Subwoofer boom is too much for me...

A good quality and well set up sub should always enhance a two channel system's sound. My small towers are nearly flat to the low 30s and an REL Britannia B1 sub 'opened' up the room and subtlety made the lowest bass a solid musical foundation.

I've since move to four good quality subs in a distributed bass array in the 16 x 21 x 10 room and you'll never know where they are; they are so low. With a bit of room bass correction it works quite well. I still need to high-pass mains for better sound and dynamics by relieving them of the low bass load. My bad so far...

As for the 'boom', I'd sure try a sock, and positioning, and crossover frequency and level. I always had better success passing very low (30-40s) and using a tad more volume. It depends on the mains.

Subs are good for one thing and one thing Only....Home theatre...........They are a Detrimate to two channel sound....

@mbmi - Who hurt you?? 😁

A well set up subwoofer, with most speakers, is glorious.  The issue is and always will be how hard it is to get there.   For many 2 speakers is the way to keep things simple and well performing. 

@mikeydee If you go to a jazz club and hear a stand-up bass, it's clear, but not boomy.  Same with the double basses in an orchestra.  The low notes resonate, but they don't bowl you over.

Wether plucked or bowed the open E of a double bass is around 41HZ with most notes falling between 50-200HZ, so generally an easy task for most quality full range speakers. The challenge is to also get the lower frequencies of their sub harmonics as well as the lower frequencies of organ peddle and synthesizer which are deep and resonate - usually not whoofy or boomy. In general, it's  the low level sub-harmonic frequencies that adds the fullness and richness we feel at live performance and why a good, well integrated sub can add so much to a system. 

IMHO, @fastninja12 has provides the most useful insights. Sometimes, the source of dissatisfaction is too high of a crossover point for the subwoofer. Here’s something to try:

1. Determine the manufacturers -3 dB point of your primary speakers

2. Multiply that frequency by 0.7

3. Use that frequency as the crossover frequency of your sub(s)

4. Increase the gain on the sub until it just becomes noticeable

5. Tick the gain down a notch

That means if your primary speakers have a -3 dB point at 62 Hz, try crossing over your sub(s) at 44 Hz. It seems low, but low is good.

If this works, problem solved. If it doesn’t, it was a free attempted solution.

["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.