Shouldn't the Bass be felt? Duh

In my experience, I also have come to the same conclusion as Blueskiepbd.

The reasons I place on not getting bass right are:
1) Incorrect loudspeaker placement. For the best explanation of this, see Romy The Cat's Article on "The Dead Points of Live Sound" http://www.goodsoundclub.com/Forums/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=994 The speaker-room interface is the MOST important link in the audio chain, bar none. Any deviation from this, and I do not care what it is (formulas, computer models, the way 99.9999% of us including me have sited our speakers, WAF, etc.) renders most of the rest of the argument of one's system to me, moot - you simply are not getting anywhere near the most out of your system. And, while the conventional wisdom is to push the speakers towards walls for low frequency reinforcement, the opposite is true - most audiophiles have not pulled them out enough (try it).

2) Ignoring the Fletcher-Munson Curve. While I'm obviously far more of a subjectivist, unless we turn up the volume to levels beyond where oh so many audiophiles listen, there will be no bass felt or heard.

3) Improper amplifier-loudspeaker matching. While I don't use high power solid state amplification, most of us know the pendulum has swung the other way. And, for many running low power tubes, their respective loudspeakers are too demanding a load to produce the entire frequency spectrum.

Finally, "better" bass means quality AND quantity. Either without the other is most definitely not "better bass".

For those bass lovers...try Black Eyed Peas, "They Don't want Music" with James Brown....it is certainly fun, even if it is a bit over compressed (like most modern pop CD's). It will certainly test your room RT and driver damping, as it has some very closely spaced bass notes.

For those mid range lovers, I hear you and agree....I would never trade good mid range for bass that clouds the lower mids with third order harmonic distortion.

Quality before quantity...

Glad to know there is some support out there for the concept of paying attention to the bass. No, I don't want overpowering bass, muddy bass etc. Let's reproduce what is on the source for a change. I like what Pbb said.."the bass separates the men from the boys..." Does PBB mean Play Big Bass? lol
For me if I listen to a piece that has good bass and it is not being reproduced by the system it usually a problem with the owner's attitude toward bass. I mean if it were important wouldn't it be addressed? I know the room size ais a major factor but can't adjustment be made even in a smaller room to properly try to get the lower notes out of any system. Bass is a stepchild...bass is forgotten and so lonely and ignored by too many Aphiles. Oh you want some low bass? try Jennifer Warnes..The Hunter- Way down Deep intro...

viseral doesn't mean boom...most audiophiles judge loudspeakers using the most simple recordings. its the big stuff..classical/orchestra, progressive rock, jazz/big band, and yes, even border-metal such as zepplin, deep durple, etc, where speakers that pretend to have a flat response and tonal accuracy from top to bottom fall apart. Even the weight of low piano notes can have a viseral impact through a good design, big or small. when you hear the generalization that the midrange on a pair of speakers is a bit recessed, its often because we've all been trained by much of what's out there to pay too much attention to the mids. this in turn causes complaints about the sound of many cd's and vintage lp's. who has ever heard 'exile on mainstreet'or 'london calling' used in a demo? its always that 'whisple' recording (whispy female voice, and simple instrumentation) that pretty much 'can't' sound bad on anything. if we aren't getting a somewhat realistic overview of whats on the recording, why is someone's fingers sliding on a string the basis for a purchase?

Jaybo...Point well taken that audiophiles, and store demos, usually focus on imaging, and that is best exhibited by small speakers of limited LF extension. I have come to realize that "superb imaging" with that female vocalist somehow levitated in space between the two speakers is a really synthetic (dare I say phony) phenomena. It depends on critical speaker placement and room treatment, and the listener immobilized at a "sweet spot". I know the effect well, but have become a bit tired of it. I much prefer a multichannel system, where sound sources can be actually placed around my room instead of being "projected" by some psycho acoustic trick.