What should I upgrade?

How large is your room?
Do you live in a House or an Apartment?
What type of music do you listen to?
Do you just want to tighten up the bass, or do you want more slam and dynamics?

I believe that your best solution to get a more defined low-end, depends on your answers to the questions above.

Rich

agree with a bigger bel canto..you're almost there.

Hi Rich,

Room size: 17x35
Domicile: House
Type of music: Everything! (Mostly jazz. Jazz seems to be awesome!) It's the pop or rock that is lacking bass/dynamics.
Wants: I'm not sure what the difference is. I think I want both, but more importantly more slam.

Thanks for the assistance!

Devon.

You want it all.., like the rest of us.

That's a fairly large room. I would think, that to add some dynamics and bass to rock music, you either have to get larger panels like the 3.6's or add a sub. I would think that adding a sub would give you more slam and dynamics, than getting larger panels. It's tough adding a sub to the Maggies and having them blend right. Many people here suggest 2 subs to better balance out room modes, and cancel out standing bass waves. But, I would try one first to see how you like it.

Your current amp is fine power wise, 300watts into 4 ohms. However, if down the the line, you want some more refinement, ease, fluidity, bigger soundstage and lower noise floor, then you may want to upgrade to Monoblocks.

I love the Bel Canto gear, though. I've owned the DAC3, and I would think that a pair of Bel Canto Ref 1000 Monoblocks are in your future. I still have a pair now, and I think they're great.

Let the addiction begin..,

Rich

I don't own nor have I heard any of the gear in this thread. But I DO own some Martin Logans and love them.

My semi-educated suggestion would be to treat your room with bass traps in all four corners (I use Auralex) to reduce the boom and clean up your transients which are actually mid range frequencies. Your room is an echo chamber. You have to soak up the bad stuff before you venture into refined bass response. You'll be amazed at the difference and have a good starting point for "real" bass.

Then audition a Fathom (or a SVS PB13 for less money) to give you the best of both worlds. Clean and powerful.

I have an SVS PC13 that was $1500 new and blends well with my panels.

FWIW from a mid-fi enthusiast.

Brewed