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I want profoundly better bass

Looks like I caught your attention. I have a moderate sized stereo room that is about 12.5 feet wide and has no rear wall for almost 32 feet. With a large opening for the stairs on on side of the front of the room I have a fairly large area in which to propogate bass. My current speakers are either a pair of Apogee Mini Grands or a pair of Meadowlark Audio Hot Rod Herons. I have VTL MB-450s, A forte 4 and Vtl Tiny Triodes (with Infinicaps) with which to play amplifier roulette. Preamp is a hot Rodded VTL TL. 2.5 and Digital Source is an Ayre Cx7e. Vinyl is via a Dynavector 20Xh strapped to a Rega P-25 that feeds A Plinius Jarrah.
Here is the $64.00 question. Given the 2 speaks I have now and their proclivity to warmth and subtle detail, what would somebody suggest I do for speakers with PROFOUNDLY better bass? Budget is somewhere in the 5K range used preferred. If your thoughts are to subs, no thanks as I have been down that road. Even the Minigrand's subs are a bit too much slop and giggle compared to the panel parts of the Apogees. Here is another hint. BIG sound is good as long as images are not too stretched. Re. I do not want a 10 foot tall Diana Krall in my living room. I already married a gal who looks like her (only better) and would be very afraid of a ten foot tall woman. Thanks in advance

Meadowman
128x128meadowman
raquel
841 posts
 
Sounds like you have a fair amount of cubic feet in that room.

At that price point, B&W Nautilus 801 or Vienna Acoustics Mahlers come to mind. Both produce prodigious bass that usually sounds boomy unless the speakers are driven by the right amps in big rooms. The B&W's are pretty impractical because they require bi-amping with serious solid-state amps, but can produce truly low bass (below 30 Hz.) and move a lot of air. The Mahlers have really potent midbass, are easier to drive and are 90 db. sensitive, but drop below 3 Ohms in the bass and require a top-notch solid-state amp to control the woofers. The Mahlers may be tough to place if you listen on the long wall, as they are rear-ported (the B&W's are bottom-ported).

In view of your amplifiers, these suggestions probably do not help much, but it's going to be tough to find a speaker that moves a lot of air with any finesse at that price point that does not require really potent solid-state amplification or that will work with typical tube amps. If you are patient and flexible with speaker placement, maybe a pair of subs would be a better way to go.
snook2's avatar
snook2
616 posts
 
Von Schweikert Vr4 jr's may give you what you need. I had them in my room which is just as large and it almost did the trick. Big rooms need big speakers so I went to the 7's
sailfishben
65 posts
 
I'm going to say it anyway... perhaps you can audition a Velodyne Digital Drive series sub with the room equalization sofware and have it professionally set up so as to obtain the best results. The software really does work and may just tame what you didn't like before. A DD-18 is in your budget and for 5 large someone has to through in the room service, I'd think.
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,436 posts
 
If that is what is most important to you, then Talon Khorus speakers are it for you.

Bill
jazzdude
332 posts
 
I think drubin gives wise advice on the issue. Also if Meadowman could give some qualifiers as to what he think 'profoundly better bass' should sound like then that would help others in their recommendations. Does better bass mean more bass response, smoothing out the peaks and dips in bass response, additional extension, enhanced pitch resolution, better driver control, etc.
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