Has Rel fallen out of favor with audiophiles?


I own a Rel Storm 3. which I've had for 10 yrs or so. My new hardwood floor has really opened things up, especially in the bass area. much more pronounced bass and excellent sound stage.  I was planning on upgrading my sub after completing the floor. My Rel Storm 3 is pushing at its max to keep up in a 5k+ cu ft  room. Ten yrs ago the Storm 3 was one of the best on the market. It integrates very wall into the 2 channel system. Now, there is SVS, Rhythmic, PSA  etc which have much better specs than the Rels for less $$$. But the question for me is whether they actually integrate with the main speakers as well as the Rel? I use mine  for music 95% of the time. Music doesn't need to plumb the 16hz range as much as HT does. And most of the reviews seem to come from HT sources, IE AVS forum and the various HT magazines. From what I can tell, then Rhythmic seems to cater to the audiophile more than HT. But how about a sealed  SVS ?. And will they both integrate as well as the Rel with the high level speakon input? 

So, for audipophiles, do you sacrifice the ultra low hz for the good integration of the Rel? Or do you go with then SVS, Rhythmic, etc with their lower octave output? IOW, do the integrate as well?
Thanks for your help

arte
128x128artemus_5
Rel were among the best in the early days of subwoofers but they don't come to mind even in the top 10 these days IMHO.
Among the hearing, REL's top subs continue to be a top choice for music systems and especially for those that refuse to digitize their analog sources (a la JL's digital room correction).

Dave
http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/subwoofer-tests-archived/991-rel-storm-5-a.html

+ Good shape of the frequency response for smaller rooms
+ Good extension
+ Extremely low group delay and fast decay rate
+ Extremely low crossover setting

- High overall distortion, especially at higher than low output levels
- Really high deep bass output compression
- Low maximum output capability
- Low highest crossover setting
Seems I just read that the Storm 5 was never sold in the US because of its poor performance. IIRC, it was at the time when Rel was 1st sold by the original owner. The Britania model was sold instead. I don't remember all the details.