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Yaqin MC-10T no bass?

Hello all.

I just got myself a Yaqin MC-10T. This is my first venture into better audio stuff and my very first vacuum tube amp. My speakers are a pair of old Wharfendale Emeral 93's that I got on craig's list for real cheap. My music sources so far are either a turntable connected to a Yaqin MS-22b phono stage to the amp or an iphone playing pandora through a usb to a DAC to the amp.

Everything sounds great! I love it more and more every time I listen to it.

Here's the problem. There is almost no bass to this setup. It's like you have a 5.1 setup and someone unplugs the sub woofers. I thought it was the music I was playing but I experimented and its the same thing.

I'm not a bass head and the music I listen to has very little bass anyways, but I just want to know if this is normal or if this is a vacuum amp trait or if there is something wrong with my speakers?

Will the tubes make any difference? I've checked the bias on my current tubes and they are all within range.

Suggestions? Thanks.
tanman2

Showing 1 response by almarg

almarg's avatar
almarg
9,670 posts
 
Even though the speakers are rated as being 8 ohms, if you already haven't it would probably be worthwhile seeing how they sound when connected to the 4 ohm taps on the amplifier. Two-way speakers such as these frequently have considerably lower impedances in the bass region than at higher frequencies. The interaction of that kind of impedance characteristic with the higher output impedance of a tube amp's 8 ohm tap (compared with the output impedance of the 4 ohm tap) will reduce bass response to some degree.

Also, do verify the connection polarities, as Mofi suggested. If the red and black (+ and -) connections are reversed on one but not both channels, that would definitely account for loss of bass. It would also cause imaging that is vague, diffuse, and hard to localize.

Regards,
-- Al
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