Musical Fidelity A5 CDP -bass problem

After you burn-in for 15-200 hours, the bass will no longer be an issue. Went thru the same thing with my A5 and the bass is now deep, tight, fast, defined with excellent separation. Hang in there.........

From my observations, the A5 is a tonally neutral and well balanced player. It presents the entire frequency spectrum in a clean and precise manner. I find the bass to be well defined and tight, but not emphasised in a way that would please listeners who like a lot of bass or would be suitable for an already bass lean system. It could be that the A5 is not well suited for your Vandersteens or that you have gotten used to the more dominant bass emphasis of your Rotel. Break in could also be an issue as the A5 uses an upsampler that does need a considerable time to burn in before it settles (I don't know how much time as I got my player used). I definitely recommend an after market power cord for this player; made a world of difference in my system. You may also take a look a the recent review of this player in 6moons. I believe the reviewer recommended using an isolation platform for this CDP and the reviewer himself used a maple cutting board which may make the bass sound a little fuller and with more weight (maple has a resonance which may cause). I wish you all the best in resolving the issue.

I have never heard a players bass create that much more weight after full break-in. Tighter, extended and more musical, but the weight issue is more to do with synergy of the system or the player is just plain bass lean which is not a bad thing for a lot of people. Your Rotel could be engineered to have a thicker bass than the A5 and the A5 could be more musical. If the player is bass lean and you want more then Hartwerger is right about changing power cords trying different vibration control devices. Of course ic's and speaker cables will always come into play.
If you can, let the player run 24/7 for a week then report back. I am betting on a tighter and more accurate bass.

Problems resolved: Learned alot: The dealer loaned me the MF integrated A5 amp they had in the showroom to try at home- what a world of difference! I have the sound that first brought me to the A5. The sound opened up, the fog lifted and the bass notes rather than rumbling became actual notes. The music is much more compelling, something I could not say playing it through the rotel set up. I paid a price for the lesson of thinking I could mix and match without researching first. I will keep both systems side by side, since I like having the rotel changer (I know, shame on me!) for when I need continuous party or dinner music and reserve using the MF for blissfull critical listening. thx for all the observations,and advice from this generous group.

enjoy!