Help choose a power amp

Hard to have a "good-for-all" setup unfortunatly!!!

Unless you pour big bucks.....

I agree onthe post above around checking polarity and sound effects in your Av receiver, other than that... speaker setup, at the espense of your AV reproductionand maybe WAF.

I'm Bi-amp my 1995 NHT VT2 with a Yamaha M-80 & CJ tube amp for the high/mids. Its open up the music & still has kick in bass control on the botom end. Thats is the best set up so for that I found.

I've heard and seen the ART SLA-1 put to good use,I imagine the SLA-2 would work also (1/2:100W/200W).I think you will need to install RCAs/XLRs and disconnect the fan,but for $160-300 it's a good investment.

Could it be that somehow the speakers are not in phase? Perhaps through some signal processing on the TV setting it makes up for that. Just for fun, try reversing one set of speaker wires at one speaker, then listen to music. Any better?

The other possibility is the room is screwing things up. Move around the room. Hear any bass anywhere (on music?) If so, then you are sitting in an area of bass attenuation, common to bass problems. How to fix? Move speakers or seat.

Bob Wood
http://www.GreatHomeTheater.com

Plato beat me to it--"absolutely no bass" soulds as if you've defined your front speakers as Small so the receiver removes much of the bass from them. Go thru the Setup menu and be sure all the fullrange speakers you use are defined as Large.
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Hmmm,

That's weird. On most of the HT systems I've set up I get comparitively more bass when switching to CD. Maybe your receiver settings are not correct for 2-channel playback. I recall that one receiver I used would cut off the bass to the main speakers unless you set the "subwoofer" to "N" for no/off... You may also have to set the main speakers to their "Large" mode, if you have not already done so. Maybe dusting off that instruction booklet would be a good idea.

It sounds odd that movies are OK... but no bass with music. It is often the other way arround. Is there a sub in your setup?? more info would be helpful.

Bryston or Krell will give you some bass.

I would contact Klaus Bunge at Odyssey Audio.

Have you considered biamping your VT2's? Perhaps use the receiver for the mids/highs and a small amp for the bass, preferably one with gain controls so you could tailor the sound to your liking. I personally believe 80 watts is plenty for a semi-efficient speaker like yours, provided you have ample headroom.

Rotel? Arcam? go give those a listen.