Subwoofer boom is too much for me...

I read the quote by EG with some amusement. For the following reasons:

• Least critical to whom? Just because they cover about two octaves does not make them less important just because he says so. This is very much a personal judgement call. I suspect the quote is out of context, and he was talking about driver design, in which case it would make more sense to me.
• Those last two octaves are the hardest to get right consistently by the average consumer or even audiophile. Meaning, sometimes you luck out and a lot of times you don’t and need to put a lot of time and effort into it.  Most audiophiles who care about bass have had to go through a number of experiments before they were happy.

@erik_squires

I suspect the quote is out of context

I posted the entire paper in this thread, you don’t have to "suspect" anything. I even noted the page and section.

Those last two octaves are the hardest to get right consistently

No, I already posted a pretty easy method to get it right. Like I said, you don't need to believe anything I wrote, just implement, measure and prove it to yourself.

@kota1

Thanks for that. As I suspected, you posted out of context. EG clearly means to say that the design of the subwoofer itself as being less than critical and then goes on to recommend multiple subwoofers for the problem of the room.

Reading this as saying that getting good bass in a room is easy or that bass doesn't matter is misguided. The paper itself is written around the idea you are building a room for a theater. For everyone else, it is routinely difficult.

Anyone who states getting excellent bass in a room is an easy and straightforward task for any audiophile with a single subwoofer with limited placement options is mistaken, extremely lucky or their expectations are extremely low.

This puts us in the realm of the EG/swarm fanatics that pepper these discussions. I can get excellent results with one subwoofer, EQ and bass traps. It’s hard for most to do the same, and not everyone is going to be happy adding even more subwoofers. The swarm fanatics of course don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to triple the number of working speakers in your stereo system for good bass, and that’s fine, if you want to have 4 or 40 subs go ahead, but most consumers expect to get to great bass with 1.

@erik_squires

Reading this as saying that getting good bass in a room is easy or that bass doesn’t matter is misguided

What part of "least critical speaker" don’t you understand?

Anyone who states getting excellent bass in a room is an easy and straightforward task for any audiophile with a single subwoofer

I said to use more than one, two is better, one in the front corner and one in the rear of the room (in the paper Earl suggests the rear opposite corner).

I can get excellent results with one subwoofer

Then why don’t you use one?

It’s hard for most to do the same,

Who is "most"? Of course you mean anyone who is NOT @ghdprentice ?? Again, you are shooting from the hip, where is the link to the research?

The swarm fanatics of course don’t understand

Yes, you have made it clear, only @ghdprentice understands, fanatics need not apply.

(BTW, if you are interested in a swarm they are available for $4100)

but most consumers expect to get to great bass with 1

More fiction, "most", "many", "some"??? Can you show me some type of marketing research that substantiates this?? Do you think the "average consumer" lacks the skills to use a search engine, or talk to a dealer, or a manufacturer? This isn’t 1989, there is a plethora of resources for anyone remotely interested in how to get good bass response (don’t believe me, just search and see for yourself.)

@mikeydee

Key point in this review of the DSPeaker 8022 II subwoofer optimizer "super easy to use" (3:45 mark). Get this unit, follow the instructions. One unit can optimize up to 4 subs (get at least two subs) and don’t forget your bass traps: