Subwoofer boom is too much for me...

Not to sound dumb but how much does source material impact subwoofer settings.. The difference in bass from cd to cd and even vinyl to vinyl often has me running to my subs…

Hey @bcupari - This is a symptom of having excess bass peaks. The frequency response of your sub has narrow and very tall peaks which some music happens to excite. Get measuremenets and DSP correction, clip those peaks!  Alternatively, or together, you might also try to move the sub/listening location to a place where it's less likely to excite your room modes.  Check out the AM Acoustics room simulator.

You’ll notice then your sub will sound too low. Now you can bring the sub level up and it will sound good with a much broader variety of music.

.I know this forum is loaded with sub owners and my post is not popular here BUT subs are very finicky to get them perfectly integrated into a complex system with multi units of electronic gear...

@mbmi  - I own a sub, I love it and yet I 100% agree with your statement.  

Integrating a subwoofer well is very hard and totally worth it, IMHO.  The problem is getting there may be very hard for some based on rooms, speakers, etc. so I never suggest a subwoofer, alone, as a step audiophiles should take without being aware of the necessary care and feeding.

Subwoofers can be a real love hate relationship and most people are better off without them. People are led into believing subs add performance to a system with integration methods that are worse than stupid. This is the industry trying to make a living any old which way. 

Rules of the road; The minimum number of subwoofers in a high performance system is two. The minimum cross over point in a high performance system is 80 Hz. High performance subwoofer systems have to use a full two way crossover not just a low pass filter. If you want to get the most out of a subwoofer system with the least amount of effort, digital subwoofer management with room control is a must. Without the ability to align the subwoofers in time with the main speakers, lack of digital subwoofer management forces the user into trial and error positioning usually forcing the placement of the subwoofers into positions where they can be up to 9 dB less efficient. With digital subwoofer management you can place the subs in corners where they are most efficient and delay the signal to the main speakers so the sound from all drivers reaches the listening position at the same time in phase. 

The OP can plug his ports and it will roll of the frequency response earlier which may seem to improve sound quality. It is purely subjective. It is an easy and easily reversible thing to do. I do not even know why the question is being asked, just do it and see or hear what happens. 

@kota1 

I used to have four B&W 800 series subs. I no longer have subwoofers in my audio system. I’ve had subwoofers for thirty years. I found them helpful but frustrating to sound right. They did a great job of extending the sound stage but getting them to integrate well was always difficult. I still have two in my home theater… there position is not changeable.
 

I got rid of mine when I upgraded to my Sonus Faber Amati speakers. Could they be enhanced with subwoofers. Sure. But they do well enough for me without subs and I enjoy the perfect coherency across the audio spectrum I get with just the Amatis. 
 

I completely understand why folks like them. The trick is to have the space to set them up and a deep knowledge of the physics.

@ghdprentice

The trick is to have the space to set them up and a deep knowledge of the physics.

Hmmmm, so in your opinion the layman shouldn’t use a subwoofer without engaging a physicist? I have 0 problems with your system, I think it is excellent. Your room is excellent. Your advice makes me wonder. I don’t think you need to be a physicist to set up a subwoofer. I stand by my post above:

A) Place your sub (s) according to the manufacturers recommendations.

B) Place bass traps from floor to ceiling in the corners.

C) Run a dsp program like DIRAC, Audyssey, ARC,Mini-DSP, DSPeaker, etc.

Leave the physics to the sub designers and DSP programmers.

You don’t have to believe me, a simple measurement will confirm. Using two subs should be much better bass management than one. If you have the space for four, great, but that is a nice to have, not a need to have.