Could be the way the player integrates with the rest of your system. I heard the A5 at the store and thought it had very good bass. Compared it with Arcam CD33 and Cary 303/300 and the A5 virtually had the similar bass to 303/300. It was definitely better on bass than the Arcam. It could be that the cd player is not driving the preamp properly. Have you compared the output parameters of the A5 with Rotel player?
Anyway, what's your bass test cd?
Anyway, what's your bass test cd?