What @erik_squires said is pretty much dead on:
The only heresy I know is trying to do this all without measurements first. I mean, it's dogma, but I find getting this right by ear alone is so random.
Bloom and bloat IMHO had more to do with room modes, where a little EQ can go a long long way.
Glad you found a setting that works for you."
I have a very odd shaped living room listening space, and the speakers are set in an odd spot. I -need- a sub, but room nodes were a nightmare to figure out. I found a website that you plug in your floor plan dimensions, and it literally shows you every frequency and where it nulls or blooms in your space. This helped me narrow down the worst frequencies. Then my step dad made me an electronic notch filter and I could 'dial back' those specific frequencies to at least some extent. Then I would sit and play each bass frequency, check it's level, tweak the notch filter, and adjust. Like Erik said, it's basically doing some basic EQ tweaking.
I will say that for the money, it pays dividends to find a mechanical mean to limit any bloom you have from the sub itself by moving it around to a potentially better location. Again, web sites that plot room nodes can give you near exact spots.