Case of the dissapearing Bass

hmmm...whether you feel your amps are not up for the task is one thing but i cannot understand why you have absolutley no bass at all. I can see a change in the overall sonics when you change the speaker position but it usually is not as drastic as you have described. Having said that the 802's do need some extra power to drive them effectively. Have you tried to put them back to its original spot just to make sure something has not gone faulty with your components?
Whats your budget for new amps? I like the Bryston with the B&W product. I use it and so do alot of fellow audiophilliacs in my area.

I did consider 2 Bryston 7BSST2's. The have the best warranty out there and have ample grunt. After having a visit from an expert he said my room is very bright, the speakers are very bright and the brystons are very bright and it could give me one of the most fatiguing systems out there.

I Havent written them off entirely. I Was thinking going something warmer like the Pass.

Its hard to decide as I cant audition anything where i live i have to fly 1200Km's before I can get to a capital city in australia.

Ill have to keep toying around with placement etc and see if it bears fruit.

The rotels drive the speakers reasonably well but it is very evident that they lose control of the bass at high volumes. You can see it in the driver excursion and definately hear it.

My budget is maybe like 10k for amps so im looking to go second hand. I would rather let someone else pay for the loss of value as soon as the amp comes out of the box.

I think Quad-mans theory of a bass suck might be on the money. I will have a go at these speaker placement programs. My room is an odd shape though so it might be a bit weird.

The Rotel is enough power to make the bass but you could get more texture with more power. Better amps tend to be more detailed in the mids/highs and power seems to affect bass tonality in my limited experience.

I demoed the 802d on both Rotel and classe' amps back to back (also on AR tube gear) and it was not as night and day as one may think.

You may even want to look at wyred 4 sound. I like them a lot and they control the bass very well. They are dirt cheap and good, not just good for the money but actually good. Bryston also seems bright to me (at the very least neutral) and the 802d on the bright side.

Your issue sounds like a bass null too me for what it is worth.

Ellrotts,

I don't think theres anything to be ashamed of with regards to your system. If you like it, who cares. Anyway, I think you may have answered your question in your post where you list your equipment. You say that some if you gear is out for repair. Its possible that may be your problem. If you put the NAD in the system while your current preamp is out, that could be the reason for the lack of bass. I've seen this happen several times. In my own system, for example, I had a PS Audio preamp that was just OK. When I upgraded to a much better CJ preamp, it sounded like I added a sub. The difference was huge. The CJ was just letting more information pass through it. I can't say if this is definitely your problem; just that you may want to consider it.

I didn't get a chance to read all of the above comments but I will tell you to check the phase. Use a nine volt battery and a small wire lead, touch the leads to the speaker wire at your amp (disconnect them from the amp first!). The positive lead of the battery goes to the suspected positive and the negative to the negative. If the sub moves in the leads are backwards, if it pushes out it is correct. That will give you a definitive answer as to the phase of the speakers, just make sure to test all of them. Then of course there is the possibility that you blew them up and they need replacing. Also the positioning of the speakers in the room can make a huge difference as well. So if they were to much up against a wall, and to little when pushed away. I would push them back towards the wall and raise them off the floor.

I hope I helped,
Andrew
Synesthesia Studios