Subwoofer boom is too much for me...

There's little, if any, substitution for not locating the subwoofer/s in or very near the rooms greatest bass modes.

Playing a low frequency test tone through a subwoofer placed at the listening position while walking the room noting areas with the loudest bass is a simple means of locating the rooms mode location/s.  

If you insist on front wall corner or next to the speakers location, good luck.  

["audioguy85    There is little to no substitute for a speaker that does bass properly to begin with. You don't need a sub."]

'Properly,' must be the reason why I often see manufacturers of statement speakers demonstrate them with subwoofers.  

["erik    The problem is "proper integration" is a two-semester course."]

Twenty minutes with a certain signal processing. 

When David Hall and his Velodyne associates introduced their Digital Drive in 2003 and DD Plus Room Optimization in 2011 it should have been titled Digital Drive for Dummies which I'm supremely qualified as.

The Sweep Tones CD is played through both the main speakers and the subwoofer simultaneously. Via the listening positioned calibrated mic the remote controlled processing called Auto EQ measures the mains from 200Hz and begins adjusting the subwoofers fourteen parameters within eight frequency bands which reflect the mains presentation onto the sub beginning at 100Hz. 

Results and changes can be viewed graphically and saved to one or all six memory presets. The user can follow up with manual adjustments to taste and include those adjustments to any of the six presets.

Sadly, none of the major periodical reviews ventured past Auto EQ or offered a cursory description of the manufactures interactive default preset settings.   

mbmi.....Your ’subwoofers are only good for one thing and one thing Only’ shows a great deal of, well...

Are you getting a sense that the us and them scenario is a bit played?

["nrenter  ...and the OP disappears."]

And why not? The OP solved the issue on page one. Your right though, it's par for the goN.

Of the 93 responses, give or take, I count 10 that addressed the OP's fundamental question, including the brilliant paper cup solution.

The other 83, including 3 of mine and 2 of yours are mostly worthless yet sincere suggestions by those who've reached some modicum of subwoofer satisfaction.  Then there's the pontificators who've solved for us a subject as vast as the human finger print, the subwoofer in virtually unlimited room and associated equipment variables. 

nrenter, I'm still schlepping my Bass but most nights my other foot's in that dining hall.   

avatar:     https://www.stringvirtuoso.com/artists/lorraine-campet/