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What's wrong with my system?

My admittedly budget, mid-fi system severely lacks base. And I don't know why.

It consists of:

Speakers: Tannoy Eyris DC1 bookshelf speakers on stands (they're the old version of the Tannoy Revolution Signature DC6 bookshelves with the dual concentric drivers)

Amp: Arcam A18 Amplifier
DAC: PS Audio Digital Link III DAC
Cables: Blue Jeans interconnects
Source: 256 bit rate AAC up to ALAC going to an Airport Express connected by optical to the DAC

The high end is great, voices sound amazing with the dual concentric drivers. But there's no base to speak of. And I know it's not the speakers because I once auditioned a modded Music Hall DAC which gave them a ton of low end (but eliminated the high end, which is why I didn't buy it).

Would the Arcam be the problem? I can't imagine it's the airport express or optical source to DAC because it's all digital until the DAC. And everybody loves the PS Audio DL III, so I can't see that being the problem, either.

Any ideas???
01jeremy01
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
I see here that the speaker has an unusual terminal configuration. Are you sure that you have them connected properly?

Assuming that you are not biwiring, and that your speaker cables are unshielded, the two red terminals should be connected together, perhaps with a metal jumper that was supplied with the speakers, as well as being connected to the red (+) output terminal of the amplifier. The two black terminals should be connected together, perhaps with a similar metal jumper, as well as being connected to the black (-) output terminal of the amplifier. The green terminal should most likely be left unconnected, assuming your speaker cables are unshielded.

If you have left one of the two red terminals and/or one of the two black terminals unconnected, it would definitely account for the problem.

Regards,
-- Al
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
01jeremy01- Swapping the speaker leads should have NO effect on the tweeter output, which leads me to believe that Al is onto something. If you search the forums, you will find that in matters electrical, "In Al we trust" ;-)
rob_c
16 posts
 
Experiment with speaker placement.
Can you post a picture?
01jeremy01 OP
7 posts
 
Hmm, are you sure it would have no effect on the tweeter output? Because the one speaker I switched got all muffled and the volume went down. Could it have been something to do with the concentric tweeter? I'm just guessing.

Al is right about the configuration. Red to red, black to black, and the two reds are connected by a jumper, as are the two blacks. I'm guessing the connections aren't the problem. There is base, just not extended base. I could be wrong, so I'm open to all suggestions, that's just my thinking so far.

Let me see if I can post some photos.
01jeremy01 OP
7 posts
 
It doesn't seem like I can just drag and drop photos, and there's no option to upload photos...can anyone tell me how to add them so I can show you my set up? Sorry, I'm new to Audiogon.
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