My system suggestions on improving bass - Totem

First thing you should consider is speaker placement. Try placing your Hawks closer to the corners and walls. This easily reinforces bass.

If this fails, you might try adding the Totem Dreamcatcher sub. Its under $1000 I believe.

Matt:

I have a similar main system set-up with the MF CD PRE 24 (preamp & cd player) and A300 CR power amplifier. My speakers are Acoustic Research 302 which easily go down to 35 hz ... so the bass is on par with some of the best that I have heard (in my case, the mid-range and overall imaging need help).

Don't change your electronics ... they are fine. I would suggest first moving your Totems closer to the wall and if that still isn't to your liking, try a sub woofer (Totem makes one, but I do not know the price). Lastly, you can wait until you are over 45 and suddenly, the real low end doesn't matter as much anymore. My buddy and I were at the HiFi Show yesterday (Friday) ... he's 27 and I am 48. It was pretty funny after awhile who thought which speaker got it right. The only ones that we could agree on were Focus Audio's SE 10 year anniversay models. And this is where the age difference comes in big time ... I can afford the $3400 scratch ... his wife gives birth in about a month and he received her blessing to buy a pair of the EPOS ESL3 and matching center (about $600).

It's all in the timing ....

Regards, Rich

I was in somewhat of the same situation you are in. I also have a Musical Fidelity a3.2 integrated and a3.2 cd player. I have a pair of Paradigm Studio 40 v.3 speakers. I was using some Monster Cable interconnects and speaker cables. The bass lacked noticeably and the overall sound needed something more. I added a used Rel Strata III subwoofer. I also replaced my interconnects and speaker cables with Signal (Frank was very helpful). The difference now is remarkable. I also was only wanting to spend around $1000. I found the Rel for $900. The cables were around $250 (would have been less but I needed a 17' run for the speaker cable).

Just one other thing I forgot to mention. This is for Rich. I am 49 and the low end still matters. To each his own.

I've B&W CDM9nt's. With a Velodyne DD-12 it was a nice improvement in bass. However, with the DD-18 I moved up to, it is now astonising. What that sub adds to the soundstage is amazing and that is just for vinyl. My system is pretty modest and the sub retails for quite a bit more then the speakers but it has rounded everything out just right, for me at least. The quality of these Digital Drive series and their built-in equalization sofware complete with mic to analyze your room should floor you. Try one (the bigger the better). They've even balanced inputs.

BTW... to the kid up above Rich (Rar1), I got quite the frowny face from my bride of 24 years when I told her I was upgrading the 12" sub to the 18" monster. Basically just WAF stuff. But since the moment it was fired up in our system she still marvels at the added bass and never even mentioned taking it out (something I promised her if she didn't like the upgrade) We never knew about the 'Over 45' Bass Rule and between us we're 117 years old. I'm glad we didn't!