Smoother bass by running woofer out of phase?

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.

Before you get into equalization, try some thick, dense bass panels or those round bass traps in the front corners, behind the speakers. Not directly behind. Even the makers of those eq's suggest something like that first.

What you're describing sounds like a megaphone effect out of those corners.

Look, my humor aside...think about it..a 13 by 30 room?? The speakers themselves need at leats 10 t0 12 feet between them. Use the long wall and sit against the opposite side wall..your problems will go away!! Call Terry at Mapleshade for advice or check out the free tweaks section on the web site. Almost all reputable speaker manufacturers will tell you the same thing as I have...long wall, head against opposite wall, treat front and back walls, sit low and spread speakers apart with minimal toe in. You just might find yourself immersed in a complex musical soundscape...of course you may want to listen to someone with less experience. By the way, put the sub on proper spoked or coned feet, face it left or right (not in a corner or down firing) and put it in the plane of the midrange drivers. Use the best cable or IC connection you can and put a good power cord on it of possible. Enjoy!!

I am assuming that BOTH speaker systems are being wired with woofers out of phase.

First, some crossover networks, having a 180 degree phase shift between woofer and tweeter, require that the two drivers be connected with opposite electrical phase. Some other networks having 90 degree phase shift, are "wrong" (electrically) no matter what you do.

If one connection (chosen by the designer) yields flat response through the crossover frequency, then inverting one driver will cause a deep notch at the crossover frequency. (In fact this is the best way to measure the crossover frequency). Perhaps your room has a resonant peak around the X/O frequency, or, more likely, you just don't like that frequency.