Thinking of adding a subwoofer for more bass.

Have you tried moving the speakers closer to the front wall?

I have played with speaker placement, but still not satisified with the amount of base. Also, I changed out the speakers cables from the cheap clear stuff to the shielded and insulated cables and that did very little. Was thinking about changing out the tubes, but I know the sub-woofer will probably give me a better chance of getting what I want.

The reason why I asked the question is because I was worried that the output frequencey of the amplifier was the problem because the Vandersteens go down to about 37hz. After listened to your suggestions, I feel more confident the sub will do the job.

Thanks

You may want to check out the Velodyne SMS-1 subwoofer controller - for use with any sub you choose. It allows room analysis below 200hz and Parametric EQ on 6 bands between 20hz and 120hz. I recently bought one for use with my Verity Parsifal Encores (and I also bought subs for use with other speakers that I rotate into my system).

This unit requires real effort - PEQ turns out to be more trial and error than I thought - but the results are really dramatic. The cost is app $600 (AudioAdvisor.com) plus whichever subs you choose.

Good Luck

Marty

Check out this thread: Add a subwoofer to Von Schweikert 4Srs?
I ended up adding a sub, an REL Storm III, and couldn't be happier.

Don't confuse more bass with lower bass frequency. A good Sub shouldn't ADD bass to the sound, only reproduces the lower frequencies your speakers can't handle (in your case anything below 37 Hz, which is not a lot and hardly audible. You feel it rather than hear it).
A lot of cd's these days just don't have a lot of bass in them and sound lean. That has nothing to do with your system and if you want more bass, than it will def. reduce the microdetail of your bass responce in case of a sub that's been adjusted to ADD bass. If you adjust the sub correctly it will not add, but just reproduce the frequencies below your speaker's bounderies. It could very well be the case that your speakers roll off at 40 or 50 Hz or something. Most speakers don't go nearly as low as told, in which case a good sub could be a solution.
But don't expect your lean cd's to sound full of bass all of a sudden. It won't happen.

Hope this helps.