New Rel T5i. Anyone heard them?

I came across this post while looking for user experiences with REL subs, of which I’ve owned a few, even recently made ones, and with which there has never been any type of problem.

That said, just want to warn potential readers that once again jafant is shooting his mouth off about off shore manufacturing without providing any objective evidence to support his claims.

Part of my job for years has been to evaluate and select Asian suppliers. I’ve spent a lot of time on factory floors in those countries, including China. There is good and bad. I’ve spent equal or more time on factory floors in America. Same thing, good and bad.

I’ll restate, I’ve owned several recent REL products, and other brands and products sourced off shore, and never had any problems, and never heard of any problems that also couldn’t arise with domestically-made (Western) products.

To state unequivocally, and with out objective evidence, that REL subs are junk-sourced, is just another asinine statement from this guy.

I have nothing at stake in this, just sharing factual experience, not some hot air opinion.

Readers, you decide.

To the OP: I can't compare the new model with old sound-wise, but can say that I'm very familiar with the T5i, having been around one for over a year, and it's always performed well, as well as being well made. Nice for a smaller room or system. Can't go wrong.

Also disagree with jafant.

To the OP:  Can't speak to the T5i, but have been using a T5 for several years with both Spendor s5e's and Omega SAM's and the REL has been great.  I liked it so much that I added a 2nd one about 2 years ago (so now one/channel) and that really filled things out even more.  As it only has a single 8-inch driver it's not hitting the lowest notes in an organ symphony (nor would I expect it to), but it does a pretty good job on most music - Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here' sounds fantastic, as does Mahler's 1st.  Remember, your mains still run full range, with the REL supplementing the lower frequencies (<120hz)

I cannot answer the question, but I suppose the differences will be relatively minor. More generally, it is a good idea to have two small subwoofers rather than one big (unless you want HT bomb sounds), for a smoother response over wider area. Accepted wisdom seems to be that it is better to use them in mono rather than one per channel. I would also strongly recommend using a room eq like the Antimode 8033.
And indeed, the idea that Asian products are of inferior quality is nonsense. I have seen too many shoddy UK or US products for that (and also many very good ones, of course).