Try different placements in the room. If that doesnt help your room may be too small to make some of the lower frequencies. Understand, though, I'm not an expert and your room size may be OK, but it does seem a little small. One last thing would be to see exactly how the speakers were set up in the store and compare it to your system. |
I "hear" your pain. Bass is extremely complex as the room is so important. It is actually part of your "speaker" cone. No two speakers load to the room alike.
Most put the new speakers near where the older speakers were. This is almost always "wrong" for one of them. To get a good start, go to Vandersteens web page and look at the set-up instructions for speaker placement. Then, mark the practicle locations in your room.The spots should try to avoid bass resonance that makes thing BOOM. Sometimes we get used to BOOM, and don't like properly uniform bass.
After you measure your spots, move them about locations in a two foot circle. Usually, closer placement between speakes will reinforce bass if the walls aren't too close. If they are close to walls, the walls will dominate the bass boost.Don't be afraid to go "extreme" and stuff the speakers into a corner to reference worst (best?) case bass. Pay attention to the imaging, though. You want it to be balanced in the end.
My C4's and Quatro woods NEVER have sounded the same in the bass. So some of the issue is simply the bass "tone" itself. The Quatro was a warmer "heard" bass where the C4's are a visceral "felt" bass. The measured response was the same, or enough to say they both had ample bass extension.
If the DynAudio speakers you own now is like my C4 II signatures, the bass is a tighter crisper sound by nature of the speaker. |
|
If they are on the short wall, try them on the long wall, or vice-versa. Believe me, the bass will change and then you'll know which configuration you like better... |
Rower30 is right, most of the Dydaudio speakers I've heard have tight punchy bass but do not extend to the nether nether regions. A simple audition may not reveal this issue. Sometimes you have to live with equipment for awhile before these things become apparent.
In all honesty, I don't know if I'd worry about extension unless it's really bothering you. I went from a speaker with breathtakingly punchy bass ( Revel F50's ) to Revel Salons, and even though the Salons are far superior I still very much miss that quick punchy bass. So I guess it's a bit of a trade off, if you want speakers that extend down near 20Hz your going to lose somewhere. |
Defintely do whatever you can to try different placements. |
How new are these speakers? You also have to take into consideration that if these speakers are brand new, there will be break-in period for them and depending on how hard you drive them will also determine the length of that break-in period. You must remember that all the drivers and cones are essentially vibrating and pulsating which typically will loosen up as time goes on thus providing subtle changes especially on the bottom end. I guess you can say its like breaking in a new pair of running shoes. They never are all that comfortable at first but will loosen as you wear them over a prolonged period of time. |
I would also be curious what amp you are using with the Dynaudios, what the damping factor spec is, etc. |
Rower30 is right about speaker placement. Mapman is right on target with the amplifier question. What amp did you audition the Dyns with? From a recent experience, I feel that the Dyns may not be as sensitive as the MAs. Hence you are exoeriencing loss of bass (and overall body of the music). Is it possible to audition a more powerful amp in your home?
I felt the same when I went passive in a bigger room. Found out that I did not have enough gain in my system. Once I took care of the gain, it was heavenly music!!! Hope you are able to identify the issue in your config. Since you mention that the MAs were giving you enough bass, I am pretty sure, it is not the Dyns that are a problem.....but rather the speaker placement or power. Goodluck and let us know. |
Thanks everyone. I have tried different placements but I still don't get that bottom end. I tried a pair of dyn excite 12 bookshelves in my system which gave terrific bass. I find it strange that the focus floor standers with an extra driver gives less bass. I originally auditioned the focus mk II's with a Naim integrated and cdp. my MF integrated is 150wpc which I think should be adequate power. I do notice that the dyn focus need some volume to really express themselves. Perhaps I can find a better synergy with an amp other than my musical fidelity a308. |
Are the speakers hooked up properly in phase, ie + to + and - to - to both
speakers? Try reversing and and see if bass is better or worse. Its
possible but unlikely that something is not wired correctly. |
I would turn the speakers straight at each other 18" away out of phase and let them break-in. The "face-off" just keeps the bass to a dull level as the drivers break-in. I think you have green speakers. The C4's I own took months to break-in. Don't get too impatient. |
I used to own Dynaudio focus 220's and I sold them because they could not deliver the level umph that was required for listening to powerful orchestral music and it sound full and believable. So my suggestion would be to upgrade your speakers. |
Trium:
which MF integrated specifically do you use? Tube or SS?
I used a SS MF A3CR power amp with similar power rating with my Dyn Contour Monitors for awhile. The performance was adequate but not optimal in the bass. One can do better. I would assume your larger floorstanders to be able to do at least as well or better in regards to bass extension and dynamics with the right amp (and also broken in well as mentioned and with no other external issues like proper phase hookup that might cause problems. I cannot say how the bass would compare to the monitors you used prior, but I would expect excellent results with any Dynaudio under the right circumstances. |
