Rel Acoustics S/510

For the S/510, every aspect of the previous generation's inner workings was reviewed without regard to its critical and customer-driven success. REL took a fresh look at power requirements, driver enhancements and specialised filters, and upgraded each one to extract all the extra performance possible. All this along with the refinements to the chassis necessary for these upgrades to arrive cleanly. This latest S Series is a triumphant development that has exceeded all the expectations of our design team.

REL's requirements were much stronger deep bass between 20-35 Hz, greatly improved theatre dynamics and an even more open and spacious sound field that benefits both music and film. Using NextGen3 amplifiers, tuned to 500 watts with large power reserves, REL added a lightweight carbon fibre film to the back of the element to handle the extra power and developed two new sets of custom filters to extract the utmost in pure power and space. Finally, the S/510 was provided with the ability to be stacked in 4- or 6-unit row arrays, just like the reference models.

The S/510 required upgrades to its ContinuousCast™ Alloy Cone in order for it to survive the massive power upgrades. To allow its thin aluminium cone to survive 500 watts and incredibly long stroke length, REL added an ultra-lightweight backing of pure carbon fibre strategically placed across parts of the rear surface of the cone. This provides two benefits; it strengthens and stiffens the cone and also eliminates reversion, whereby the backward wave inside the cabinet is now prevented from interfering with the bass output in the room. The result is more accurate and much stronger deep bass.

The 500W NextGen3 amplifier is borrowed from the previous flagship model and offers a huge reservoir of power and current. The power increase of 20 % (previous version was 400 watts) is needed to deliver the high output levels needed for modern theatre, as well as to produce the extremely deep bass of a high-end 2-channel system. This increase in power is necessitated by our development on the musical front of a brand new circuit called PerfectFilter™ that balances both frequency extremes.

PerfectFilter performs two seemingly different functions; extending the strong, smooth response from the extremely low end of the bass frequencies while opening up the air and delicacy of the mid and high frequencies in one's system. Plus, we used custom PureTheatre™ filters to let the S/510 keep up with modern theatre effects without breaking a sweat.

In the real world, bass occurs with width, depth and height. By stacking up to three units per side (stereo or theatre head L-R speakers), the correct perspective and height of sound events are highlighted. This elevates the reproduction from conventional stereo or theatre to a full-scale, floor-to-ceiling panoramic perspective of each audio event. Reviewers are lining up to marvel at the transformation of music and film into the full-scale representation that REL Line Arrays uniquely deliver.