Are REL the most Musical Subs?

I have had subs from many of the major brands through the years. For HT I would agree with the comments that there is a broad range of products that offer great performance. Many of these I would consider to be a better value than REL. For 2 channel, however, I have not found a product that integrates as seamlessly as REL. I recently upgraded from pair of 212SE’s to the REL 31’s and was really surprised at the level of improvement. After properly tuning the 31’s absolutely disappear to a level I have never experienced before. For reference they are paired with Focal Scala Evos’s and Luxman/Esoteric gear.

There is no boom in a REL sub because most of the RELs don’t go down far enough to create one. I always think of REL subs as woofers but not subwoofers.

Saying this, I have owned many different subs, including 2 rel S812s, which I sold to buy two rhythmik g22’s. At least in my experience and in my room the integration of the subs was much easier and they now extend into the lower frequencies as they should.

It was a very expensive lesson with REL, and I won’t go back to the hype.

Don’t get me wrong, the S812 was a good speaker, but only a good speaker, and value for the money simply wasn’t there whatsoever. And because of this I understand why people are promoting SVS as well for bang for the buck.

Rel's are unique in that they are meant to be used with the speaker outs on amps, this is the essence of why they integrate so well, the amp determines it's voicing to some extent.

As far as extension, Rel has several different lines, the No. 31, 32 will match any sub in extension.

You can also further tune the Rels with different high level cables, the stock cables certainly not best you can do.

I'm using two SVS SB2000 Pros and couldn't be happier. Others suggest RELs are more musical, and they may be. However, I've been listening to high and higher-end audio for 50-some years, am a musician (bass player), and am critical as can be when it comes to sound reproduction in the lower regions. From my perspective and from what my ears tell me I'd be hard-pressed to complain about anything I'm getting with the SVS subs. There is edge, texture, definition and color to very deep bass, sometimes nearly shockingly so. Besides the SQ of those subs, three other big pluses suggest a hard look at SVS: Cost, the SVS app, and their customer service. Cost: huge bang for the buck! The app: Worth the price of admission IMO. I had my first SB 2000 absolutely seamlessly integrated within probably no more than 30 minutes, and I never left my chair. Priceless! And SVS customer service: I can't say enough other than it's superb. Besides several conversations over time with staff members that were always friendly and helpful, in the end I bought my second sub used from a private party, and it was perfect except for a small blem on the grill. I called SVS to see if I might purchase one, but they insisted on sending me one gratis. Can't beat that. 

I replaced my S/510s with Rythmik F12 Gs and couldn’t be happier. They are every bit as fast and musical as the Rels and dig much deeper.