Did you ever buy too much bass?

YES! I have too much bass. I bought Closer Acoustics OGY speakers with a REL T5x subwoofer. 

I dialed the sub different ways, until I found a decent compromise. So the sub blends really well on typical music where the bass isn't stupidly fast. Think Dire Straights or Michael Jackson. It's a plus in that application. The guests seemed to enjoy the sub tremendously. 

But the OGY has faster, cleaner bass compared to the REL. And the REL can't keep up on experimental tracks with weird bass from the likes of Panda Bear and Animal Collective. 

And I'm so torn because the community is like "set up your room better and play around with subwoofer adjustments and placement". And I just think that the REL is slower than my speakers, and playing with the settings drives me a bit crazy. 

hi @kokakolia  - It sounds like your problem is room modes.  You need a DSP before your sub to clip the peaks off, then you can integrate, and raise the volume of the sub to match your mains.

My suspicion based on your symptoms is that you are compromising the volume of the sub because you have particularly hot peaks that prevent you from turning it up properly.

Besides measurements and getting an EQ, consider the AM Acoustics room mode simulator.  Try to keep your sub out of the first few room modes.

I put a Swarm in my VW van and us it to extract revenge from those young upstarts  when we are at a stop light. 

@erik_squires Thanks! I have my sub in the worst spot according to your web tool. I live in a flat, so space is at a premium. I guess I could use the sub as a footrest or a low side table? 

I thought I could EQ with the Bluesound Node 2021, but I messed around with the app several times and I can't figure it out. My amp has basic treble and bass adjustment, but not a real EQ. 

@kokakolia

Strongly encourage you to move the sub first. Then it’s pretty easy to view the problem using the right tools like Room EQ Wizard and a calibrated mic or OmniMic.

If you don’t want to move the sub, you might try EQ route first.

Measure the sub alone first, and clip the peaks. Then try to get a descending slope from 20Hz to 100 Hz or so, about 1.25 to 1.5 db/octave. Then set the crossover frequency for smoothest transition.

If you had not said space was at a premium I'd suggest corner bass traps/soffit traps as great additions.  Maybe your next place. :)