Hi George
So the speakers are placed 1 meter from the back and side walls on the 4 m wall? Where is your listening position relative to the speakers? As Duke notes, if you position the chair against or close to the back wall, see if the bass comes back. It does seem you are getting too much high frequency energy relative to the bass which would make things sound bright. But this usually can be fixed . The Merlins can astound you with their bass but it takes trial and error and minute changes in position to zero in on it.
Do you have any treatments at the reflection points on the side walls or absorption devices behind the speakers or in the corners? I was having a similar problem with my Merlin/Berning set-up, different pre and source but really improved the bass dramatically with the addition of some home brewed bass traps placed in the corners and behind and between the speakers. Another trick might be to run the speakers on the diagonal if you have the space.
Of course the tonal balance of the amp may not be something you are used to relative to the Gryphon. I would try moving things around and experimenting and definitely consider room treatments. A while back there was another Berning owner with similar problems you are describing that gave up way too soon, it is not the amp. Don't give into that temptation just yet. The Berning can sound lean if you aren't getting the bass you expect and should receive from this combo. And forget about tube rolling and tweeks for now and keep your focus on speaker placement, listening position and treatment. Check out this site for info on these devices, inexpensive but extremely effective.
http://www.geocities.com/jonrisch/a1.htm
There is also some very detailed information about bass traps and diy treatments at this link:
http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/search.pl
Good luck and please keep up posted. Please don't give up though, the Berning is really stellar with the VSM when all is right, ask Bobby P., he'll give you the low down.
So the speakers are placed 1 meter from the back and side walls on the 4 m wall? Where is your listening position relative to the speakers? As Duke notes, if you position the chair against or close to the back wall, see if the bass comes back. It does seem you are getting too much high frequency energy relative to the bass which would make things sound bright. But this usually can be fixed . The Merlins can astound you with their bass but it takes trial and error and minute changes in position to zero in on it.
Do you have any treatments at the reflection points on the side walls or absorption devices behind the speakers or in the corners? I was having a similar problem with my Merlin/Berning set-up, different pre and source but really improved the bass dramatically with the addition of some home brewed bass traps placed in the corners and behind and between the speakers. Another trick might be to run the speakers on the diagonal if you have the space.
Of course the tonal balance of the amp may not be something you are used to relative to the Gryphon. I would try moving things around and experimenting and definitely consider room treatments. A while back there was another Berning owner with similar problems you are describing that gave up way too soon, it is not the amp. Don't give into that temptation just yet. The Berning can sound lean if you aren't getting the bass you expect and should receive from this combo. And forget about tube rolling and tweeks for now and keep your focus on speaker placement, listening position and treatment. Check out this site for info on these devices, inexpensive but extremely effective.
http://www.geocities.com/jonrisch/a1.htm
There is also some very detailed information about bass traps and diy treatments at this link:
http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/search.pl
Good luck and please keep up posted. Please don't give up though, the Berning is really stellar with the VSM when all is right, ask Bobby P., he'll give you the low down.