SourcePoint 888 owners – low-end bass in open rooms?


I’ve had my MoFi SourcePoint 888s for a while now and overall I really enjoy them. They are paired with a Parasound A21 and P6 preamp. Sources are mostly vinyl (MoFi StudioDeck with MasterTracker) plus CD.

What I love:

- clarity
- separation
- dynamics
- clean sound at volume

What I’m struggling with:

I keep feeling like I’m missing some low-end weight and room-filling bass. Bass is there and sounds clean, but often it doesn’t feel as full or physically present as I expected based on reviews.

My room may be part of the issue:

- current room is approximately 11x18
- one entire side is open to the rest of the upstairs
- listening distance about 8 ft
- speaker spacing about 9 ft

I’ve already experimented extensively with:

- speaker distance from front wall
- listening position
- toe-in
- volume levels

Some recordings sound excellent and punchy, but many leave me wanting more low-end fullness and physicality.

Questions for other 888 owners:

- Are you getting strong low-end bass/fullness from these?
- Did room size or openness affect bass significantly?
- Did moving to an enclosed room help?
- Did any of you eventually add a subwoofer (REL or otherwise)?
- If so, did it “complete” the system?

Trying to determine whether:
1. this is mostly a room issue,
2. a setup/integration issue,
3. or simply the natural character of the 888s.

Thanks in advance.

mcashiola

BTW, the dimensions of our newly enclosed room will be approximately 17 x 18. I’ve assumed that size of room will be a good match for the source point 888’s

More bass energy? If moving the speakers closer to the front wall or corners is unsatisfactory, then either replace speakers or get a subwoofer or two.  

Making your room more square is going to create other issues with your bass response especially.  Rectangular rooms are always better.  It may wind up working perfectly for you somehow.  But my opinion is that it isn't the recording if it's consistent.  Most modern recordings are mastered fairly flat in the bass response.  Most likely your room nodes are causing big nulls in your frequency response in your sub bass. 

Closing off the room sounded great until I heard you're turning it into basically a square.  Keep us posted.  If the response is the same or worse, you will most likely need 3 or 4 subs in that configuration if you want a flattish response.  Sometimes two can do it though especially if you run your towers full range but it's nice to take the sub energy off your towers.  I've found that by doing that it makes them sound better because those 8" drivers aren't having to produce 20 hz etc.  Best of luck!

@mcashiola 

"I keep feeling like I’m missing some low-end weight and room-filling bass. Bass is there and sounds clean, but often it doesn’t feel as full or physically present as I expected based on reviews."

You just have to accept the fact that earth shaking bass doesn't exist on all recordings. Producers, engineers and artists make very legitimate choices about how they want their music and recordings to sound. If that's what you want and have the forum recommend how to fake bass with subs etc., knock yourself out! You've come to the right place.

If that's what you want and have the forum recommend how to fake bass with subs etc., knock yourself out! 

Faustuss has a point! Adding more bass via an equalizer or subwoofer (in a stereo setup) is getting away from the original music. You may rue the day you decided to engineer and mix music to your own liking. Probably better off taking the music in its original form and if the track doesn't smack you upside the head, find a better version of it, or move on.

The recording/pressing starts the magic.

Tablejockey is right about that. You did not mention the quality of your recordings, but hi-resolution tracks are required on your speakers.

Getting a pair of subs, however, may not be the solution you think you want. Be careful before plunging into subs as that may cause a host of other issues, like unwanted room bass.

Probably nearly as many here who listen to 2-channel exclusively have jettisoned their subs in time because of the realization that it does, in fact, take away from the rest of the spectrum of frequencies. 

You did not mention what type of music you listen to, but if it was hip-hop or rap, you likely would not be missing bass in your music.

If it's rock, folk, easy-listening..bass is generally not prominent in the original recordings. As Erik says, clean up your high frequencies (far less room treatment but you need to be exact when treating your reflection points) and more bass will emerge. A Bass crawl will help map room modes, so know where your bass goes before you add more of it. Subs will require bass traps and a square room would be quite challenging when it comes to room modes.

With respect to longevity, wait until you get your room finished before making decisions on components or room treatments.