Hi Superfly676,
Owning both REL's (an R205 and R305) and Velodynes (2* SPL1000R), I offer my .02 cents for a point of reference . . .
I am running two the Velos in my living room where they are doing double duty as in 5.2 HT and 2.2 two channel guise. No complaints whatsoever and, frankly speaking, with my (nearly) full range tower FocusAudio FS-888's going down to a solid 30 Hz, they don't really need much help. However, in my home office two channel system, the importance of the a sub's musical performance was the priority.
Before buying the REL's, and already having the 2 Velo's, my first instinct was to go with a Velo DD. To my ears and it didn't sound that much different than the my SPLR's. That is not a bad thing as I love the Velo's. After hearing quite a few other brands, and hearing so much about the MJ's and REL's 2 channel leaning sound, I thought that it best to give them a listen.
Actually, only in the market for a single sub for my home office system, I very much wanted to go with the MJ given their reputation and very appealing aesthetics that match the decor in the room. What I found was that, while the MJ's sounded nice and tight and build quality top notch, ultimately, I found the new REL's to be tighter and faster - among the best bass I've heard. Long story short, I ultimately chose REL despite it being more expensive than the MJ and comparable Velo and even picked up a second one for my work office system.
No doubt that you can't really go wrong with either as your choice will ultimately come down to personal taste.
Speaking to the original subject of the post . . . the build quality is superb. Looking at both the old and new RELs along side each other, IMO, while the R series is a more modern look, quality is in no way compromised. Quite refreshingly, the real world performance matchs everything I'd heard in print and on the web.
