KRK VXT8 monitor speakers, how to add more bass

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Hi all, i know this sounded silly but i bought VXT8 speakers for part of my sound system, got it pretty cheap at about $650 for a pair. My intention is to setup a music listening system with minor occasion movie. I don't intend to spend a lot thus i just grab the pair and think it's a good deal. I tested VXT4 in a treated room in a shop and i felt that the bass is sufficient, punchy and trebble sounded clear, then i thought VXT8 should be even better on bass.

When i setup the speakers in my living room(not treated), the bass is very minimal and hardly can be felt unless i crank up the volume that can disturb my neighbour. I use a low end media player playing flac files. I set the bass switch on the speakers to highest. It improved just slightly, but not punchy. I tried using a dvd player to playback some CD music (same songs that i burn to flac), surprisingly the quality improved especially on the trebble but i am still not satisfy with the bass, it's not even near the standard i heard from the VXT4 in the shop.

Before i invest on another type of equipment, need your guys input what should i buy next? DAC? Preamp? How can i improve the bass? Treat the room(last resort, wife will not agree on this)? What went wrong?

 

[ID.]

Hi all, i know this sounded silly but i bought VXT8 speakers for part of my sound system, got it pretty cheap at about $650 for a pair. My intention is to setup a music listening system with minor occasion movie. I don't intend to spend a lot thus i just grab the pair and think it's a good deal. I tested VXT4 in a treated room in a shop and i felt that the bass is sufficient, punchy and trebble sounded clear, then i thought VXT8 should be even better on bass.

When i setup the speakers in my living room(not treated), the bass is very minimal and hardly can be felt unless i crank up the volume that can disturb my neighbour. I use a low end media player playing flac files. I set the bass switch on the speakers to highest. It improved just slightly, but not punchy. I tried using a dvd player to playback some CD music (same songs that i burn to flac), surprisingly the quality improved especially on the trebble but i am still not satisfy with the bass, it's not even near the standard i heard from the VXT4 in the shop.

Before i invest on another type of equipment, need your guys input what should i buy next? DAC? Preamp? How can i improve the bass? Treat the room(last resort, wife will not agree on this)? What went wrong?

No idea, but looking at the speakers, lack of bass should not be an issue. Maybe too much bass seems a likelier problem.

Speakers like that probably need to be on solid stands so that might be one thing to try if you have them on a desk or some other furniture. they may be affected by the quality of the sound output from your computer, but I'd be reluctant to start throwing serious money at DACs and preamps until you can work out what the issue is. Maybe a cheap interface as a starting point.

how big is the room they are in?

 

[steve_1979]

Another option would be to add a subwoofer which can be used to adjust the bass to your liking.

Clicky

 

[steve_1979]

Before i invest on another type of equipment, need your guys input what should i buy next? DAC? Preamp? How can i improve the bass?

A DAC or pre-amp won't have any effect on the bass.

 

[steve_1979]

Try moving the speakers around or changing your listening position t see what effect this has. Bass is a funny thing and can vary a lot from room to room and in different positions. Sometimes it can go from overwhelming to almost nonexistant just by moving things around by a few feet.

For example if you have the speakers positioned exactly half way between the floor and ceiling or half way between two walls it will often cause a bass cancilation.

Do you have any photos of your setup and seating position? That may identify any problems with your setup.

 

[matt49]

Dumb question, I know, but have you checked the speakers are wired in phase?

 

[steve_1979]

Dumb question, I know, but have you checked the speakers are wired in phase?

They're active not passive so they can't be wired out of phase.

 

[davedotco]

Dumb question, I know, but have you checked the speakers are wired in phase?

They're active not passive so they can't be wired out of phase.

Of course they can, but that would require faulty cables, so pretty unlikely.

The KRKs are pretty potent speakers with bass down to below 50hz and the usual 'active kick'. If you are not getting this then I suspect something is amiss, probably connection or setup I would think.

If you can try different connections and/or cables do so, if not it is speakers and cables back to the dealer I guess. Set them up in his room and see what happens.

 

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Hi all,

Thanks for all the great advise, I did some changes based on them and i got some pretty good result.

First of all, my living room is not small, medium i would say. Originally the pair was facing me in the middle on my listening position. I moved the speakers facing slightly towards my left and right shoulder respectively instead of my head. I notice that the vocal is softer but still retain the details. I crack up the volume a bit to my usual listening volume, now i can clearly felt a bit of the heavy and punchy bass.

The second thing i do was to set the volume in media player to about 80%. Originally was about 20%. I lower the volume on the built in amp for both speakers so that the overall volume is normal. I don't know whether this is true, some built in dac if you minimise the volume the details will be affected.

With the two changes i am happy to say music sound nicer now with some bass. When i stand up and move further to the back, bass can be felt more. Definately my living room play a big part and need further improvement. There are a lot of things i still can do to improve like a proper speaker stands, dac, good source etc. But i am really glad that sometimes the things that i need to improve the SQ are the basic fine tune and check, they are free and bump up a lot on SQ. Thanks guys!!

 

[steve_1979]

Glad to hear they worked out well.