Performance Home Theater

Perhaps the most dramatic update in the entire HT range is delivered by the remarkable HT/1003 MKII. In theater, nothing impresses like raw output, even if you don’t use all of it. HT/1003 MKII’s increase in usable headroom confers an ease to the sound that lesser designs can’t compete with. Here, the new MKII version realizes a full 10 dB higher output (that’s twice as loud) over its forbear. As with its larger brothers, HT/1003 MKII receives the full suite of MKII upgrades. First, a higher secondary filter allows energy to extend further up the sonic spectrum means explosions are more savage than ever. Next, an all-analog PerfectFilter™ lifts and extends the deepest bass. Additionally, an analog subsonic filter filters out the signals that can lead to damage below 20Hz. All this is packaged in the same sexy, serious look that blends perfectly with the Serie T/x and S for use in HT-3D systems. Also, improvements to driver, amplifier, and filters means this latest version is now a seriously musical sub.

Designer Exterior

The sexy new cabinetry is bespoke, with new textures, proportions, and finishing touches previously unseen in the category. Lower, sleeker cabinetry borrows proportions drawn from the new Reference models. Through experimentation over the years, REL found that this results in a faster, deeper presentation of bass—all while looking smashing. The eye is immediately drawn to the top panel, which is finished in 5 coats of hand-polished piano black lacquer. A discreet REL logo floats within the top layer of lacquer, while the body of the cabinet is clad in horizontally streaked, line-grained composite. The entire affair looks expensive, bespoke, and tastefully restrained. Also, it can be combined with either Serie T/x or Serie S in large, fully-immersive REL HT/3D™ setups.

Drive Like You Mean It

HT/1003 MKII’s driver remains a 10” (250mm) CarbonGlas™ construct to keep its overall size reasonable in its role as the powerhouse for slightly more modest spaces. Every component was beefed up—improved in ways both large and small to deliver the greatest performance possible. Lightweight, stiff, and quiet, the combination of glass fiber primary cones with true carbon fiber centre caps results in a cost-effective yet pistonic cone. Larger, more powerful magnets produce greater energy. Upgraded suspension designs with enlarged surround to permit greater travel means output remains under control all the way to the limits of amplifier and driver. The result is prodigious output for this price point while remaining fast and liquid, as do all RELs.

Now Hear This!

Amplifiers do the dirty work and the heavy lifting in a theater subwoofer. REL turned to a true Tier One amp supplier to build their latest design and they didn’t disappoint. They created thicker boards, and upgraded power supplies—all the stuff that, while not sexy, results in a brutally powerful 300W amp (did you know all RELs are specified as RMS Continuous, just like a big, expensive 300 W monoblock amp?) with remarkable longevity. It generates truly awe-inspiring sound. While its theater applications get all the headlines, its big secret is that it sounds sublime in musical applications. Big and robust-sounding, the HT/1003 MKII is sure to become an instant classic.

PerfectFilters™: Where it All Starts

REL input filters are renowned throughout the audio world. They bring together ultra-fast analog crossovers, customer-designed elevation filters that extend the flatness of deep bass, and integrated limiters that allow all the power to explode outward. This compact series of analog circuits is REL’s secret recipe in both music and film sound. Refined in this second generation, the secondary filters used now allow extension to a much higher frequency, allowing the rarefaction of air in the sound of an explosion to feel that much more realistic. Additionally, their latest circuit includes an all-analog subsonic filter that begins as low as 12 Hz to minimize the effects of infra-noise from soundtracks that extends well below the resonance point of the driver. The result is incredible delivered power with the ability to play to the driver’s limit without distortion.

Wired For Sound: HT-Air

Wired for sound used to entail long runs of cable strewn across the floor. With the optional HT-Air™, great sound has become “un-wired.” Wire has been replaced by a tiny transmitter and matching receiver that sends an incredibly fast 5.8Ghz wireless signal up to 60 feet with no digital compression. This affordable circuit includes the same LSIC chip that powers their state-of-the-art AirShip II, minus the expensive analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog (DAC) convertors. The HT-Air is perfect for the .1/LFE signals using RCA connectors that are HT/1205 MKII’s primary mission.