What is wrong with my system?


Hi everyone -

I’m posting here because individually I think my components are all good, but together my system is not making music, rather is is making bright bass less noise. Honestly, I’m thinking it’s no one component, but the matching of components that is causing this issue. I would like to get everyone’s opinion as to what I’m hearing. My components are as follows:

B&W 802D (first generation diamond)
Audioquest bi-wired Indigo speaker cables

Classe CAM-200 monoblock amplifiers
Audioquest Water XLR interconnect

Bryston BP26 preamp
Audioquest Water XLR interconnect

Mark Levinson 5100 cd player (PCM slow minimum phase)

thanks in advance.

Mark Levinson 5100 CD player


onehorsepony
Nothing there to smooth things out. Perhaps some variation in component style. More warmth. 
Having gone from a solid state to tube preamp, I can say they will warm things up a bit, but if the problem is that your system is truly "bassless", I have my doubts it will solve all your problems.

I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest as a test that you reverse your speaker connections, on one end, for one speaker, and see if the bass magically comes alive. i.e. could one side be wired backwards, either internally or externally? Not trying to insult any intelligence(s), but if there is truly no bass on a set of speakers this size with these amps, it seems to me there is something systemically wrong. I have no experience with these speakers, and others say they are bright, but sounds like they are abnormally bright.

If that makes no difference, I saw an earlier question about the age of the amps, time to recap? Not sure that would cause the issue, but seems to me that the caps help provide the reserves to handle demand for bass. Not an expert here, but thought it worth commenting. 

Hope you figure it out, lot of nice gear.
Make sure you listen on midrange axis where these speakers seem to be designed for. Not on the tweeter axis.

Next, the room.  These speakers in an untreated room are goint to put out far too much upper treble energy.
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