How much bass to expect - MA BR2's
Hey Guys,
I recently replaced my very nasty Eltax Galaxy floorstanders( i was a poor, poor student!) with a pair of lovely Monitor Audio BR2's on some Soundstyle Z2's, they are powered by my trusty NAD C350. Music is normally sourced from my Ipod with 320kbps quality. They are linked up with some Gale Symphony 400 speaker cables.
Now i've run them in for the stated 50hrs and frankly i was hoping to a bit more of a presence in the bass department. Now i don't expect them to shake the floor and i know the limitations of standmounters but i was hoping for more. I generally listen to things like Kings Of Leon, Interpol, Klaxons, UNKLE, etc.
My room is of a 4m by 4m size with normal ceiling height, the speakers are about 2.5m apart. The speakers are set away from walls by 0.5m and 0.5m from the backwall.
Is it a case i was hoping too much and i should buy a sub to fill in or do i need to be more patient. I have some QED XT Silver Anniversary cable which i'm waiting to get some plugs fitted, will this help? Any other ideas are welcomed, possible amp replacement? Music source?
Cheers,
Adam
The NAD should give you a nice, full bass and the BR2's (as I remember) have a good bass respond for a pint size speakers, your room is not too big and the cables wouldn't make a day and night different. So it's must be your Ipod which I don't know much about because I don't count them as a hifi product.....imho.
you will get more bass out of floor standing speakers, period. But it's quality not quantity!
To get better bass reproduction you need bigger cabinets, the wavelength of sound at 440hz (concert pitch A) is 75cm. And a nice tasty low frequency bass frequency of 33hz (outside every single standmount speakers -3db range I've ever seen and quite a few floorstanders too) the wavelength is 10m. So somehow you want a cabinet to resonate at that frequency, but if it's too small then it just wont happen.
Anybody trying to get more bass out of a smaller cabinet (and it can be done, to an extent) is working against the laws of physics. Bigger cabinets are ultimately what you need for bigger bass.
Standmounts often give a 'gustier' sound over floorstanders of the same price bracket though, because dedicating so much extra speaker to bass reproduction will mean that less time is spent on the other areas, per price of the unit.
Basically you have to think of the law of physics,small box,small main driver=small bass.Now some speakers can give the impression of alot of bass,but you'll more than likely find the room is adding effects to the sound.Personally I like a nice tight bass,well controlled and easy to follow bass lines,if it's a one not blur I would keep away.
If you room can take the next speaker up in the MA line,I would consider that option,as always if possible always try speakers before you buy,because each room will make it produce a different sound due to room modes,nodes,and a few other exciting words!!
Acoustic Energy AE1, Neat MFS, Sonus Faber Cremona Aditor, Yamaha NS1000M.....all of them would put up a good fight with most floorstands and some would even win when it's come to re-producing a natural and very low bass.
Neats MFS and the Momemtum 3i will give you sublime bass,even though they are small speakers they use isobaric bass loading resulting in the excellent bass qualities they produce.
My experience with speakers and bass is that it's very very room dependent, and it's not as simple a formula as Small Room = More Bass.
I have had my B&W N805 in 3 different rooms and the one that they produced the least bass was in the smallest room, and where they produced the most and deepest bass is the largest room where they're currently located. I believe it has something to do with bass cancellation.
I would even consider that my speakers in their current location produce too much bass and is rather boomy, so floorstanders would be a very bad idea for me.
My point is... you need to know how your room sounds like before you can decide whether the BR2 is able to fulfill your bass requirements, or whether you need to go for the BR5 instead.
Thank you for all your responses.
I seem to have found the problem, VOLUME!!! That and i think they have finally run in (about 60hrs!!!)
At polite listening volumes the bass doesn't seem to quite fill in but crank it up a bit, still only with the volume on the NAD C350, just over a quarter of the way round, and the bass makes itself known. Guess i'll have to sound insulate the flat!!!
Am hoping that with the QED Silver XT anniversary the bass will give itself up a little more easily and i'm going to get a dedicated CD deck, another NAD i suspect (recommendations?) this should all help.
Thanks again for your responses,
Adam
That is true of all set-ups. Turn the wick up, and your speaker drivers will move more air and produce more bass. But it's gonna get tiring after a while (if not for you, at least for those around you, or your "not so friendly anymore" neighbours). Bigger speakers are able to produce more bass at low listening levels so it sounds like you might need a pair of those, unless you are able to get some bass heavier cables to fix your problem.
Since you are also after a CD player, you might also wish to take that opportunity to pick one that excels in the lower regions. Why another NAD you say? I would look elsewhere other than the NAD since the latest entry model seems have copped a bit of a beating from the WHF crew.
Thank you hifikrazy, some very good points. I am currently listening above my normal levels and some cables that had more of bass bias would balance out my system nicely, i have heard many good things about the QED XT Silver Anniversarys, are there any other cables that would be better suited to my needs?
On the CD player front i was thinking of a NAD C542, again any recommendations of a CD player with more of a bass heavy delivery?
Thanks again for the help,
Adam
I'm after some QED SA XT's too but I'm not sure how it handles the low end stuff.
As for CD players, I haven't auditioned many at that price level, but I would recommend (but with fear of sounding like Clare) that you should check out the October issue of WHF to see what they have to say about the Marantz CD6002 and its competitors in the group test.
was hoping for a bit more of a response....