REL Acoustics isn’t launching anything new this week, but with summer in full swing it’s the perfect moment to put a spotlight back on one of the boldest products in its range. The REL T/9x SE is the top model in REL’s T-series, and unlike most subwoofers it comes dressed in colour: French Racing Blue, Le Mon Yellow, Green With Envy, Tangerine Dream and Italian Racing Red. If a black box under the sofa never felt like a style statement, REL T/9x SE is built to change that, and its bright palette makes it an easy match for a summer living room refresh — a very different proposition from the wall-mounted, understated REL Planar series. REL clearly wants T/9x SE owners to think of it less as hidden hardware and more as a piece of furniture worth showing off, right alongside the rest of a colourful summer room.
REL T/9x SE: Five Colours to Match the Season
Every REL T/9x SE starts life as a standard T/x cabinet, but the Special Edition treatment goes well beyond a coat of paint. REL says the badge on top alone takes three days to finish, and each solid billet aluminium foot goes through a three-day chroming process, with copper, nickel and chrome layered one coat at a time and left to set for a full day before the next is applied. It is the kind of finishing normally reserved for hi-fi components that never leave a rack, applied instead to a subwoofer that is meant to be seen rather than hidden in a corner.
Serious Bass Behind the Bright Finish
Underneath the colour, REL T/9x SE is still very much a T-series subwoofer. A 300-watt Class A/B amplifier drives a 10-inch long-throw FibreAlloy driver with an inverted alloy centre cap, backed by a 10-inch down-firing passive radiator for extra depth. REL quotes a low-frequency extension of -6dB at 27Hz, and the T/9x SE can be ordered as a single subwoofer or, for larger rooms and stereo purists, as a matched pair for genuinely dual-mono bass.
Built for Any System, Not Just a Showroom
REL positions the T/9x SE for both stereo listening and home-theater duty, and reviewers have picked up on the same fast, controlled character that runs through the T-series. Hi-Fi+ called the driver upgrade “an exciting development for the company,” while Audiograde praised how seamlessly the T/9x SE integrates with the main speakers. None of that changes with a bright finish: REL simply gives listeners who want a splash of colour in their listening room a way to get REL’s fastest T-series bass without hiding the subwoofer away behind a sofa or a rack.
Pricing and availability
The REL T/9x SE is priced from £1,549 for a single subwoofer in any of the five Special Edition colours, available now via rel.net and authorised REL dealers. A stereo pair is also offered, though availability varies by colour and REL currently lists some pair configurations as sold out, with a notify-me option for restocks.
Key specifications
- Amplifier: 300 watts (RMS), Class A/B
- Driver: 10 in. long-throw FibreAlloy cone, inverted alloy centre cap, steel chassis
- Passive radiator: 10 in. down-firing
- Low-frequency extension: -6dB at 27Hz
- Dimensions: 14.5 x 13.4 x 15.5 in. (370 x 340 x 393mm)
- Colours: French Racing Blue, Le Mon Yellow, Green With Envy, Tangerine Dream, Italian Racing Red
- Configuration: single subwoofer or stereo pair
- Price: from £1,549
