.....let's take a look at this elusive sub-creature we all possess and love....and the other speakers also....from a frequency standpoint strictly....
.....under 35 cycles, hz, or whatever you want to assign, you can't hear "pitch" from your sub or ANY speaker....another description would be, "the note"....
.....let's look at 34 down....sound pressure concussion felt....now, if your 34 down has clean definition and you honestly "feel" osciallations, you're home....we're going to dial in a little pitch now....
.....we're going to "raise" the "ceiling-cut" of the signal for the subs presently at 34 hz where I can't hear, "pitch", to at least about 42 hz....my subs NOW, give me "pitch" when I go to 42....and Folks, there's where mine stays 90% of the time, at 42....when I put on a CD or DVD, and the bass just seems too soft on that particular source, I go to maybe 50....now, I can say this with confidence....I will not go over 50 from this day on....the higher you raise the "ceiling" of the signal to the subwoofer, frequence-wise, you take it toward a frequency for which a subwoofer was not built, and tuned, to produce....let your subwoofers remain subwoofers....mine start to confusion-heard-boom actually at 50....I want to give the subs some pitch at 42 and stay there if that works out ok....and I might want to roll it up to 45-46 for "pop" of the subs....another word would be "accented attack"....
.....concerning the other speakers....I turn the subs off and try to make the full-range speakers sound as good as possible to these ears....one click right on the bass tone control for sure, with mine now, maybe yours don't need that....I set my regiment of main and surroung speakers like subs don't exist....then I bring the subs into the act of "complimenting the surround effort without boom confusion from being too loud"....the one click on the bass tone control affects the sub also, so I stand to have some pop at 42....if I want pop that's not there at 42, hello 46-47....
.....you guys' small-to-large adjustment would serve me little....i want my mains to eat all the way to the floor....I have my rears doing the same....at one time when I powered the rears with a Crown, the bass seemed unresolved and I "heard" some confusion at the very lowest low....with the Mac on them now, with not as much being produced at either end, I let them do as the mains and eat to the bottom, also, uncut....
.....I would NEVER want, to NOT, have complete control of the sub's ceiling-cut, in relation to the other speakers....period.......
.....sometimes a gap of the frequency response of only a few hz's between handing off to the subs, can accentuate the sub also and promote cleanness....guys, we're doing research together, or at least, I hope it's two-sided.....this is what I do, and what works for me....you may do something I need to try.....