Anyone NOT like the sound of VPI?

Judsauce,

Nice job!

I'm surprised that nobody, from a quick look, has suggested what seems to be the obvious problem: VTA. Lower the base of the tonearm a little and see if you get your bass back.

Cheers.

Tom

Madfloyd,

I think you mentioned that you had a professional setup of the table. Who did this and have you actually tinkered with the parameters much if at all? Sorry if I've missed something mentioned before. My Super Scoutmaster was set up by the dealer I bought it from. For a long time I was afraid to mess it up by changing anything. It wasn't until I started messing with the settings myself that I discovered the true joy of vinyl. Don't be afraid to mess with any of the settings the others have recommended. This professional setup is obviously not satisfying you. I know you don't need a different table or arm to get results you'll like. I've used the 90x with great results for a long time. I'm not sure about your particular Shelter but others have been happy with it.
A solid phono stage with easy adjustments for gain and loading is a must. Your preamp and amp are very solid if not among the very best around. You've auditioned some good speakers but I would again advise you to look at Vandersteen before you take that plunge. The Citadels have been on my short list of amps to try with my 5As. The lack of global negative feedback synergizes very well with a time and phase coherent speaker. Your fat midbass/room problems would be solved as well by the base EQ adjustments. Don't go with any ported speaker if you want to avoid fat midbase. If you were anywhere near Des Moines, I would invite you to audition my system to see if it was any closer to what you're looking for. I have no shortage of strong bass and no boominess. Sorry for a long winded post and I know it's just my opinion but it looks to me like you're on the right track and probably a lot closer than you realize.

"Don't go with any ported speaker if you want to avoid fat midbase."

I know this can be a general tendency for ported speakers, but not always. There are many good ported designs (front, back, or bottom) each of which provides good advantage when applied properly.

If you like full, extended, bass t go along with detail and clarity in the upper ranges as well, in lieu of a ported design, your options may be only bigger more expensive speakers (that are also harder to place practically) location closer to walls and/or corners, which often negatively impacts imaging accuracy and soundstage, or use of tone controls or equalization (ouch).

Oh , and with a ported design, you can also always plug the port to various degrees to lessen the bass if that is an issue.

Also for good clear bass with a ported speak or any speak for that matter, make sure you have good amplification that is ably capable of driving the speakers load.