Happy Holidays and Your Favorite Tips?

Cables matter in every regard but particularly on interconnects.

@erik_squires 

Subwoofers... such a deep topic! 😆 And as many have stated in varying ways, the only real "right" answer is the answer that sounds good to you.

That’s news to me, I thought the THX standard was 24?

Yes, absolutely. But I am assuming there are a large number of listeners who are using non-THX certified subs and/or receivers. Subs for music seem to have some variance here, but I've seen reference to 18db/octave being most common for that application. Tests of REL subs have shown those to have a 12db/octave slope. Some (such as Perlisten) are variable.

However, I do think that many speakers, sealed or ported, have a bass hump. The ability to raise or lower the Q isn’t limited to ported speakers.

Yes, the crossover designer can raise or lower the Q of the speaker wether ported or sealed, but how would an end user go about raising/lowering Q of a sealed speaker?

The solution I implemented in my room... I built bookshelf speakers with passive radiators using Purifi drivers (ultra-low distortion). The passive radiator boxes give me more low end extension without added room boom. I supplement those with 4 sealed 10" subs crossed over very low and running just enough volume to add some "roundness" to the low end. Sounds good to my ears!

Happy Holidays!

Yes, the crossover designer can raise or lower the Q of the speaker wether ported or sealed, but how would an end user go about raising/lowering Q of a sealed speaker?

I meant, a speaker maker can make a sealed or ported speaker optimally flat (rare) or bump the bass.  This is mostly a function of the cabinet though, not the crossover. 

Don't overlook acoustics, electrical noise, equipment isolation and damping

Everything matters.

Do something nice for someone else, even if it's just to make them smile.

Don't sell short what you already have, thinking the audio grass is greener somewhere else. Chances are you'd be making a sideways move more often than not. Try some subtle tweaks, cheap room treatments and experiment with cables but until you're financially ready to go bigger (in price and level of performance), just be content: it's not the end of the world.

Oh, and Happy Holidays! 

All the best,
Nonoise