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Too much bass

Brief equipment list: Rogue Magnum 120 amps, AR LS3 preamp, Vandersteen 2c's.
The bass is overwhelming. Either source, CD or Vinyl I cant turn up the volume over 1/3 of the control knob. The music falls apart. I have had many other speakers using this combo of electronics. Proac, Thiel, Meadowlark and Magnepan.
It almost appears as the amps are clipping. But if I chose a program with very little bass involved, everything is fine.
Could my amps be clipping with these speakers? Are they a difficult load?
Thanks, Scott
scottht
robm321
932 posts
 
Are you sure it's not the room? You have all solid equipment, and your amp should be able to handle those speakers I would guess.
nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
If the M 120's are in Triode mode, try switching them to Ultra-Linear mode. Also (I assume you are, but....) use the 8 ohm tap for the 2c's. Other than that, your amps should have plenty of power.

The other possible issue might be speaker wire. Not the kind, let's not get into that, but the length. IMO, if they're over 8 ft. long, then the (tube) amps might be having trouble controlling (damping) the woofers. Also, as you may know, Vandersteen recommends bi-wiring these speakers for tightest bass.
gunbei
2,327 posts
 
When I first read your thread title before popping in here I would have either said that your speakers were too close to the rear wall or you're sitting to far from them.

But after reading your post I think it has more to do with the amp and/or its synergy with your speakers and preamp. Does the Rogue have an ultra low input impedance? A bad set of tubes? Or maybe as Nsgarch suggests, that you try switching modes on the Magnum 120s or using different taps.
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