high level amp input. I played with that for a long time to get it right, and I have the Rel set a the lowest crossover point I have ever used with a sub, and it just integrates beautifully. I think the Rel is the best of the many subs I have owned. It's even faster than the Vandersteen 2wq, and that was always my standard for fast bass respose.

I'd be worried that adding one sub, let alone two subs to your wonderful system might overwhelm things. I have a room, almost identical in size as yours, and when I tried to use just one REL Storm sub with my previous full range speakers (Dyn C4's) the bass overwhelmed the room and muddied things up. However, I had good success in the same room incorporating the same sub with other speakers that where not quite full range. I recommend you get an in-home trial or 30 day money back deal before you commit.

I have a REL Stadium III and have only heard the Fathom in a dealer's HT setup. More than likely, The REL will **ultimately** integrate better with your main speakers, but the Fathom will probably work better for "plug and play" and should help improve issues with problematic room modes without resorting to acoustical room treatment.

It takes a LOT of work to get the REL located and setup right and Xti16 is correct that replacing the REL hi-level cable with a better aftermarket one (I like the Synergistic Research Tesla Rel Spec) will greatly improve its speed and transparency. The right power cord is needed too.

However, in my situation, bass traps were necessary with the REL to minimize the "slow and rich" characterisic you describe. Prior to adding the bass traps, I migrated to the REL's lowest crossover setting (A1=22hz) to minimize undesireable bass enhancement (just to get the improvement in soundstaging and ambience). With the traps in place, I can actually tune the rooms bass response surgically with the crossover settings to get significantly improved bass linearity. It was all worth it for me.

The REL will amaze you with its ability to enhance "recorded ambience". When switched off, the soundstage shrinks and the overall sound seems anemic. Don't know if the Fathom does this as well.

Bottom line: If you are open to a lot of tweaking (including acoustical room treatment), go with the REL. If not, get the Fathom.

Hopefully, Teajay will jump in with his thoughts before the end of the day. If you want a quick subwoofer, check out his review: http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?rspkr&1239128112

Chuck

I've currently got one Fathom 113 and love it. It was a breeze to set up and integrate. Although the manually says an external Xover is better, I do use the HF trim and cut it off around 40 hz with very good success with my Avalon Indras. I also remove some of the lowest bass frequencies as it can overwhelm my 14x18.5 room. I don't know how much better it would be with an external Xover, but it integrates perfectly with my Indras without one.