What's wrong with my system?


My admittedly budget, mid-fi system severely lacks base. And I don't know why.

It consists of:

Speakers: Tannoy Eyris DC1 bookshelf speakers on stands (they're the old version of the Tannoy Revolution Signature DC6 bookshelves with the dual concentric drivers)

Amp: Arcam A18 Amplifier
DAC: PS Audio Digital Link III DAC
Cables: Blue Jeans interconnects
Source: 256 bit rate AAC up to ALAC going to an Airport Express connected by optical to the DAC

The high end is great, voices sound amazing with the dual concentric drivers. But there's no base to speak of. And I know it's not the speakers because I once auditioned a modded Music Hall DAC which gave them a ton of low end (but eliminated the high end, which is why I didn't buy it).

Would the Arcam be the problem? I can't imagine it's the airport express or optical source to DAC because it's all digital until the DAC. And everybody loves the PS Audio DL III, so I can't see that being the problem, either.

Any ideas???
01jeremy01
It doesn't seem like I can just drag and drop photos, and there's no option to upload photos...can anyone tell me how to add them so I can show you my set up? Sorry, I'm new to Audiogon.
You should be able to post a link to a photo-sharing web site, using mark-up tags. There is a link to the format for tags just below the 'Post your response" box.
Well, I don't have any photo sharing websites set up right now. But ignoring for a minute any issues in connectivity or speaker placement, does anyone think it could be an issue with system component matching? That I'm using the wrong DAC or amp for the speakers?

I never auditioned DACs apart from that Music Hall, but I did audition amps. I originally wanted a tube amp for more of that analog warm sound, but they were too slow for the speakers. The Arcam was much quicker and livelier with those speakers.
That amp is 40 watts/ch I read. Also an integrated which usually means smaller power supply, less current capable, etc. compared to separates.

SPeakers are average efficiency at best, not high efficiency that enables use of fewer watts for good bass.

Based on that, while stating I have never heard the amp or speakers, I suspect you would hear a difference in the bass at moderate to higher volumes using say a good quality 120w/ch or more power amp. Is there any way your could try a more powerful stereo amp or even monoblocks as an experiment? I would expect a difference. If it worked and you Arcam has pre-amp outputs, you could use it as pre-amp only still perhaps with separate power amp at first and see how that goes from there.

That's not to say the other potential setup or configuration issues already mentioned should be ignored. Those would have an effect as well regardless of amp used, so I would recommend making sure what you have is set up properly first before making any change. Then you will be at a good place to consider equipment changes/upgrades.
One other thing worth mentioning is that good bass is inherently a problem at low listening volumes due to our human ears. Its a normal thing but something that bothers some. The common solution in the old days was a "loudness" button, which provided an artificial bass boost at lower volumes, for better or for worse.

You want to listen at higher, more realistic volumes to better assess bass performance. Bass requires power so listen at higher volumes to best determine where any real issues with bass levels or quality might occur.