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EnglishWhat REL Acoustics Is and What You Can Do on rel.net
Updated
REL Acoustics is a maker of powered subwoofers for stereo and home theater systems, and rel.net is its official online store and brand site. You can browse subwoofer lines, read the brand's history and artist interviews, and buy directly — the site states free shipping on all orders. If you are evaluating a subwoofer for a two-channel or surround system, the site is the primary source for the current lineup; if you want third-party measurements or comparisons, you will need to look elsewhere.
What REL Acoustics makes
REL builds powered (active) subwoofers — the amplifier is inside the cabinet, so the sub takes a line-level or speaker-level signal and drives its own woofer. The site positions them for both stereo and home theater use, and describes wireless capability as a feature of its home theater subwoofers.
The design philosophy stated on the homepage is a useful filter for whether the brand matches what you want: "When bass is done right, it disappears. Everything else comes alive." In other words, REL sells subwoofers as a way to complete a system rather than as a standalone effect. That framing matters if you are choosing between a sub that is meant to integrate unobtrusively and one bought for maximum output per dollar.
The product lines on the site
The homepage organizes the catalog into named series rather than a flat list. The main ones visible there:
| Line | How the site describes it | Who it is aimed at |
|---|---|---|
| Reference Series | "The pinnacle in subwoofer design and engineering… absolute maximum in power, finesse and beauty" | Highest-end systems; the page lists Reference No.36 at $12,000 and No.35 at $10,000 |
| Serie S | "A higher performance level than we have ever set out to deliver within our mid-level range" | Higher-end systems in medium to large rooms |
| Planar | "Redefines how bass lives within a room… flexibility and performance into perfect balance" | Rooms where a traditional subwoofer is impractical |
| HT series (e.g. HT/1205 MKII) | Shown in a partnered artist feature | Home theater |
Two things worth noting from this structure. First, the price gap is large — the Reference models listed are five-figure products, so the range is not a single-tier catalog. Second, Planar is the line the site treats as its newest category: an interview with John Hunter describes it as a subwoofer with an ultra-thin profile that can be wall-mounted, placed behind furniture, or integrated into living spaces where a conventional sub would not fit. If your constraint is floor space or a shared living room rather than raw output, that is the line to read first.
The site also lists accessories and add-ons, including a Premium Wood Grille (listed from $0 to $2,994) and an Airship Direct at $399.
What else the site offers beyond the shop
rel.net mixes commerce with editorial content, which is unusual for a subwoofer brand and useful if you want context before buying:
- Brand history — a feature on how REL began, tracing back to Richard Edmund Lord's first design in Wales and covering "over 35 years" of the company's approach.
- Designer and integrator features — for example a home installation by Hans Lorei showing Planar integrated into a living space.
- Artist features — a Toronto R&B artist, Jon Vinyl, paired with an HT/1205 MKII; and a launch listening event with Brendan Fallis in a New York home.
- Interviews — including a magazine interview with John Hunter on the Planar category.
These are marketing content, not independent reviews, so treat the performance claims as the manufacturer's own. Their practical value is showing real installation contexts — behind furniture, wall-mounted, in a normal living room — which is often the hardest thing to judge from a spec sheet.
How to use the site to make a decision
- Start from your room and system, not the price list. The site segments by room size and system tier (Serie S for "medium to large rooms," Reference for top-tier systems). Match that first.
- Check the Planar line if placement is your limiting factor. The wall-mount and behind-furniture options are the specific problem it is presented as solving.
- Read the installation features before the spec pages. Seeing Planar in a furnished room tells you more about whether it fits your space than a dimension list does.
- Buy through the official store if you want the free-shipping terms stated on the site; checkout is handled on-site.
What the site does not tell you
The homepage and the material available here do not include third-party measurements, direct comparisons against competing brands, or independent verification of the performance claims. Pricing is shown for some models (Reference No.36 and No.35, Airship Direct, the wood grille range) but not for every line, so you will need to open individual product pages for current figures. If your decision depends on measured output, distortion, or in-room response, plan to supplement what rel.net provides with independent testing.