Weird suggestion, but you could try talking with some of the technical folks found on the talkbass forums. For instance, the Genz Benz engineers, who are very knowledgeable, can often point you in the right direction, either in practical solutions or in gaining the technical insight into what's happening. Same is true of many folks on the greenboy forum, which is a community based around greenboy's work on the fEARful DIY bass cabinet designs that utilize a 12"/15" woofer for the deep lows and lower midrange but a 6.5" mid driver for the rest of the signal (some still use a tweeter). Many there use a myriad of amps and preamps, including their own designs, and are much better with these topics. Guitar players are much more typically of the plug and play mentality, and until recently, almost exclusively using equipment based on the same technologies available 50-60 years ago. The bass and multi-instrumental communities have a much longer history of dealing with a diverse set of technologies in their setups.