Back to the drawing board

good on ya, have fun on vacation !!!!!
the fact that your sub is still in production all these years later after countless upgrades, investment by Vandersteen and now with 11 band EQ should speak octaves about the quality and suitablility for many systems. The others you are considering are also without doubt good.
Thanks for the setup tip Duke.
cant agree more, bass, especially in the 50-70 HZ range varies wildly....just play Steely Dan - Two against Nature...that will get ya running to dial it back !!!!! but what a great album...ha

You can use Worst Buy to shop prices, but I'd never advise you to use them to demo any speaker for SQ. Unknowledgeable sales staff, random setup, and all the rest of Worst Buy's other business practices rule them out for a serious listening experience. Correct setup is most important for speaker audition, especially subs.

Plus, a little advice from someone that's been there - go for 2 subs if at all possible.

I use 2 REL subs...one (a Q108MKII down-firing 8") is in a fixed position behind my left main speaker nestled in a corner created by a gas fireplace...sounds great...the second sub (Q150e 10" front-firing) is next to my right main speaker and it's using vinyl "spikes" that allow it to be moved around the wood floor easily and often...closer to the main speaker, further back toward a corner, stuck in a window for deck bass. etc. All work perfectly, and all tuned to my listening spot...standing waves or other unwanted bass anomalies in other parts of the room have zero impact on the sweet spot. I turn the sub levels up and down a little here and there, and they really compliment my Klipsch Heresy IIIs that have clear and coherent bass but only to 58hz or so.

I feel most people do not understand REL's technology.  I listened to a pair of Vienna Acoustic Mozart's at Soundings paired with one REL S3.  When he unplugged the S3, I was unable to hear much of a difference.  Then he asked me what did I notice.  I responded by saying the vocals sounded more 3 dimensional and clear.  He told me I finally got it.

What is nice about Soundings in Denver is they specialize on master setting speakers and adding REL subwoofers to every system they sell.  He demonstrated Master Set by moving one of the speakers out of place.  I suddenly heard both right and left speaker.  He also had to raise his voice significantly playing this track at the same volume level.  He then set the right speaker back into place and it suddenly sounded more relaxing.  The sound was being projected between the speakers and he was able to talk to me at conversational level.

We then went back to the REL S3 and I was able to hear a larger size sound stage.  It sounded more 3 dimensional.  I was not able to hear a heart pounding bass beat.  It just sounded seamless.

I contacted John Hunter at REL and I was totally surprised when he responded.  We had two other emails where he explained how his technology works.  I have a L-Shaped living room with dimensions 13.5 Feet x 18.5 Feet that opens to our dining room with room dimensions 195 feet x 12 feet.  He as well as Soundings told me instead of adding one REL S3 to my system, I needed to add two T/9i's located in the corners behind left and right front speakers and play them in stereo.

I now plan to have Soundings do the master set and add the T/9i's.  Fortunately, Soundings is considered to be one of the best at master setting speakers in the country according to John Hunter.  He also told me he considers Soundings to be one of his most accomplished REL retailers in the country as well.

Yep, great subwoofer integration is amazing.
 You don't need a very expensive sub, but you do need great configuration.