REL Carbon Special proves hard to resist…

Jason Kennedy for HiFi+ is impressed with REL's Carbon Special subwoofer—finding their effect on his listening enjoyment difficult to give up…

See some highlights below, read the review in full here and for more detail and tech spec, visit our product page here.

"Improving so much on midrange and treble coming from a large floor-standing speaker by using a subwoofer might look like cheating to many. It is not.”

"The Carbon Special appears to fill in the fine detail so much that turning it off creates an impression of something missing”

“…the presence produced by the Carbon Special is off the scale, and the rumble in the chorus is sublime”

"Another impressive virtue of the Carbon Special is a sense of the greater wealth of information being presented in an entirely coherent fashion”

"the orchestra expanded before me creating a vast vista of sound that felt more complete and solid, yet smoother, so much so that the level could be cranked a slightly higher than usual without apparent distortion.”

“…there was also a stronger sense of bass extension well beyond the main speaker’s reach, so any track with low-end power was much more substantial, but not overblown”

"The result (with the 802 D3s) was too enjoyable to stay away from, especially when I started playing some vinyl”

"It was at this point I realised I’d need a stomping mat if I wasn’t going to wear out the carpet.”

"Placement is a factor, but not as big a one as I had expected"

"If you already have a decent system, have some understanding about the harmonic behaviour of the frequency range, and are looking to get more fun out of your music collection, this is probably the least expensive and most comprehensive way to do it. “

"I was genuinely smitten with results achieved by the REL Carbon Special “