Absorption, Diffusion or a combination of it all?

JL makes great subs, in particular the room correction is outstanding. 

Anytime you work with bass traps or any absorber you are changing the tonal balance somewhat.  Excess bass trapping makes speakers sound lean, while an excess of reflections make the system sound bright.  Tuning a room is a balancing act. 

Also, check out the AM Acoustics room mode simulator.  Try to keep your speakers and listening location away from the lowest room modes if possible. That is a great first pass at tuning your room.

Hi OP,

I think bass traps aare great. My concern is specific to ASC tube traps that when I heard them they seemed to impart a very specific character to the bass, which traps should not do.

As I went from room to room, the rooms treated by ASC with tube traps all sounded the same, in a bad way. Like no matter what music played the drums sounded EXACTLY the same.

Imagine Duran Duran and a symphony orchestra sounding like they played the same drums.  Hopefully you don’t suffer this issue.

I’ve heard a lot of ASC tube traps at shows, many of which set up by ASC, and while effective, at least in my experience they have a kind of "sound" to them. They turn a room into 1 note bass. Like all the music sounds the same in the bass.

I’ve not had that issue with other bass traps, and your mileage may vary. 

The peg board proves my point.  😀

i beg to differ on an all absorptive room sounding terrible.

Really?  You have a room that has no reflections, and is 100% covered in absorption materials?  @ronboco 

Diffusion properly placed adds fullness and depth to the imaging.  Usually listeners like diffusion directly between the speakers and directly to the sides, and behind the listening location.

A 100% absorptive room sounds terrible. :)