Subwoofer calibration quandary...


Is there a generally accepted axiom for a target room response?
ie: is it better to achieve a flat, but significantly elevated lowbass response, or a flatter overall bass balance with large peak/valleys?
snickelfritz
The 125hz valley is purely the main speakers and listening position within the room. (the response from 63hz - 200hz is the same with or without the sub)

If I move toward the center of the room, the null shifts downward to 60hz, basically gutting the midbass and causing a large rise between 20 and 40hz.
20hz extension is no problem at all for the sub, though I often wonder how much impact it actually has on the quality of the bass response.

I can use a 120hz crossover, allowing the sub to fill in the 125hz valley, but this results in a shelved response, with the range from 20-60hz being 9db higher in level than the upper bass, and 7db higher than the reference level.
Tends to vibrate the light fixtures and windows audibly.
The 8'x5' living room window sounds like it's gonna collapse at high levels, and the character of bass instruments is not particularly realistic.
Flrnlamb,

Thanks for the detailed response!
The room is 13x17 with an 8' opening into a 10x10 dining room at the speaker end.
Here's a link to an edited illustration I made a few years ago for the tilesetter.
(white areas are walls; tiled area is floor)
http://www.byrographics.com/media/room-setup.jpg
Don't forget to add or subtract these amounts from the Radio Shack correction table to your figures:

Radio Shack SPL Meter Corrections
------------------------------------
10hz.....+20db
12.5hz...+16.5db
16hz.....+11.5db
20hz.....+7.5db
25hz.....+5db
31.5hz...+3db
40hz.....+2.5db
50hz.....+1.5db
63hz.....+1.5db
80hz.....+1.5db
100hz....+2db
125hz....+.5db
160hz....-.5db
200hz....-.5db
250hz....+.5db
315hz....-.5db
400hz....0db
500hz....-.5db
630hz....0db
800hz....0db
1k.......0db
1.25k....0db
1.6k.....-.5db
2k.......-1.5db
2.5k.....-1.5db
3.15k....-1.5db
4k.......-2db
5k.......-2db
6.3k.....-2db
8k.......-2db
10k......-1db
12.5k....+.5db
16k......0db
20k......+1db

THX Home Theater 16000 -8.5
20000 -11.2

Dave
Let us know how you do with moving things around. I think that is the simplest solution. It is harder to tame high peaks, but your room configuration allows the escape of some of the high pressures, so I think your situation is quite manageable. If you like your speakers, crossover at the lowest point since the sub will not be localized and your front speakers will have a more coherent sound. Good luck!