Quality wise, Seismic is just as good. I've never had cover issues or cracking issues. I do bowl a lot, 3 leagues a week plus practice and usually 2 tournaments a month. I take care of my equipment and haven't had any major issues. I still have my first Blackout, which has a shit ton of games on it, and still going. It was by far the best rolling piece they made.
Before joining Seismic, I was throwing nothing but 900 Global and AMF. What I have found is that the Seismic equipment roll a lot truer than any other brands. They are not your typical "go long and snap" pieces or your super hook monsters. Essentially each piece from Seismic is made for a specific reason and to compensate one another.
Built for sport conditions, but usable on your typical THS. Each piece is easy to read the "Skid", "Hook" and "Roll" phases of the ball motion. Making it easier to catch lane transitions and burnout.
I was like you, no one in the area threw Seismic, I gave them a chance and the Requiem was a phenomenal piece on sport conditions, the Solaris I was so-so with. And when the other pieces came out and I was able to build an arsenal of Seismic stuff, I did so. And haven't looked back. It was tough to do, because I was loving the AMF stuff they were coming out with, the Grip, Double Clutch Pearl, Mega Recovery, and in my opinion the OMG was/is on of my favorite all time balls. Sanded it was a beast, and polished it was still smooth as butter on the THS
The Venator is built for your medium/heavy house shots or your medium to long sport conditions. For me it was an excellent piece on the Shark pattern this past week. And I was even able to throw it on a fresh THS, and it scored well. I was deeper than most, but the polished cover helped get the Venator through the heads and down to the breakpoint with no worries.
Take the plunge, you'll be happy you did
