Totem Arros - Tube Amps ?

I went through several amps with them as I played around with different setups.

I started with my old trusty Phase Linear 400, w/i about 3 months after I bought Sttafs went to a Parasound HCA-2200. Then to B&K M200s which is where I stayed mostly. I also have a Bedini 100.100 that I used with them on occaision.

I recently bought a pair of Mani-2's which now are in my reference 2-channel rig, the Sttafs are now the fronts in my home theater being driven by a B&K AV5125.

Finally I had them set up for a couple of months on an old Fisher X202 Tube integrated (18 w/c).

I had far more power than they needed in most of these amps. The Fisher actually did a really nice job on them, though I didn't try to push them, but it was really surprising how much volume, adn how clean it was. I was running them w/o a sub in the setup and the bass was excellent . . . in a pretty large room too.

I used only one Storm III and it's as much as I needed. My room is 14x24x8' ceilings.

As for connecting the Sub - with the Rel - you don't want to use a subwoofer pre-out even if you have one. Use the high level inputs, and connect the special nuetric cable to connect to the speaker outputs on your amplifier. It's very high impedance and uses no power - the amp doesn't even know it's there. Rel recommends this because this way the sub receives the same signal as your Speakers. You can connest 2 subs the same way, though I frankly don't think that would be the best use of your money. The Storm will preally pump it out.

Bdgregory,

Sorry for asking some silly questions. What are you referring to as "High Level Inputs" and are you referring to these inputs on your REL sub-woofer ? Also, does it mean you have two pairs of outputs on your Amplifier that allows you to connect one pair of outputs to speakers and another pair of outputs to Sub-woofer ? Do you mind simplifying this and explain me in a simple terms ? Please bear with an audiophile ignorant like me.

Thanks
Grakesh

Most subwoofers (I believe) have 2 input options - Hi level, and Low Level. Hi level inputs take signal from a Power amplifier, Low Level inputs take signal from the preamp. In the case of low level, it's always an RCA interconnect (and on the Rel they also have XLR Balanced). For high level inputs, you connect to your Power Amplifier's speaker output binding posts, and the oter end to the "high level input terminals on the Sub. For many subs, the high level input terminals are simply 5-way binding posts. The Rel uses a special connector - a Neutric Speakon connector.

My amp only has one set of binding posts (as most do) and I connect the Rel Cable to the same posts as my speakers. It's designed to be this way - and as I said, the amp hardly even knows it's there - electrically speaking. The other end of the Rel cable (is the subwoofer end) has a Neutric Speakon connector which plugs into the back of the Sub. Once connection is made, you need to set up the crossover and output level of the Sub. This is done by setting the controls on the Rel's amp panel and is described in detail in the Rel Manual. You can download the manual from the Rel website and read through their setup procedures - they're quite detailed and will also help explain the connections further.

hope that helps . . .

Bdgregory,

Thanks for patiently explaining the set-up process. I appreciate it.

By the way, I happened to come across a link on search that details this set-up process at a high level ...but they also express their opinion about this set-up. Thought it might be helpful to you. The link is:

http://ultimateavmag.com/speakersystems/1103sonus/

Thanks
Grakesh

Thanks Grakesh - interesting they would have that detail.

As for their opinions - all of their arguments *against* using high level taps apply for a Home Theater-Movie set up (ie 5.1, or 7.1), and none of them apply in a Stereo setup.

From my experience Rel's recommended set up using high level taps is far better, and easier to tune in a 2 channel application.

I'm inclined to agree with them for Home Theater, and actually I am using the low-level sub out (though not a Rel Sub) for my HT rig. One nice think about the Storm 3 is it can use BOTH taps at the same time. That is, you can connect using the high level inputs to your main amp outputs - this augments the low end extention of your mains, AND connect the low-level (RCA) to the Sub output on your HT pre-pro for LFE.