Subwoofers - Final Thoughts with Martin Logan ESL 13A

@navyachts   I have tried numerous ways to tweak the bass on the MLs. From the Perfect Bass Kit, to the dials on the back. I am not savvy enough (yet) to make adjusts with the ARC Genesis software, but I did send the files into a tech at Paradigm/Anthem AV support for them to tweak and I just can't seem to get it right. Yes, I have had subwoofers before and had trouble integrating them, but I thought I'd give it on last ditch attempt as I feel something is missing here.

I've yet to hear any method of signal processing or amount of amplifier watts that can ameliorate a subwoofers poor performance when located out of the rooms standing wave bass modes.

Locate and position the subwoofer within the modes only then should processor and or EQ adjustments be made. The speaker matching comes as a byproduct of the subwoofers available adjustment parameters. (Does not apply to -6dB sub-bass speakers.)

https://www.audioholics.com/home-theater-connection/crawling-for-bass-subwoofer-placement

From your list +1 the AK Swarm. When I setup a distributed bass array (Swarm) in my home using dissimilar subwoofers the need for bass mode positioning was not needed. Simply put, the boundary located array takes the room out of the equation  providing an almost uniquely unparalleled low frequency timing presentation.

@audphile1 so I toed in the speakers a bit more moved the chair closer to the speakers. They are now 6’ apart, 33" off the back wall and I’m sitting about 12’ away and yes, I’m hear a tad more bass as I move closer in.

It really seems to be about the music here too. I played Deep Bas by Niels & Sam recommended by @elliottbnewcombjr and I heard good clarity and detail but not Deep Bass as the title states. Then I listen to The Hidden Camera by Photek and An Evening In Dallas by Joe Sample and you could feel the bass pound the floor.

I would like to be able to tweak the bass myself with the Genesis ARC program, but I don’t know anything about frequency response graphs and all that stuff. I have looked around the web and can’t seem to find much on this?

@m-db thanks for your input. I wouldn’t mind trying out the Swarm set-up, but it used to be $2,500 now I see it’s $4,400 and I would want white, so it’s more for a custom color. I could do a couple of used KEFs for around $1,600.

Thanks for the Audioholics article. I think I just need to "Crawl" outta this rabbit hole, maybe trade it all in for a Sonos system and call it a day!

Have you ever experimented with the rake angle of your speakers?  Lowe’s sells plastic shims that make this very easy; try a downward tilt.  You may also want to shorten the distance from your listening position to the speakers.

@sgordon1 Yes, I have done the "Tilt!" Thanks.

My CLXs are bolt upright (to within 0.1 degree using a digital level) and are with exactly zero toe-in and exactly the same distance from the front wall (5-6 feet) and the side walls, using a laser "tape" measure.  Speakers and I are set-up in an approximate equilateral triangle.  I can measure for you if you think it matters. 

FWIW-perhaps the best sound I had from my CLSs was firing down the long axis of my then living room and having the speakers in the middle of the that vector, at the suggestion of Michael Green.  It only works in some living situation and with a very easy going partner, lol