Want More Bass

Speaker Suggestions --

Based on deals I've seen on Audiogon --

1) Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home -- $2,400

2) Monitor Audio Gold Reference 60 + Center -- 3,200

3) Silverline Sonata -- $3,195

4) Revel F-30 -- $2,495

5) B & W Nautilus 804 -- $2,850

For reviews of these speakers, go to WWW.Ecoustics. Com
and load the names into the search engine.

You can also read customer reviews at WWW.Audioreview.com
by going there and doing the same thing.

I've heard all of these speakers, they all have slightly
different sounds, but are all enjoyable, all offer big
"bang for the buck" -- especially at those prices, and
are all full range speakers offering bass down into the
mid twenties.

Happy hunting.

Rob

Recommended Sub --

If you can push your budget a little, I recommend getting
a used Revel B-15.

Also, on B & W Speakers. If you like the sound of B & W's,
I would recommend pushing your budget a little and moving
up to the Nautilus 803's. It is a small jump in money,
but a big jump in quality and you get tighter and more detailed bass. However, I still recommend listening to the other speakers on that list. When I auditioned Sonus
Sabers against B & W head to head, I favored the Grand
Piano over B & W until I got to the B & W 803, which costs
a lot more money. Hope that helps.

If you are going to try to add bass by adding a Sub-woof,
I highly recommend that you give that sub-woof a thorough,
in-home, demo. It is my experience that it is really hard
to find a sub-woof for less than 2,000 that will give you
musical low-end sound and it is extremely hard to get the
crossover and phase to match your speakers at all volumes.
It is my opinion that you will be much more satisfied by
a full range speaker that will leave all but the extreme
low end and home theatre sound effects to your main speakers with crossovers that have been designed, matched
and tuned by an expert.

Having said that -- this is why I recommend the Revel
B-15 Sub-woofer. It offers a nice mechanism for setting
the crossover, etc. and it is one of the few I've heard
that can offer accurate detail and musical low end.

Just my suggestions.

Seems to me there are two key lines from the original post.

1. "(My current speaker's bass response is rated at 50hz.)"

So, based on their own rating, these speakers are missing the lower octave.

2. "Got a new Rogue Audio tube amp and preamp. (88 and 66 magnum). Used to have a solid-state integrated that seemed to have more bass output."

Here is a common complaint with regard to tube amplifiers,
they have a tendancy to be weak [or flabby] in bass. Tube
proponents often give up deep or tight bass for reputed
advantages in the sound of "tube mid-range."

Now, this brings up another point. Already, some posters
are counseling cable and power cord adjustments to give
this system more bass when the speakers themselves are
rated to only go to 50 Hz. This, IMO, is how people get
duped into blowing a lot of unneccessary money on cables.
Cables will not produce low bass in speakers that are not built to accomodate it.

Here is another key line from the original post:

3. "Used to have a solid-state integrated that seemed to have more bass output."

We can deduce that the former amp was better at maximizing
the speakers' bass down to its rated 50 Hz, while the tube
amp is having trouble.

The first thing I would advise is getting speakers capable
of producing the lowest octaves of bass, or as close as
possible given the price constraints. That's why I suggest
full range speakers.

Second thing; I would consider a change in amps. If the current amp is having trouble producing base down to 50 Hz
and you want more bass, I question whether you will be happy
with this amp.

3rd: It is nice to have a sub-woof for the lowest tones
and home theatre effects, but it is hard to find sub-woofs
that can do more than "thump." Further, it is hard to
tune them into the system unless you can set the crossover,
level, and phase perfectly.

For this reason, I also suggest getting full range speakers, to lessen your depedance on the sub-woof.

IMO, it is better to buy speakers with bass already integrated in a way you like, and there's a better chance
you will be happy with the crossover and phase, as well
as a better chance of having speakers that can make music
with the lower octaves rather than simply "thumping."

By all means, get a sub-woof -- after you find full range
speakers and an amp that can drive them. After you've
found a pair of speakers that can produce bass at least
into the mid-twenties, an amp that can drive them, and
a sub-woof that can give you detail and not just "thump" --
see if you still want to try to get wires to do this for
you instead of the components that are designed for and
capable of doing these things. If so, and you still have
money burning a hole in your pocket -- THEN -- experiment
with some wire and cable.

That's my suggestion.

On the contrary, I've done many cable experiments.

Awhile back, I connected $10,000 speaker cables to the front door of my house. Within moments, I noticed a difference. A close inspection revealed that I have
the only mahogany door in the neighborhood that is completely free of grain and the middle of the door seems to be pleasantly liquified. A week later, after some break in time, I heard a rumbling coming from under the house. Sure enough, where before there was only dirt, I now have a brand new basement!

But seriously, I don't know everything, but I do know
the difference between adding *CAPABILTY* to a system and a *TWEAK.* I seldom confuse the two.

Vertewax --

Please do this before you decide on your next speakers.

Contact Sumiko, who imports Sonus Faber, and find
out the Sonus Faber dealer nearest you. Listen to
that line of speakers, especially the "Grand Piano Home."

http://www.sumikoaudio.net/Contact.htm

Next, go to Madrigal's site, find out the Revel Dealer nearest you and listen to the F-30. (They have a dealer
locator where you load in your zip code).

http://www.madrigal.com/dealer/index.asp

Next, go to Monitor Audio's site and find out the nearest
Monitor Audio dealer -- they also have a dealer locator.

http://www.monitoraudiousa.com/dealers/index.html

Before buying your next speakers, listen to a lot of
different ones in and above your price range.

When you go into a dealer, tell them you are looking
at speakers between $3,000 -- $10,000. Listening to
high end speakers is the only way to get educated
and I believe it will help you appreciate the sound of
the speakers I am recommending for you to audition.

To my ear, speakers like the Sonus Faber Grand Piano
Homes sound very close to speakers I've heard going
for twice the price -- same with Revel F-30 and Monitor
Audio Gold Reference 60.

Another great thing about these speakers is that they
are very efficient, which means you won't need a
mammoth amplifier to get great sound from them,
but you can also grow into them when you want to
move up to a better amp -- they will only sound that
much better.

This way, you can avoid another all too common trap
I find on these audio web-sites. The guy who buys a
great speaker, then thinks it is crap because he
doesn't have the amp to drive them. Those kinds of
speakers are best left to folks on higher budgets who
can afford the types of amps necessary -- and it isn't
necessary to get a hard to drive speaker to get really great sound.