Smoother bass by running woofer out of phase?

We cannot hear less than 1 cycle at very low frequencies, and by the time 1 cycle has reached us enough time has elaped that we're past the direct sound and into the reverberant sound

I agree fully with that.

I guess what sounds best to your own ears is the right thing to do...

If you are listening to a bass guitar or double bass then I agree that phase has very little to do with the way the notes sound.

However the fact that the bass sounds more spacious with one speaker woofer wired incorrectly seems to me to imply that there is enough energy in the upper bass (perhaps above 80 Hz) to give some rough directional information to the ears - surely this must affect presentation or the way transients sound - like a Kick drum where the slap comes at 4 or 5 Khz and bottom at 60 to 80 HZ?. By this I mean coudl it change the perceotion of fast bass versus slow bass.

I would dig out the Sheffield Labs Drum test Track 1 and check to see which sounds better/more realistic (disregarding the overly heavy bass presentation by using a tone control for example). Just a thought....

Here is and example of the funky relationship between bass mid and treble and the way we perceive instruments

The jargon is an interesting mix of descriptive words to describe how something sounds coupled with the frequencies that are driving that sound. I would be concerned with changing teh way thing sound through incorrect phase....it may not sound that much wrong but it may sound different.

From what I gather from you the experts I should wire the woofer in phase and look into finding what frequencies are giving me trouble; then use some type of EQ to take care of the bass nodes. I wonder if my wife will get me a Rives prac for Christmas? Stay tune, I will let you know how this will all work out. Thanks- Sam

One other comment relative to in-room bass smoothness: Note that fullrange dipoles have smoother in-room bass than monopoles (James M. Kates, "Dipole Loudspeaker Response in Listening Rooms", JAES May 2002). A single dipole may be thought of as two monopoles out of phase with each other. I think there's some merit to the idea of playing around with driver phase in the deep bass region.

The practical issue that I am face with is the fact that when the woofers are out of phase the bass response in my room is very smooth, no bloat. There seems to be greater detail in the upper frequencies. The center fill is very stable and the sound stage seems more open. All in all I like what it does, the question is, if I invest in a Prac, will I end up at the same place i.e. smooth base. Maybe I can demo one to know for sure.

So you've achieved a pleasing speaker coloration. There's a real chance that "correct" bass will not sound as pleasing. If this were the midrange or the highs, I would say that you might become more aware of the coloration as you play more material and you would ultimately become tired of it. This might not be the psychoacoustic conclusion for bass, however. It's an intellectual choice, pleasing coloration or accuracy.