Vinyl playback - lack of bass?

@bbarten If you think of the pop/rock albums of the 70’s in particular, they were generally played in cars on either 8-track or cassette.  The speakers of the time were placed in trunks on the rear package shelf, so they emphasized the bass.

Here’s the technical reason from vintagevinylnews.

During this process, low frequencies (like bass tones) are reduced, and high frequencies (like cymbals and snares) are amplified.

This allows for narrower grooves on the record, which increases play time and reduces distortion from needle movement in lower frequency ranges.

When we play these records back on a turntable or phonograph, we need to reverse this frequency reduce high ones, and enhance low ones – so that what we hear accurately replicates the original recording.

This is precisely where an RIAA equalized preamplifier comes into play; it corrects these altered frequencies according to the standard RIAA curve.

So the gentleman above who recommended an equilizer has it exactly right.   Your phono preamp is applying reverse RIAA curve, so it’s hardly heresy to jack up the bass if it suits your mood.

Look at you manual again , you should be setting the cartridge to 1K resistance . J12 & J30

Also check your gain setting  , should be 60 or 66 db .

@tomrk Right on!  I think I had all the bass that could be had in a beetle with four Jensen 6x9's. lol  Yeah the groove thing is my basis and of course the RIAA EQ...this is what the sections in integrated are for, right?  Or standalones.  I guess the EQ is a constant?  Doesn't seem too cool really.  he he...thanks for the great info!  Ever noticed how some outlets boosts the bass more than original?  Like some radio channels and such?  Not true to origin but I like it.  Sorry purists!

@bbarten If you want an album with some good solid bass, listen to the Styx Equinox album (IMHO their best album), especially the song "Midnight Ride".  "Suite Madam Blue" is a great song as well.

And if you turn up the bass,  it's your system, it's your music, and whatever sounds good to you is the main thing.

bbarten, To answer what I think was a question, yes, the RIAA curve is the industry standard for recording and reproducing music on vinyl.  All modern phono stages to be used with magnetic cartridges contain an inverse RIAA filter in the signal path. You would not like to listen to the output of a magnetic cartridge through a simple amplification stage. The filter in a phono stage boosts the input bass frequencies and progressively attenuates higher frequencies to achieve a flat output response, so it probably is not the prime cause of an unsatisfactory bass response.

From Wiki: "The RIAA curve is an equalization standard used for vinyl records, where low frequencies are reduced and high frequencies are boosted during recording, and the opposite occurs during playback. This process improves sound quality, allows for longer recording times, and reduces noise from the record itself."

Attenuating the bass frequencies during recording permits the bass content to take up less space on the LP and makes it easier to track during playback, among other things.