Is a subwoofer 'overkill?'


i just bought a subwoofer hereabouts. The deal want well and i hooked it up. i can certainly 'hear' it. My wife is agast.

Yes, even at the lowest settings it sounds a bit loud.

Thoughts. Should I save it for movies? Turn it off when she gets home?

Note; This is a woman who can hear changes I make when I roll my tubes, better than I can. She know even when I don't tell her.

Bummer: the wife has zero appreciation of high-end audio, but hears better than me.
unclejeff
Pull the sub further away from the room boundaries to tame the loudness factor, or sell the wife... :^(
Sounds to me like there isn't optimal integration. When crossovers, phase & level are correctly adjusted, there should be no distinct impression of bass heaviness or low frequency accentuation, just a sense of greater acoustic space, a clearer acoustic window into the music that's fleshed out with harmonic completeness. A good start for inexpensive help is Rives Audio's calibrated test cd that's designed to work with the Radio Shack SPL meter. It really helps to use a bit of calibration dialing these things in. Level, contour, phase controls, etc. don't always have effects that meet logical expectations.
Assuming you're running a powered sub, connected with RCA's.

I'd suggest using Rothwell 10db attenuators, which will allow you adjust the pot on the sub to a much more optimal setting.

I use this method with my Sunfire sub and it allows for a MUCH smoother intergration with my main speakers.

It really makes a HUGE difference.
You may be exciting room resonances that were not evident before. If the SW does not have its own equalization circuitry try a Behringer DEQ2496. The RS meter and Rives CD will set you back about $100. For $350 or less the Behringer will do a better and much easier job of showing you what your problem is, and after that it will fix the problems, which the RS meter will not do.
Velodyne SMS-1 EQ/RTA is the way to go. You can smooth out the bass peaks/valleys and when the wife gets home, put it in night mode in which reduces output up to(user adjustable) 20%-90%!