Older vs. newer REL subs

as i see it, the last word in pairing subs to main speakers should be from the maker of the mains - if you have bought into the mains 100% then follow his advice - you will hear what he intends for you to hear

that said, rel has been around a long long time, with many many very satisfied customers... they are true experts and specialists in the field and have not strayed from their central mission, it is hard to imagine their subs, past or present, to be lacking the controls to properly integrate into systems

done right, would imagine either path leads to excellent results

@jjss49  Absolutely right. There's a tendency in discussions to set up an "either/or" when in fact the better answer is "both/and." 

I’ve got about a months experience with the new t/7x. It is an incredible upgrade over the i/series. They are extremely fast, play fast and loud (if needed). Took my two channel office system to another dimension. It is definitely a permanent fixture in my setup. Even REL states the new 7x is the sweet spot sub outside of their reference line. Pull the trigger; you’ll be glad you did. 

I may go with REL yet. There’s pretty much a drumbeat for REL and I can understand why. I have a REL and it’s very musical and the company’s been extraordinary to work with, in terms of communication and support.

That said, I’m trying out a couple of Rythmiks. I placed an order yesterday, to be fulfilled (hopefully) in June. I have a trial for those. I have consistently found value in products that are not from very large companies with a lot of marketing, advertising, and dealer overhead. Quicksilver, Fritz, Salk, MHDT have all provided amazing value. That said, REL has the R&D and customer testimony (and economy of scale) to meet a very high quality metric, so I don’t discount their ability to hit the mark, too. Just a different path.

But for now I want to try Rythmik because I have spent a lot of time trying to integrate my REL -- especially dealing with room gain in the 70-80 hz spectrum. The lack of control I have over the REL is making this impossible. I need more control on the unit. But I don't want to spend $5000 a sub. (Or near that.)

Consider what is available in the Reference Rels --

Parametic EQ to (as the REL manual states) "cure certain room acoustics challenges"
The manual continues,

"Application: Most rooms produce room gain--higher output--in the upper bass region, typically in the 70-80Hz region. Generally speaking, most rooms have reduced gain in the low bass regions, somewhere in the mid-20’s to mid-30’s area. For this reason, we provide you the ability to produce noteworthy improvements in both trouble regions by gently cutting the higher bass frequencies and gently boosting the lower region.
To share our own experiences; while developing this filter set in our own studios, we found +2 dB at 25Hz and -2 dB at 43Hz (crossover frequency was set to 34Hz) produced evenness of output and the overall result was found to be much more consistent across the entire bass range. More impressive in long term listening were improvements in clarity extending all the way up into the upper midrange. This is clearly the result of a slight reduction in mid bass overhang that the 43Hz cut function provided."

The ability to deal with room gain at a price point I’m capable of is why I’m trying Rythmik, first, this time around.

Without having read the seventy plus responses I'd guess there are less than ten responses that have ever used any other subwoofer then their REL. You already have a REL.

I recall listening to a small pair of Salk Sound Veracity speakers at a show. They demonstrated their bass performance by cutting in a 12" Rythmik subwoofer. Those little speakers did very well on their own.

I managed to get much better texture from a large beautifully built $9K REL Stadium III locating it in the rooms main mode placing it on its side and slaving an optimized low level signal from another subwoofer.
Better than no sub at all is all I'd say about REL. Who rates subs at -6dB?

Forget the stereo. Crawl test and map your room for the two loudest modes. Place your Rythmik in, or close to one, and the REL in the other. Get two pairs of inexpensive long interconnects from Blue Jeans or Monoprice and use the L/R RCA outputs from the Rythmik to your REL. Now go beat your own drum.