How do SVS subwoofers compare to REL?

I’m using a Sumiko S5, which is really a REL T5–as I think the companies are one in the same. 

Given my room constraints (I’m in the living room), I didn’t have many placement options. So positioning was fixed. But even so, I spent time dialing in the crossover and volume.  Let me tell you with confidence, it’s nearly impossible to pinpoint the subwoofer or tell it’s in use. As others have said, it just adds pressure to the room and opens up the whole sound spectrum. 

So so when I think of my sub, I don’t think of it as a bass augmentation device. I think and hear it as a sound spectrum device—if that makes sense. 

The only time I hear it is if I remove it from the system.  What I mean is that I hear it’s absence. 

I pair this tiny sub with PSB Imagine T2s and a tube integrated.  

A vote here for two REL T9/i subwoofers. You can get a much better deal. Just ask a local Magnolia/Best Buy rep and they should be able to knock off up to $200 off each sub if you buy a pair. You can also contact Dedicated Audio in Arizona who offered me a great deal.

I chose the REL because of the high level speaker level input connection. I wanted to keep the setup as simple and pure (no equalizer, etc) as possible and I wanted the subs to integrate well with my speakers. By the way my speakers are Apogee Duetta Signature so there are some similarities with your Magnepans being that the Apogees are planars.

I was really hesitant putting subs in the room as I didn’t want anything to cloud the natural Apogee sound. Boy was I happy when everything was dialed in. I can listen to even less than stellar recordings now and the music just sounds great. No room mode issues and if I put something in front to hide the subs you wouldn’t even know they were there.

Try a couple T9/i subs. I think the SHO series is overkill and you may get too much boom. Either way you might have to get some corner treatments for your room to reduce boominess.

By the way I found that pulling the subs out the corners and placing them laterally on the wall with my speakers sound much better than being in the corners where they have a tendency to boom more. REL recommends to start in corners and work them diagonally outward. You have to experiment with placement and trust your ears.

By the way there is no simple answer. It’s just going with what you want to prioritize in terms of setup. I would much rather prefer a servo sub like the Rhythmic but the downside is they don’t do high level inputs. I wanted to keep the setup simple without extra equipment that to me tends to artificially contribute or take away from the sound. In following that philosophy I found the RELs to be my best bet.

You have to go with what your preferences are, and experiment to your liking.

I'm running Maggie 3.7i with an SVS SB16 Ultra.  It's amazing. I have a huge room, too.  I'm not an expert at subwoofer tuning, though...actually, anyone that can point me to a thread about how to tune all the options beyond just the simple cutoff frequency on the SVS SB16 would be really appreciated (phase, etc). 

Maggies are being driven by Classe CP-800 and a Parasound A21 (I have a Classe CA-2300 that is currently being repaired - see my other thread to hear about that 5 month nightmare). 

I have Maggie 1.7s... started with a Rel T7 but after a year the amp in the Rel developed a problem..picked up a PSB sub and it sounded fantastic. So good in fact that it ended my love/hate relationship with my Maggie’s. PSB subs in my experience have a great synergy with Maggie’s.

@hogarthd

...anyone that can point me to a thread about how to tune all the options beyond just the simple cutoff frequency on the SVS SB16 would be really appreciated (phase, etc).

What I read is that phase is important only if there is more than one sub. Set each sub to the opposite phase. It's not important which is which, as long as each sub is different.

If I can find the link to the article I read, I'll post it. It was a good article.

Also, check out the Antimode 8033 as recommended by @willemj