Older vs. newer REL subs

The current Rel T Series are aimed for home theatre systems whereas the S series are aimed at quality stereo systems and are priced accordingly. The S series are more expensive as you will see but the S series are spanking good the higher you go.

Sunfire are good but I gesture more simplistic (sorry Mr Carver). My personal choice are the MK Subwoofers despite having Rel’s and SVS. 
I still have the original MK Volkswoofer I and satellites sounding as good and when I bought them new.

if I had the $$ my choice of all would be the Kyron Audio Mercury sub. I’m just waiting for a special sale to come up! 🤗

AG 🇦🇺

@amg56 I don't see in REL's literature where it says the "T" series are "aimed" for home theater. They say it can do both. Do others with T series subs believe they bought a sub for home theater by mistake?

I know that Rel has an "HT" series. When I use their speaker matching tool, I input that "music" is the purpose and their recommendations come out with T models.

T series: "goals were...to deliver as much as possible of our latest Series S on a budget.
T/9x: "delivers the goods in both music and theatre applications...it opens the pathway for owners of high performance European floor and stand mounted monitors and smaller panel speakers to enjoy truly full range sound."

Would I get a better sub if I spent an additional $1k per sub? Sure. Would it be more "music-focused"? That's what I'm not seeing and, for my budget, it doesn't make sense.

@wolf_garcia   Thanks for your input. I know that eventually subs can shake themselves apart and that difficulty in getting service is a consideration for a used one.

@b_limo Salk. Can't. The wait for the speakers was worth it,  but even before Covid, people wait a long time for his stuff. For me, these are not worth the wait, and a trial period would be out of the question because the shipping is insand. TMR sells RELs and I can drive to go get them, try them out, and return them.  I think of subs as a kind of good utility. I don't need beautiful cabinets on the subs. Plus, they will be harder to match for someone else. I'm just not at the point of adding more eye candy to my room, which is really an audio lab and not a pretty space for guests. So, I think Salks are off the table. Plus, REL's customer service is really a full time part of their operation. This is not to slight Jim, of course, but they're just in the sole business of subs.

Given how often I have moved my subs, 75lbs is a deal breaker. And they're too big. But it was fun to read about them a bit.

I work for an REL dealer and we have been bombarded with propaganda from them explaining the new T/x model's design evolution. Nothing would lead me to conclude amg56 is correct about their being targeted at HT.  They make HT-centric models.  These are music focused as are all their subs (except the HTs, which aren’t bad for music btw), with light cones for speed, and their secret sauce crossover and speaker level input.  The amp is unchanged. The x has a slightly larger cabinet volume and optimized driver and passive radiator compared to the i version.  Not night and day...incrementally better.  Still a fine value and product.

@crustycoot  I don't think you mean to say "propaganda". That would imply the literature from REL is false and intentionally misleading. It's information about the products, perhaps with marketing-speak, but not propaganda. Does that make sense?

Hey Hilde45, i was in a very similar boat a few years ago. 

I was running a single REL328 sub...and after about a year or so decided to buy a matching 328..and luckily found one on the used market.   The additional sub was a real treat in many ways...and added flexibllity for in room setup, and allowed each sub to perform at even lower volume levels per sub, and with better in room performance.

The REL328 subs are great subs.

But...of course..i wanted better..and sold them off to fund a pair of REL S5 SHO subs. 

I agree some comments already listed here....as the newer subs  definitely "feel" faster and a bit tighter.

But overall, if I had to put a number to it...the REL328 stereo pair does 85% of what the newer S5 SHO subs do...in my experience.

Hope this helps.

tj