2. speakers
  3. 1116284335

I want profoundly better bass

Looks like I caught your attention. I have a moderate sized stereo room that is about 12.5 feet wide and has no rear wall for almost 32 feet. With a large opening for the stairs on on side of the front of the room I have a fairly large area in which to propogate bass. My current speakers are either a pair of Apogee Mini Grands or a pair of Meadowlark Audio Hot Rod Herons. I have VTL MB-450s, A forte 4 and Vtl Tiny Triodes (with Infinicaps) with which to play amplifier roulette. Preamp is a hot Rodded VTL TL. 2.5 and Digital Source is an Ayre Cx7e. Vinyl is via a Dynavector 20Xh strapped to a Rega P-25 that feeds A Plinius Jarrah.
Here is the $64.00 question. Given the 2 speaks I have now and their proclivity to warmth and subtle detail, what would somebody suggest I do for speakers with PROFOUNDLY better bass? Budget is somewhere in the 5K range used preferred. If your thoughts are to subs, no thanks as I have been down that road. Even the Minigrand's subs are a bit too much slop and giggle compared to the panel parts of the Apogees. Here is another hint. BIG sound is good as long as images are not too stretched. Re. I do not want a 10 foot tall Diana Krall in my living room. I already married a gal who looks like her (only better) and would be very afraid of a ten foot tall woman. Thanks in advance

Meadowman
128x128meadowman
jay_douglas_2879b79
239 posts
 
the new fried, gradient revolution
dawgbyte's avatar
dawgbyte
325 posts
 
You MIGHT be able to find a used pair of Vandersteen 5A's in that price. With an active subwoofer built into the 3-way design, it produces serious bass notes. Overall it's a very good speaker.
krell_man
827 posts
 
I agree with Stehno. If you have your equipment sitting on their feet or on some damping material, try spiking them with brass spikes (I use AudioPoints, www.audiopoints.com), and definitely don't forget to spike your speakers.

The spikes tighten and focus the sound more than many people realize, and it's a fairly cheap place to start. I've recently gone from the individual spikes to AudioPoints complete stand, the Sistrum SP-6. I've even found that not using the brass disks with the spikes tightened things up even further.

There may be used spikes on Audiogon, because as people (like me) go to the Sistrum stands that come with their own spikes, they have the others sitting around. I have a bag of them myself.

Damping might work, but it's a double-edged sword, too much damping dulls things.
classicjazz
153 posts
 
Some amps will provide iron-fisted control over the woofers - think Krell. Another possibility might be to go with speakers that have active built-in amplification. I would recommend Genesis (V, 500, 501), which are warm and have incredible but natural bass down to 20 Hz. Wilson speakers (5.1) have pop but not the deep bass you seem to crave. I am not a fan of the 5.1 as it is too dry/sterile (I realized this after I sold them). Maybe Eggleston Andras.
raquel
841 posts
 
Sounds like you have a fair amount of cubic feet in that room.

At that price point, B&W Nautilus 801 or Vienna Acoustics Mahlers come to mind. Both produce prodigious bass that usually sounds boomy unless the speakers are driven by the right amps in big rooms. The B&W's are pretty impractical because they require bi-amping with serious solid-state amps, but can produce truly low bass (below 30 Hz.) and move a lot of air. The Mahlers have really potent midbass, are easier to drive and are 90 db. sensitive, but drop below 3 Ohms in the bass and require a top-notch solid-state amp to control the woofers. The Mahlers may be tough to place if you listen on the long wall, as they are rear-ported (the B&W's are bottom-ported).

In view of your amplifiers, these suggestions probably do not help much, but it's going to be tough to find a speaker that moves a lot of air with any finesse at that price point that does not require really potent solid-state amplification or that will work with typical tube amps. If you are patient and flexible with speaker placement, maybe a pair of subs would be a better way to go.
More to discover