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Rythmik or REL Subs to pair with Totem Element Metal V2?

I'm looking at one REL S/810 or two Rythmic F12SE subs as that works out to be about $3k total which is my budget.

What I'm looking for is more low-end growl, weight, and visceral punch - in proper proportion.   I want a bass guitar to sound like a real bass guitar and I want to fill in the bottom end.   The Totems are awesome from about 60Hz up, but they just don't move the air at the lowest end.

My current rig is:

Xfinity Modem ->AQ Vodka-> LHY SW8 switch ->AQ Vodka-> NAD M33 ->Cardas Cygnus Biwire-> Totem Element Metal V2.   Power cables are AntiCables L3, AC filtering is a Panamax 5300.

My room is 32' wide, 17' deep with the speakers along the long wall. with the front baffles about 18" out from the wall.   Some spousal-approved room treatments are in use.   Also, and importantly, I'm in a high-rise condo, so I don't want to be inadvertently massaging my neighbors with pounding bass.

Any recommendations or thoughts?

noodlyarm
2psyop's avatar
2psyop
1,502 posts
 

 Dual stereo Rythmik stereo F12SE with paper GR Research drivers. I agree with others here. The integration with your speakers can be more flexible and I agree the output is not extremely loud but accurate. I think REL makes good subs as well though.

Post removed 
noodlyarm OP
89 posts
 

I’ve been emailing with the people at Rythmik and they are talking me into dual E15HP2 subwoofers.   I’ll place the order tomorrow, barring unforeseen problems.

Fingers crossed and Merry Christmas to me.   And Happy Holidays to you all.  Thank you for your cogent advice.   Give me a few weeks (I hope) and I’ll report back on how it sounds. 

coralkong's avatar
coralkong
591 posts
 

Nice! Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

noodlyarm OP
89 posts
 

I just wanted to close the loop and report on what I did….  Ok, I went with the dual Rythmik E15HP2 subs.   Adjustments and controls galore.   I can’t imagine being unable to pair these with about anything.   Following the Rythmik guide, I had these setup and plating within minutes with my Totem Element Metal V2 mains.

After a week of continuous low-volume playing, I retweaked them and got them pretty dialed in.   Then I enabled Dirac Live and did my in room analysis.   From top to bottom my in-room measurements were remarkably flat.   Just a. minor dip below 30Hz and another dip at around 14,000Hz.   The high frequency dip didn’t bother me (probably above my hearing range anyway).   Regardless, I fixed that right away with Dirac, then turned off Dirac and made the low frequency adjustments on the sub itself.   Perfect!

Just a note here, that to my ears, the trick was to keep the volume on the subs low enough that they compliment the Totems.   I don’t want to hear the subs, I just want to hear the music.

The Totems are great speakers and punch well above their MSRP.   They go down to 30Hz in my room where they fall off a cliff.   No sweat, I set the crossovers to 40Hz and let the subs pickup the bottom registers.

The imaging improved, the fullness of the music improved and most notably the micro-details really improved.   That growl and percussive nature of bass guitar is really present, and I like that.   

All in, I’m very satisfied with my Rythmik and Totems.

The rest of my system is a NAD M33, LHY SW8, Cardas cables, Morrow cables, Anitcables, and Audioquest.

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