Have REL managed to retain their world class, full fat bass with their new slim-line sub, despite its innovative chameleon-esqe, sleek design? Read our review to explore what makes the Habitat 1 a great match for your home cinema set up…
Designed to look like a radiator on the wall, the Habitat 1 is a master illusionist. With minimal presence in the room the Habitat 1 creates a strong bass response that lifts the experience of music or movies. The unit is only 4 inches deep and houses two 6.5 inch active pistonic drivers and a passive 10 inch driver. The two smaller drivers create a powerful, urgent bass that grips each moment with great definition. Supported by the 10 inch driver creating deep notes that underpin the entire soundstage.
The finished appearance of the REL looks fantastic, with its eight layers of lacquer in black or white it won’t look out of place in the most modern of homes. The simple but essential controls to customize the unit to your space are located on the top, this means easy access and no need to go fumbling down the back of a device.
Used in a demo with a Monitor Audio Silver surround package, watching The Revenant, there is one moment that highlights the value of having a REL. About ten minutes into the movie during a small skirmish, a rider-less horse canters wildly across the screen. The Habitat 1 produces such an accurate and penetrating base you would have to stand next to a real cantering horse to recreate the experience. Each hoof hitting the ground produces a profound sound and feeling of weight, gravity, horse and impact. Having watched this many times including in the cinema for its release, this is the first time this particular five second shot grabbed my attention in this way, multiply this across a whole film and you can see why the Habitat 1 is held in such high regard.
There is even more to be said for the cleverness of REL’s designs that apply across their range. Using their own LongBow zero compression wireless system, (included with all Habitat 1s) there are no untidy cables running around the room to worry about. The lossless, quick and clean signal transmits accurate information to the unit faster than most subs can react in a wired system. Being untethered from the system not only allows true freedom of placement for acoustic accuracy, but aesthetically it’s pleasing as well.
A rare but powerful tool in REL’s range is the speakon high level input. The speakon connects to the speaker terminals, giving the subwoofer an accurate timing for the passive system around it, it also grants an understanding of what range of frequencies are needed to blend perfectly with the speakers around it.
The REL Habitat 1 will not only please you visually, it will satisfy your every need in the bass. For a discrete setup it will transform a sub-sat or small bookshelf speaker’s sound stage. For a larger system the Habitat will add timing, an opening of the system’s voicing and a punch that turns most other subs into audio tumbleweed.
Author: Joe, Bath Store
