I had an 18 inch Velodyne and ended up with a Rel. They each had their strong points.
The Velodyne will shake pictures off your walls and it moved so much air that I swore I could feel a breeze from it sometimes. The down fall with the Velodyne was that no matter how much I tried to intergrate it, like all foward firing subs, it was always very directional.
The Rel was the exact opposite. They dont move a lot of air (comparativly) but not only are they seemless but they produce a lot of fine detail. Intitially I pefered the Velodyne but after watching a few movies I found the Rel much more involving and the extra detail brought a level of realism that far outweighed the volume and air movement of the velodyne.
If you go far enough up the Rel line you will get the best of both worlds but they do get very expensive. I recommend buying a Rel and down the road when you want to upgrade add a second one and run stereo subs. The overwelming benefits of stereo subs is suprising and the extra bass is always welcome. If you go with a foward firing sub I highly recommend putting it on a 6 inch stand which will take out some of the boomyness and help intergrate it.
The Velodyne will shake pictures off your walls and it moved so much air that I swore I could feel a breeze from it sometimes. The down fall with the Velodyne was that no matter how much I tried to intergrate it, like all foward firing subs, it was always very directional.
The Rel was the exact opposite. They dont move a lot of air (comparativly) but not only are they seemless but they produce a lot of fine detail. Intitially I pefered the Velodyne but after watching a few movies I found the Rel much more involving and the extra detail brought a level of realism that far outweighed the volume and air movement of the velodyne.
If you go far enough up the Rel line you will get the best of both worlds but they do get very expensive. I recommend buying a Rel and down the road when you want to upgrade add a second one and run stereo subs. The overwelming benefits of stereo subs is suprising and the extra bass is always welcome. If you go with a foward firing sub I highly recommend putting it on a 6 inch stand which will take out some of the boomyness and help intergrate it.