Extra Bass weight needed

[admin_exported]

Hi There,

I have just moved house. The problem this has caused is my set-up is now very light on bass weight. I have an Arcam CD82 / Roksan Radius 5 (moth/incognito-modified RB300 & goldring 1042) into a Roksan MK111 Kandy into Quad 11L's via Audioquest Indigo+ birewired. In my previous house I was able to move the speakers a little towards the corners of the room to give me a bit more weight while filling my stands with Atabites tightened it up a good deal and gave me the sound that I wanted. I have tried everything with positioning my speakers in the new house to gain a little ooomph but to no avail, is there anything I could do other than get some bigger speakers (was thinking maybe ma rx2's?) to help me out. My problem has just been compounded by my wife spilling something on my amp and breaking it so it would make more sense financially to achieve what i'm after by buying a new amp. I know this is probably a long-shot but any ideas from like minded souls would be much appreciated

Thanks

Jamie

 

[Anonymous]

Two obvious options to me. Add a decent sub or buy some bigger speakers. Do you a budget expectation to sort this out?

 

[Anonymous]

Yes about £600, I was going to go the route of bigger speakers when my wife broke the amp. Unfortunately I don't have a budget for both and cant bear the thought of replacing my amp (while using up my budget) and still ending up with the same ligtweight sound! frustrating or what? hence the shot in the dark from you guys. I haven't had the amp looked at yet, so hopefully it will be repairable and I can go ahead and buy some speakers. It powers up but it's just frozen, none of the buttons do anything as it sits there with the "mode" led on but nothing else happens. She sprayed polish through the top air vents - aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrgghh!

 

[Anonymous]

******. Maybe fateful! Well you could start by ringing Roksan for a quote on a general repair. Might be worth it, even if only to sell it again after.

The Kandy III amp is a little lean in character but has plenty of power. A good alternative that I've heard the Quad speakers partnered with is the Quad 99/909 pre-power amp and found it to be very good (no surprises). If you can get the Kandy repaired then use it's pre-outs to drive a used 909 power amp. If it doen't suit then you can sell the 909 easily enough.

You can get new ones for £850 from here.

Have a hunt around and see what you can find. I've seen used 909s for £600 before.

 

[Anonymous]

So do you think that the 11L's have the potential for more bass if they were driven by a better amp set-up? will the kandy work ok bi-amping with the 909? I was wondering this a while back as the Kandy power amp has been discontinued

 

[ear]

once heard the 11L with pioneer A6-j and the bass was good.but with any other amp(yamaha or onkyo) it seemed the bass was missing.

 

[plastic penguin]

shevchunko:

Hi There,

I have just moved house. The problem this has caused is my set-up is now very light on bass weight. I have an Arcam CD82 / Roksan Radius 5 (moth/incognito-modified RB300 & goldring 1042) into a Roksan MK111 Kandy into Quad 11L's via Audioquest Indigo+ birewired. In my previous house I was able to move the speakers a little towards the corners of the room to give me a bit more weight while filling my stands with Atabites tightened it up a good deal and gave me the sound that I wanted. I have tried everything with positioning my speakers in the new house to gain a little ooomph but to no avail, is there anything I could do other than get some bigger speakers (was thinking maybe ma rx2's?) to help me out. My problem has just been compounded by my wife spilling something on my amp and breaking it so it would make more sense financially to achieve what i'm after by buying a new amp. I know this is probably a long-shot but any ideas from like minded souls would be much appreciated

Thanks

Jamie

Bigger speakers seem the obvious answer: I know from experience the Kandy MKIII/LIII matches really well with MA RS6. However, if the Kandy is too costly to repair, look at either Kandy LIII replacement or as igglebert mentions: the Quad pairing.

 

[basshound]

Adding a sub would obviously add some bass,consider the BK electrics range,prices start from around £200 so you would be able to repair/replace your amp as well. Have you got home insurance? Might be able to claim for the amp if you have accidental damage cover.

 

[Anonymous]

Am going to try to claim off home insurance tomorrow. Now assuming that they cough up then problem solved! New speakers it is. Has anyone auditioned the rx2's yet? I like rs6 and can get them quite cheap second hand but I think they maybe a little too big for my room

 

[Anonymous]

have never heard Quad 11's but have read posts on forums where people say the bass is an issue ....

so try auditioning some different speakers and possibly on loan, so that you can try them in your home with your own equipment

 

[matthewpiano]

If you are looking for extra weight I can heartily recommend trying a pair of Q Acoustics floorstanders - either the 1030i or the 1050i. I wouldn't go back to the Quads for anything in the world after having the Qs. They have all the imaging and midband qualities of the Quads but sound so much more complete.

If the amp isn't repairable you might be able to achieve everything you want to with a NAD. If you could get a C355BEE, or even a C326BEE I honestly don't think it would be a downgrade from your Roksan. In fact, I think you'd end up with a better system. It might seem crazy but just go and do some auditioning. I think you could be very very surprised by what you hear.

 

[the record spot]

If you've got the room, Q Acoustics 1050i will do the job. Just replaced in the Q range by the 2050s, it was Hi Fi World's Product of the Year last year. Often overlooked - mistakenly IMO - this sub £500 box, now sub £200 due to the new range arriving, is a stellar buy. Huge sound, great dynamics, can be thunderous easily enough but does subtlety when needed. By all means, get the MAs, but don't forget to shortlist the Qs.

 

[Anonymous]

Good news,

The insurance company are getting someone to pick it up and attempt to repair it. If they are unable to, they will replace it. My only concern with this is what they will replace it with as I think it has been discontinued?? Whichever way, this means that my initial budget is back in place to upgrade my speakers, I will just have to wait to audition now as i don't know what amp they will be connected to

 

[jdp1962]

shevchunko:
Good news,

The insurance company are getting someone to pick it up and attempt to repair it. If they are unable to, they will replace it. My only concern with this is what they will replace it with as I think it has been discontinued?? Whichever way, this means that my initial budget is back in place to upgrade my speakers, I will just have to wait to audition now as i don't know what amp they will be connected to

I would guess the insurance company would offer you a cash settlement so you could then choose what to spend it on.

 

[Anonymous]

So assuming that they don't replace it and give me cash instead, where do you guys suggest I start looking for the same kind of sound without adding to the price (eg K2) ? It would need to be upgradable and have a decent MM input. Second hand may be an idea, could get something decent for £500-£600 ish?

 

[Anonymous]

Basshound speaks the truth. BK is the way!

 

[Cypher]

matthewpiano:If you are looking for extra weight I can heartily recommend trying a pair of Q Acoustics floorstanders - either the 1030i or the 1050i. I wouldn't go back to the Quads for anything in the world after having the Qs. They have all the imaging and midband qualities of the Quads but sound so much more complete.

If the amp isn't repairable you might be able to achieve everything you want to with a NAD. If you could get a C355BEE, or even a C326BEE I honestly don't think it would be a downgrade from your Roksan. In fact, I think you'd end up with a better system. It might seem crazy but just go and do some auditioning. I think you could be very very surprised by what you hear.

I strongly disagree with this. The Roksan kandy (the new K2 or LIII) is so much better than a NAD C326 and/or C355. It will definitely be a downgrade. I've had a few budget amps (Rotel, Marantz, NAD) but since I have the Roksan Kandy I will never go back again. The improvement you'll get with the Roksan is massive.

 

[Anonymous]

If you dont mind older speakers, here are a pair of B&W DM2A speakers on ebay with a buy it now of £320

I have an older version (DM2) .... can say that bass is excellent (3 way transmission line design with the same tweeters and supertweeters as the old spendor BC1's)

not sure what these should sell for .... paid £50 for mine, but the cabinets on mine needed work (had them french polished)... have seen some others sell for over £250 ... these however look in good condition

I dont think that you can get anything new at that price that will be better

 

[kusum65]

I have a similar problem. Just moved house and the room is fairly big. I also have a Kandy and a pair of AVI neutrons. The sound is better in many ways compared with my smaller room but the bass is lacking.

Ive heard subs can be good but can also bring other problems. If you were to use a sub through the amps pre outs would there be any problems regarding timing?

 

[basshound]

kusum65:
I have a similar problem. Just moved house and the room is fairly big. I also have a Kandy and a pair of AVI neutrons. The sound is better in many ways compared with my smaller room but the bass is lacking.

Ive heard subs can be good but can also bring other problems. If you were to use a sub through the amps pre outs would there be any problems regarding timing?

If you were to get a sub with a high level (Neutrik) connection you then connect it directly to the speaker binding posts on your amp.

 

[kusum65]

Thanks for that. Could you recomend one? I dont think i need one to large as i wont be using it in a home cinema. Hi fi dealers always seem to mention REL but ive never understood why.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm not really into the idea of having of the sub for a couple of reasons, firstly, while this would add the bass, it wouldn't upgrade any of the rest of the range which it would if I replaced the speakers. (also please note that I don't want my sound bass-heavy. I just want "some" bass which i've lost with the 11l's in a bigger room with a concrete floor and the corners of the room nowhere near the speakers). Secondly, as my wife has no interest in Hifi but she has a lot of interest in the decor of our home and she wouldn't be too keen on the extra box, not too mention those DM2A's Dim!

 

[Anonymous]

Is there not a much more simple solution, like changing speaker cable for something like Van Den Hul with carbon?

 

[Anonymous]

shevchunko:

Secondly, as my wife has no interest in Hifi but she has a lot of interest in the decor of our home and she wouldn't be too keen on the extra box, not too mention those DM2A's Dim!

OOPS! .... Sorry!.... did not realise that you wanted items to match your furniture ... thought you were after speakers