REL Acoustics S/850

Effortless Power, Tuned for Musical AuthorityS/850 is engineered for listeners who want uncompromising performance with a refined, musical touch. Drawing on innovations from our Reference line, it pairs an 850-watt Linear Class D amplifier with advanced CarbonAlloy™ drivers to deliver explosive dynamics, clarity, and effortless scale. Equally at home in high-end music systems or immersive theaters, S/850 brings control and confidence to medium-to-large rooms.

• 850-watt Linear Class D Amplifier for fast, controlled power delivery
• 12" CarbonAlloy™ Active Driver with 12" long-stroke Passive Radiator for depth and speed
• Optimized for music and theater systems in medium-to-large rooms
• Designed for stereo pairs and line-array configurations
• Optional premium wood grille available. Crafted from natural materials, each grille features unique grain and color variations

Stunning Design Meets Raw Power

S/850 stands as the benchmark of the Serie S line, with its design innovations shaping and elevating its three stablemates. Every improvement is sweeping and comprehensive, ensuring the entire Serie S family benefits from the advancements pioneered in the S/850.

The results are spectacular: it delivers incredible attack and output beyond even the former Carbon Special at the very limits of performance, yet with the precision, quietness, and clarity that produce true dynamic range. Lightning-fast transients, deep effortless bass, and tonal richness combine to deliver nuance that elevates both music and theater.

S/850 stands as the benchmark of the Serie S line, with its design innovations shaping and elevating its three stablemates. Every improvement is sweeping and comprehensive, ensuring the entire Serie S family benefits from the advancements pioneered in the S/850.

The results are spectacular: it delivers incredible attack and output beyond even the former Carbon Special at the very limits of performance, yet with the precision, quietness, and clarity that produce true dynamic range. Lightning-fast transients, deep effortless bass, and tonal richness combine to deliver nuance that elevates both music and theater.

Designed to be Perfect

The S/850 cabinet is longer, lower, wider, and deeper—proportions that give it a naturally dynamic presence. Subtle design details refine its look and feel: clean creases that catch the light, warm silver-gold badges with a titanium-like finish, and stainless-steel handles recessed into graceful ellipses. Beneath each front rail, precision-milled billet cylinders provide exact leveling, while thick internal aluminum slabs secure the handles for safe stacking in Line Arrays. Designed to complement modern interiors, the S/850 also offers an optional Premium Wood Grille, adding warmth and individuality.

Driven to Perfection

The S/850 is the result of relentless refinement. This progress comes not only from exploring newer, finer materials, but also from the thousands of hours of critical listening our team undertakes each year—experience that transforms raw engineering into musical and theatrical performance of the highest order. With every detail carefully considered, the S/850 delivers a level of power, nuance, and scale that redefines what’s possible in its class.

S/850 drivers now feature lightweight pure carbon-fiber center caps, replacing the solid aluminum moldings of earlier models. These caps reduce moving mass while stiffening the cone, resulting in explosive dynamics and the ability to resolve the quietest passages with delicacy and nuance. Feather-light yet rigid, they extend performance at both extremes—a hallmark of REL design.

Supporting this advanced active driver is a newly engineered down-firing passive radiator. Purpose-built to handle the extreme throw distances produced by the S/850’s more powerful amplifier and driver system. Its flat, primary-piston surface—crafted from carbon, glass fibre, and light, stiff closed-cell foam, represents an evolution of prior designs but is now 40% stiffer and significantly lighter. With over 2.4" (60mm) of travel in each direction, it expands dynamics and low-frequency authority, unlocking the full scale and impact of the S/850.

Monoblock Slam, Class D Efficiency

The S/850’s amplifier delivers the slam of massive Class A/B monoblocks while harnessing the efficiency of a modern Class D output stage. Supported by a robust traditional power supply, it produces 850 watts of continuous output and can surge to 1,000 watts during demanding peaks, ensuring ample headroom for both music and theater. Upgraded input filters, equipped with the same thin-film capacitors used in our flagship designs, introduce a new level of transparency and refinement previously unheard of in this class. Together, these advancements create dramatic improvements in clarity, sound staging, and sheer authority—an amplifier that blends brute force with finesse to anchor the performance of the entire Serie S line.

We choose analog because it is the only way to achieve truly natural sound. All REL input filters are 100% analog—among the fastest ever offered in a subwoofer. At the core is our renowned High Level Input, which connects directly to the speaker outputs of your main amplifier. This doesn’t draw power; instead, it carries the full sonic signature of your system, allowing REL to blend seamlessly with your speakers—a quality reviewers have praised for decades.

For systems where High Level isn’t possible, our low-level input uses the same analog filter circuit, available via both RCA and XLR connections, to deliver the speed, naturalness, and integration REL is known for. And in theater or dual-use systems, REL uniquely allows High Level and .1/LFE to run together—so music benefits from natural integration, while movies deliver the full impact intended by the mix.

Serie S Line Array

REL’s Line Arrays are revered for producing sound staging and dynamics that rival the world’s finest systems. Designed to grow in pairs, a Line Array can begin with a simple stereo pair, expand with a second, and ultimately rise to three units per channel, delivering floor-to-ceiling authority and scale. 

S/850 now features a precision-milled knurled aluminum adjustment knob integrated into the body rails. This knob allows the bottom subwoofer in a Line Array to achieve perfect level on uneven or soft flooring such as thick-pile carpets or dual-pad installations ensuring a safer, more stable foundation. Purpose-built exclusively for Line Array use, these adjustment knobs enable ideal setup and secure performance without compromise. (Note: 212 Black Label does not include these adjustment knobs.)

Wired For Sound…Wirelessly

Sometimes the best wire is no wire. Quality cables are a given in high-end audio systems, but there are occasions where it is impractical, unsafe, or unsightly to drape a cable across the room. REL delivers the ultimate solution with Airship Direct™, our optional wireless system that transmits wide-bandwidth, compound signals, carrying both High Level and .1/LFE simultaneously. Even with the scale and output of S/850, Airship Direct™ preserves the speed, transparency, and authority that define REL. It allows seamless transitions between music and movies without ever touching the controls, all from a single module that plugs neatly into the rear panel and stays invisible in your room. Simple, direct, uncompromised: Airship Direct™.