Dr Beat: Not being too technically inclined on speakers and impedance, can anyone tell me what kind of power is needed to drive a 4 ohm speakers well ?? i have been told that if the power is inadequate, the result is that the resulting bass control is weak and loose. Hence, it is easier to drive 8 ohm speakers, such as the ATC SCM 40 or the Proac D18, as they require lower power to drive it.So, a friend explained that you need at least a 200W power amp to drive a 4 Ohm speakers like the Dynaudio Contour series. You are correct. If an amplifier is not up to the job of driving the speaker properly, you will end up with a loose bass, lacking punch and control. This can be easily demonstrated when trying a better amplifier.
Driving a 4ohm loudspeaker is more about current capability than wpc. You will find many amplifiers on the market less than 100wpc which are capable of quite high current levels, which make them sound louder than their wpc rating on paper. You will also find many higher end 8ohm loudspeakers act in a similar way, needing much more power/current to get the speaker to sing.
I personally find the Dynaudios a little bass heavy, and also loose in the bass. This can be helped with better amplification, but if you're limited regarding positioning away from a wall, and don't want to use the bungs, you may find that this looseness may never be fully tamed.
OK, spent the night repositioning the speakers. I removed the acoustic wool and i also detached the sub-woofer. Moving the speakers from 1 feet away from the wall to 2 feet did reduce this "boomy" bass sound. But what i did find out from the experimentation is that when i re-attached the sub-woofer, the overall sound was also much better. It's like the subW took over the low signals from the main speakers. Am i making sense? Well, that's what i think i am hearing.Can this happen?? well, so far so good.
I have arranged to borrow a friend's sub woofer, the Velodyne SPL 1000 Ultra to replace my Quad Lite subwoofer. I will post my findings later. BTW, i playing volume is usually 35 on the Cyrus volume dial.
Any other advice to improve the sound?? Adding the subwoofer isn't changing the bass response or control of your main speakers, it's adding depth. The best way of tailoring bass with a sub is to take the speaker cables from the amp, through the sub, then select the crossover point you want, allowing you to limit the lower frequencies the speaker has to deal with. The problem with this is that it degrades quality due to the filtering. I can only assume you're more happy with the sound because of it's depth, and possibly having a 'fatter' bass. You may prefer a floorstander, which will give you a similar change.
Your friend saying that you shouldn't use a sub is sort of correct - down to certain frequencies, bass can be directional, which would come across as mono with a single sub. Also, subs are frowned upon by audiophiles. If you have to use a sub, a sealed sub will generally give you a more even in room response, and generally a tighter sound, both preferable for music.
To sum up, I think using a sub subtlely can work quite effectively, but you'll find that it's not going to change the bass problems you're getting from your speakers.