Pioneer Elite vsx-14 enough for hdi-3800? Alternatives?

@sunshdw also got curious looking at the NAD 389 and Arcam SA30 after looking into dirac. Sounds like no sub output on SA30 for some reason though. Leading in the 389 direction at this point.

@loomisjohnson That is a good point. Now that you mention, definitely need to listen first, as enticing as new gear is. The JBLs (I hope) will be a huge upgrade from my speaker setup already (technics SB200 / Cerwin Vega at-12). I was supposed to get them today, but rescheduled to tomorrow for unknown reasons.

I got these setup today with the vsx-14. The added detail is really nice! I am feeling like I'm missing low end I had with the Technics for some reason. I have the bass eq turned way up and the treble down and still seem to be a little overwhelmed with high end.

Is it possible that this is the amp not providing enough power to get the low end I'm looking for?

Your jbls are very sensitive at 92db and shouldn't need a lot of power. Otoh they're rated to go down only to 37hz, which isn't super-low, so it may be they're just not as bass as their predecessor. Synergy is critical, however, so you could very likely get different results with another amp, tho you could also add a sub.

The Technics are rated to go down to 38hz, so spec wise, not too different. I'm pretty surprised that I am finding these speakers thin, based on reviews like these (https://www.audioholics.com/tower-speaker-reviews/jbl-hdi-3800) they should have relatively powerful bass. I even have them close to a wall so I expected  to be working against it being overpowering.

Is there something else I am possibly doing wrong or are my expectations for these speakers just off?
 

@szejna, i'm no tech wizard but i do know that frequency response measurement is an imperfect science and that other factors like dispersion, and dynamic range could make two similarly-spec'd speakers sound very different. i was curious enough to read some online reviews (e.g. audiosciencereview) of your jbls, some of which suggest that for low bass they would benefit from a sub--again, you might get better results with a different amp, so i wouldn't hesitate to experiment.