Smoother bass by running woofer out of phase?

From what I gather from you the experts I should wire the woofer in phase and look into finding what frequencies are giving me trouble; then use some type of EQ to take care of the bass nodes. I wonder if my wife will get me a Rives prac for Christmas? Stay tune, I will let you know how this will all work out. Thanks- Sam

One other comment relative to in-room bass smoothness: Note that fullrange dipoles have smoother in-room bass than monopoles (James M. Kates, "Dipole Loudspeaker Response in Listening Rooms", JAES May 2002). A single dipole may be thought of as two monopoles out of phase with each other. I think there's some merit to the idea of playing around with driver phase in the deep bass region.

The practical issue that I am face with is the fact that when the woofers are out of phase the bass response in my room is very smooth, no bloat. There seems to be greater detail in the upper frequencies. The center fill is very stable and the sound stage seems more open. All in all I like what it does, the question is, if I invest in a Prac, will I end up at the same place i.e. smooth base. Maybe I can demo one to know for sure.

So you've achieved a pleasing speaker coloration. There's a real chance that "correct" bass will not sound as pleasing. If this were the midrange or the highs, I would say that you might become more aware of the coloration as you play more material and you would ultimately become tired of it. This might not be the psychoacoustic conclusion for bass, however. It's an intellectual choice, pleasing coloration or accuracy.

Before you get into equalization, try some thick, dense bass panels or those round bass traps in the front corners, behind the speakers. Not directly behind. Even the makers of those eq's suggest something like that first.

What you're describing sounds like a megaphone effect out of those corners.