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Review NaN of
Price Paid:
$1300.00
from Magnolia Hifi Summary:
After owning a set of Magnepan MG10's I found that my Paradigm PDR-12 was far too boomy on any material past 60hz. I then went in search of finding a better subwoofer. My first thought was go from a 12inch woofer to a 8 inch or 10 inch woofer and have the enclousure be sealed. I wasn't initially looking at spending $1300. Instead I was looking at something around the $400-$600 range.
So I went out to my local Magnolia Hifi and listened around. A 8inch Definitive Tech seemed to be the best offering at the time compared to a single 12inch M&K VX125. The M&K felt too thuddy and more of a movie than musical subwoofer. The Definitive Tech seemed musical.
After taking the Definititive Tech home I was still not pleased with the setup. It didn't really seem to go low enough, thougnt the speed of the subwoofer was much better than the Paradigm. After I returned the subwoofer to the dealer I decided that unless I was going to spend over $1000 on a subwoofer there was nothing that would meet my needs with the MG 10s.
Deciding that the MG10s were far to finicky for a 19 year old I went out and traded then up at Bradford Audio for a set of Magnepan MG12s. I had previously owned a set of MMGs and I was hoping that the MG12s would give me the bigger sound of the MG10s with the better bass repsonse of the MMGs. My theory was right on and I decided to keep the MG 12s and then go in search of a subwoofer.
The Magnolia dealer was surprised that I returned the Definitive Tech subwoofer. They suggested I bring in my Magnepans and give them a spin in the store that way I could listen to my own speakers in store and compare them. As well they could have a better estimate of what I needed for a subwoofer.
After the dealer listened to my speakers they understood why I was having problems with subwoofer integration. The Maggies are incredibly fast speakers in the bass section and need a subwoofer to augment the low end rather than just play all of the bass notes, and it must be as fast. The first sub they hooked up was a REL Q150E Mark II. Immediately I was shocked by the difference. The sub was well controlled and enchanced the better qualities of the Maggies. Rather than sounding like the Magnepans had a subwoofer hooked up, it sounded more like a larger set of Magnepans. This was exactly what I was looking for.
At a $900 on sale I was well over what I was wanting to spend, but I was far too impressed with the sub not to buy it. So I went ahead and picked one up. The Strata III at the time was around $1600. I had heard the Strata II before at a dealer, however I disliked the port noise generated by the sub and it seemed to be not powerful enough compared to the Storm II.
A few weeks later Magnolia calls me and tells me they have the Strata III's on sale for $1300 and I can get full price on the Q150 I recently purchased. So I went down to the dealer and had a listen. THe Strata III was a much more enhanced version of the Q150E. In the deeper area of bass, the Q150E would sometimes back down a little bit, where the Strata III would continue push furthur down. As well the Strata was much for powerful and dynamic sounding. When the subwoofer plays lower notes you know it is really hitting them, but the sub is not blowing the room up when it hits that low. The Strata III was much more musical as well and seemed to have more transparent bass that was in the room rather than hard hitting bass that sounded like a movie soundtrack. Plus the Strata III was a sealed enclousure and fixed the problems with port noise that hard hurt the Strata II and was much more powerful.
So I decided to get the Strata III. And I was completely happy with the setup, then I found a deal for a second Strata III and went ahead and purchased it. Now I have finally been able to solve all bass issues I ever could have had. To be honest one Strata III was enough, but the addition of the second just made the bass sound deeper and even more transparent sounding.
Overall I could not be happier with the sub setup and I will not be looking for a new subwoofer solution anytime soon, infact I will probably keep these subs until they die and then just get them repaired. Rel has a real killer here on the Strata III and two Strata IIIs is probably the best anyone can do for subwoofers unless your willing to spend enough to buy a new home. I would even say the two Strata IIIs would kill anything else in the Rel lineup. But don't worry about getting two Stratas for good bass. One will be more than enough to make anybody happy or at the minimum impressed with the quality of sound that this subwoofer provides to both bass and the soundstage/presentation of your loudspeakers. Strengths:
Incredible Speed
Can play down to the lower range of bass
Strong Amplifier
ABC dial in setup makes it easy to install
Blends in with any speaker
Augments the lows and enhances good characteristics of the system Weaknesses:
None, especially in this price range. Similar Products Used:
B&W ASW 600, Paradigm PDR 8-12, M&K VX125, M&K MX-60, Definitive Tech ProSub 80, Rel Strata II, Rel Q150E Mark II
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