Luxman 590AX II Break-In

@jeffreyw

Many here have suggested the problem is room/speaker interface. It’s entirely possible or maybe even likely in your situation.

As an example, Some years ago, I had a pair of Chapman T7 3-way floor-standers, which sounded wonderful in a large living room. When we redesigned the interior, I moved the stereo system to a smaller, but dedicated listening room, I could never get the Chapmans to sound good. Bass went from terrific to awful. It had nothing to do with the amps- I was using either powerful tube monos and tube pre- and a very sweet 150 WPC SS integrated at the time.

I should also say that while the dimensions of the room itself are small, since the rear wall and most of the side wall open to adjacent much bigger rooms, the listening room is in effect, bigger. I fortunately don't get "boomy" bass.

Now, as I said in an earlier post, the Luxman 550AXII works a treat with my SF monitors with or without a single, small sub, but always with the thick front corner bass traps. On some music, I’ll turn the sub off.

Keep us posted.

It sounds to me like maybe the Kef is too small for your largish room. @jeffreyw  Bring your Luxman with you to the dealer to hear it paired with "your" speakers in an optimized room. @erik_squires The Reference 1 actually has a 6.5" bass driver it's the concentric mid that's 5".

Similar set up to you. I have a 30W Class A amp (DIY Hiraga Super 30 W), which is driving a pair of Seas Coax book shelf speakers. (DIY Sealed 5Ltr enclosure using the C16N001/F driver - Seas recommended enclosure and crossover) Room is 12,x18’ approx. I’m having no shortage of bass with this small box. Low watt class an amp, small coax driver. With those 3 way speakers, you should get a better bass response than what I’m seeing. 
 

Have you tried running a 50hz tone sine wave through your set up? You may want to try doing that (can be streamed from YouTube) and walking around in the room. Bass nodes will become very apparent and might help in getting the speakers properly positioned in the room.

just a thought…

@jeffreyw ,

I have the big brother to your Reference One’s and they need to be at least 2’ from the front wall and 3’-4’ from the side walls.  I’m not sure how loud you play your tunes, but mine don’t come alive until 60+ dbs.

All the best.

PROBLEM SOLVED

I visited a dealer who sells KEF and Luxman. Brought my 590AXII for comparison against the 509X, M10X, and Rotel Michi stereo amp. The room size in the showroom was 1.25X larger than mine and treated. We experienced a similar lack of bass in the showroom as in my home. The Kef Reference 1 Metas are power pigs. Moving up to the 509X was a little better in the bass response. When hooked up to the M10x, the KEFs became a different animal. The bass was crazy good! This is what my dealer expected. The Michi was also powerful in the bass region but nowhere as refined as the M10x. The best pairing was the M10x. I can't speak highly enough of what this amp (M10X) can do. As beautiful as the Class A midrange of the 590AXII is, it is easily trumped by the M10X, as it should be for the price differential. 

Thanks to all who offered advice on how to help me solve my issues!