Thanks everyone! You were kinder than i expected, to be honest, given the blatantly wrong ideas I held.
Clap test is real dead isn’t it
Yeah its pretty dead. its a very dead room overall. So it appears there were several things at play here which I kind of expected. Here is a summary of what I have taken away so far.
1. The LDF drop ceiling and R19 is creating an enormous bass trap that is sucking the life out of the woofer. And too large of a room.
2. I have been using and understanding subwoofers wrong my entire life. Always pushing the LPF too high to add punch up at higher frequencies than it was designed to do. Punch/ kick ~(70hz-140hz) needs to come from 6 to 8 in woofers in large cabinets with ample power to run them. My bookshelf speakers will never suffice and will always leave a gap/dip between them
3. non ideal sub out signal.(I already knew this but its good to have confirmation)
further questions:
What would be an okay room? I may be building a home in the near-ish future and would have my choice for size and layout. Mainly i'm looking for rough dimensions. Ill do research on what treatment to put in it, and how to construct it.
I am very lost when it comes to amplifier brands. I know and like the lower end Schiit offerings but idk where to look for comparable equipment.