In my experience, I also have come to the same conclusion as Blueskiepbd.
The reasons I place on not getting bass right are:
1) Incorrect loudspeaker placement. For the best explanation of this, see Romy The Cat's Article on "The Dead Points of Live Sound" http://www.goodsoundclub.com/Forums/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=994 The speaker-room interface is the MOST important link in the audio chain, bar none. Any deviation from this, and I do not care what it is (formulas, computer models, the way 99.9999% of us including me have sited our speakers, WAF, etc.) renders most of the rest of the argument of one's system to me, moot - you simply are not getting anywhere near the most out of your system. And, while the conventional wisdom is to push the speakers towards walls for low frequency reinforcement, the opposite is true - most audiophiles have not pulled them out enough (try it).
2) Ignoring the Fletcher-Munson Curve. While I'm obviously far more of a subjectivist, unless we turn up the volume to levels beyond where oh so many audiophiles listen, there will be no bass felt or heard.
3) Improper amplifier-loudspeaker matching. While I don't use high power solid state amplification, most of us know the pendulum has swung the other way. And, for many running low power tubes, their respective loudspeakers are too demanding a load to produce the entire frequency spectrum.
Finally, "better" bass means quality AND quantity. Either without the other is most definitely not "better bass".
The reasons I place on not getting bass right are:
1) Incorrect loudspeaker placement. For the best explanation of this, see Romy The Cat's Article on "The Dead Points of Live Sound" http://www.goodsoundclub.com/Forums/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=994 The speaker-room interface is the MOST important link in the audio chain, bar none. Any deviation from this, and I do not care what it is (formulas, computer models, the way 99.9999% of us including me have sited our speakers, WAF, etc.) renders most of the rest of the argument of one's system to me, moot - you simply are not getting anywhere near the most out of your system. And, while the conventional wisdom is to push the speakers towards walls for low frequency reinforcement, the opposite is true - most audiophiles have not pulled them out enough (try it).
2) Ignoring the Fletcher-Munson Curve. While I'm obviously far more of a subjectivist, unless we turn up the volume to levels beyond where oh so many audiophiles listen, there will be no bass felt or heard.
3) Improper amplifier-loudspeaker matching. While I don't use high power solid state amplification, most of us know the pendulum has swung the other way. And, for many running low power tubes, their respective loudspeakers are too demanding a load to produce the entire frequency spectrum.
Finally, "better" bass means quality AND quantity. Either without the other is most definitely not "better bass".