Recently purchased a used REL T2 sub that came without the Speakon cable. I just got the Speakon connector from Parts Express but am not sure where each wire is attached on the connector. Anybody familiar with the wiring configuration on these cables? Which pin gets left, right and ground? Thanks.
Tim, according to several references that I found the speaker-level outputs of your Primare A30.1 are balanced, meaning that both the + and - output terminals have signals on them (as opposed to the - terminal being connected to ground in the amplifier).
Therefore you absolutely should not connect 1- or 2- to either of the - output terminals on the amp. If you were to do so you would risk shorting the signal on the - output terminal of the amp to ground, thereby damaging the amp (at worst), or triggering its self-protective shutdown mechanisms or blowing a fuse (at best).
The problem would occur if the amp and the sub both have 3-prong power plugs, and both components have ac safety ground and circuit ground connected together (as is commonly the case). In that situation a path would exist from the amp's - output terminal through the sub's internal ground to ac safety ground, then through the ac safety ground wiring back to the amp's internal circuit ground, resulting essentially in a dead short between the amp's - output terminal and amp ground.
What you should do is to connect sub - to the ground terminal on the back of the amp, or alternatively to a screw on the chassis.
Al, I was just getting ready to wire it up and thought I'd check here first. Whew, glad I did. I was a little concerned as the amp is dual mono configuration. Can I check the amp's negative terminals for continuity to ground with a meter? Or check for continuity between the negative terminals? Thanks.
I looked at the back of the amp and there is a large ground lug, actually looks exactly like the speaker binding posts except it's not gold. There is no continuity between the ground and the speaker terminals. Also, no continuity between the speaker terminals. Thanks so much for posting Al.
Can I check the amp's negative terminals for continuity to ground with a meter? Or check for continuity between the negative terminals?
I was about to post the following response when I saw your subsequent post, which makes this no longer relevant. But I'm submitting it anyway, as an fyi:
I'd feel very confident that doing either of those things won't hurt anything, but I'm hesitant to say that with 100.00% confidence.
What you could do instead, as a temporary connection arrangement to confirm that signals are present on the amp's - output terminals, would be to connect the + inputs of the sub to the - terminals of the amp (for each channel), and one of the - inputs of the sub to the ground screw on the back of the amp. If you hear sound from the sub with those connections, it would confirm that signals are present on the amp's - output terminals.
I'll try that tomorrow. Decided to hold off hooking it up until tomorrow. If I blow something up I'll be up all night thinking about it. Thanks again for your valuable help here.
Built the cable and decided to try it out on my Harman Kardon HK6350 integrated amp instead of the Primare. The cable works fine. My thanks to BRF and Almarg for the assist.
just took possession of a REL S5 sub today. Got it connected to the back of my amp correctly, only issue I'm not quite feeling any thump or oomph while playing music!!! I can hear the gentle bass but definitely not feeling or enveloped by it.
Ive got the speakon volume at 12 O clock and the crossover also at 12 O clock which would be 60 hertz.
Sub is located in a corner behind the right main speaker positioned diagonally.
I have owned two REL Stadium IIIs for years. Keep in mind that I use them along with Thiel CS5i’s (already relatively flat down to 20hz) and significantly large corner bass-traps in my room, so YMMV.
FWIW, here are my experiences:
1) They will not provide "thump or oomph" (except when used for HT via the XLR low-level inputs) when connected through the hi-level inputs. RELs are designed to integrate into your existing system seamlessly via the hi-level inputs from your amp(s). They load the room with ultra-low sound pressure that, when the REL(s) is set up correctly, will improve imaging and sound staging of your speakers as well as provide a more solid bass foundation below (and above, see 3 below) the crossover-point setting. If you are looking for "punch", JL Audio Fathoms are a better choice IMO.
2) The best (only?) way to judge the REL’s contribution is to listen with it engaged and then quickly shut it off mid-cut. A helper is useful here. You should notice (a sometimes subtle) loss of spatiousness of the soundstage and less extreme low bass. Switch it back on and listen. Switch off, listen. Over and over as you tune its placement and settings.
3) My RELs provide significant output above the selected setting for the cross-over point. Ignore the labeled settings on the knob (use them only as reference points when comparing settings). Start much lower than you initially think in volume and cross-over setting (60 hz in your case) and listen to musical material that you are familiar with, creep the setting up notch by notch until you "hear" the sub (see 2 above) and then back it off a notch (or two or three) on the fine adjustment knob.
4) Once you have the volume level and cross-over setting tweaked in (possibly wearing a path in your floor/carpet by this point), the effect of the REL should only be evident when switching it off, but you should definitely hear what is missing when you do so.
5) Try the REL with the phase switch in both positions (in-phase and out-of-phase) and listen to decide which works best in your situation.
6) The RELs also work to cancel standing bass-nodes in your room. I won’t get into that here, but following the above steps in tuning your REL to your system/room will encompass this as well.
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