Recommendations for improving visceral impact?

I could point to several things, but don’t want to come across as offensive...

Your overall system is good, but I have to question the sub...With ALL the choices out there, this seems like an area where you made a serious compromise, based on the rest of the equipment you have.

I would also highly recommend looking at the Anthem AVM60 which has ARC (Anthem Room Correction). Not sure where you’re located at, but I know a dealer in Minneapolis where the salesperson owned a Marantz Receiver and replaced it with an Anthem and said it was Stunningly Better the moment he switched it out. Their processor and Receivers are impressively great for the money.

With the B&W’s you have, they have the ability to show off everything in front of them and would allow you to be able to take the front end a fairly LONG way before they would get in the way of what you hear out of the electronics. Like the Rotel Amps - they’re nice, but you can put higher end amps on there (Anthem, Ayre, Bryston, Levinson, Krell, etc.) and the B&W’s will show you whether the change you made was right or not. The biggest thing you’ll get from your speakers with better electronics is the sense of space coming from them, and at lower volume. When you turn it up, they will seem bigger and you’ll notice right away that presence you’re looking for, which will finally come out. Right now, you’re choking that a bit with the Marantz, and ultimately with the Rotel Amp. I’d be glad to help if needed.

Thanks.

I will agree with each of cbrents73 comments, but with different reasons. 

awilder - sorry man, I think we may have accidentally put you down the wrong road.  However, I will say that we did mention the Marantz was voiced warm.  I think the biggest restriction for "visceral impact" is the Marantz processor.  I know you previously had a Denon receiver (with the Rotel amp) and, while the Denon receiver had problems, I believe you had much more "emotional engagement" and "visceral impact" with the Denon receiver.  The Marantz is very nice and fixed a lot of the problems that the Denon had with the sound, but the warm voicing and roll-off of highs just removed a lot of the clarity and excitement and "visceral impact".  Just my opinion.   Going with an Anthem AVM 60 is probably one of the better choices in the price range and it will bring back a whole heck of a lot of resolution and clarity and excitement.
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I don't agree that your "choking with the Rotel amp".  You can definitely get a better amp, but at 2 or 3 times the cost, lol.
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As far as the subwoofer goes, yes, you can definitely get a better subwoofer, but things do get expensive.  For now, I think the subwofer should be a "second" priority and I would wait until I had the rest of the "visceral" issue figured out.  The Monoprice sub is likely a very loose and messy sounding sub, but it will give you the bass effect that's required during movies.  A much better subwoofer will be tighter and cleaner sounding, but still give an excellent low bass (such as a more expensive SVS sub, or even a pair of subs which is even better).

Hey everyone, thanks for reviving this thread. :)  Been busy with work and haven't had much time to spend on this hobby recently... 

I did spend some time tweaking the Audyssey curve, based on @mzkmxcv's advice... though I found that I didn't need to bump things up as significantly has he suggested.  Doing this definitely helped improve the feeling of "punchiness" in the system, though it seems at a little loss of clarity... 

I can say that the sub definitely is not the issue here -- it's not the very low end that feels like it's lacking impact. I should not have said "visceral impact"... it's not about feeling my guts shake, rather, I want more emotional engagement and excitement.

I'll see if I can find an Anthem dealer locally who will let me demo an AVM60... I really need to start listening to stuff before I buy it!  ;)

awilder, that is no where near enough subwoofer for that room. Who recommended that? You need at least two 12 "subs or four of the ones you have. I have a 16 X 30' room and use four 12" subs with 2000 watts each. They should have room control then put the mic at your listening position to calibrate. The subs should go right up against a wall evenly spaced with two of them in corners. That will take care of the primary reflection. If you could put bass traps in the rear corners that would help.
Cross over higher 100 - 130 Hz and don't be afraid to turn it up a little. Calibrate the volume listening to a good jazz group  Like Dave Holland's.
Listen to the acoustic bass. the volume should stay 0the same all the way down and you should feel it. Listen to the bass drum. You should feel the thud. Movies and electric music are not good to set volume as they can sound just about like anything.