Not happy yet

Equipment holder: Glen asked; it's a built-in wall cabinet The amp and pre-amp are stacked (amp on top), the CD and an old receiver (to be used temporarily as a tuner) are stacked (rx on top), and the turnable has it's own shelf.

- Eric

What great responses! Thank you!

Can we focus on the heavy bass for minute (if it can be separated out)? I'd like to cure that first, if I have to choose.

The consensus seems to be replace the CD player first. Is that likely to affect the bass (as opposed to the highs)? I think of "problem" CD players as being too "bright", not too "boomy". Am I correct? I wouldn't object, my CD player sometimes spits out new CDs as unplayable (which they aren't).

Ditto for room treatment -- isn't this room too "lively"? Doesn't that translate to harsh treble? Or can it be boomy, sloshy bass also? BTW, my speakers are about 6 feet from back wall, 3 feet from side walls. Based on this feedback, I will try the speakers in a smaller, squarer, carpeted room to see what happens, and will work on my wife about getting a carpet.

I have experimented with cables (borrowed several speaker and IC sets from dealers while trying amp/pre-amps), and found that while I thought I could detect slight differences (maybe), they were far less than differences between different amp/pre-amp combos, for example, so decided to wait until other parts of my system were better, then listen to really nice cables. So right now my interconnects are Radio Shack's finest, and my speaker wires are 16-guage zip cord (I have 12-ga home-made also, when I can move my electronics closer to the speakers I will use those).

Based on the above logic (of elimination), I have been thinking/fearing that the boominess was mainly a speaker and/or power amp problem. The speakers are british (Celestion S-300), about 7 or 8 years old (I got them used in good shape). They cost about $1500 new, I paid about $700 3 or 4 years ago. They have a single small (6" or 8") woofer and a single tweeter. Very clear highs. They're heavy, floor-standing, with a full cabinet that has two openings (ports?) in the back. I think they are working hard in this room at higher volumes.

The Power Amp is new, I did notice that the other amp I demoed in my home(an Acurus 80)seemed considerably tighter on the bass, but I wanted to get rolling with something I could afford, and have another use in mind for this Rotel amp once I get a better one for the main system.

I will start with CD player and room treatment, because I trust the advice here. Just curious about the above questions.

Someone asked about budget. It's easiest for me (with the family and all) if I can bite off about $1000 at a time (probably that will be it for this year). I was thinking $500 to $1000 for a CD player (probably new/demo rather than used). Based on rep, I was thinking the Rotel RCD-971, but will listen to some of the others suggested here. Available locally: Rotel, Arcam, Rega, Marantz, and all the mainstream stuff (JVC, HK, etc).

I hope to spend $1000 to $2000 on the eventual power amp (which I may buy used, probably next year). The Classe suggestion sounds good.

I also hope to buy a headphone/headphone amp combo for under $1000 sometime in the next 6 months.

I hadn't grappled with budget for speaker or pre-amp replacement. I'm hoping to get better sound for the next year or two without going there. If/when it happens, I'm guessing speakers would be first, I'd hope to budget a couple thousand (shudder), but listening always seems to drive the budget up. I would want to learn more about pre-amps, would consider tubes based on what I've read at this site, but not sure. Likewise no firm budget for cables, which I would replace along with the CD and power amp.

Thank you again. Any answers to the above or further thoughts are appreciated!

- Eric

Sean and Glen (and others), thanks so much for your thoughtful responses.

I will review some past threads on speaker placement. I don't think I've tried everything; in fact, I've noticed that moving the speakers closer to the sidewall does sound a bit better (bad for soundstage though).

We do have a basement, and the floor does resonate. I have spikes (unused right now), but that would make things worse, right? So I'm thinking to try setting the speakers on milk crates to start, or on partially inflated bike inner tubes somehow. I will try the various other suggested tweaks (CD player isolation, speaker ports, etc.) also.

I wonder if source material is part of it. Has my system become "revealing" of bad material? I listened to John Hiatt's latest yesterday and Lucinda William's first album today. Both sounded good. The Allman's "Eat a Peach" on the other hand sounded all mushy and boomy, drowned out the good guitar work. I bet it would sound better in my car.

Great advice to "take your time." I don't know for sure what sound I'm looking for. I will try to be patient!