Luxman 590AX II Break-In

@jeffreyw

Does your wife like the way the system sounds now?    Does she love music? Does she listen critically? I'm asking with utmost respect.

My wife has phenomenal hearing but she never sits down in front of our hifi system to listen critically or casually for enjoyment.  Our home has an open floor plan and music is in the background for her. I play almost every genre except metal, rap, and pounding electronica- mostly classical, both light and heavy, jazz, folk, other acoustic, world, etc.

She danced professionally for many years and has heard a lot of live music.  I will often solicit her opinion when I change something, whether it be amplification or even cables.  My wife doesn't care about the usual audiophile stuff- "sound stage, imaging, second or whatever order  harmonics," and so on and so forth, but she is very aware of the overall SOUND of the music. Is it warm, is it smooth or is it harsh and strident-is it pleasing to the ear- does it sound somewhat "real"- is it non-fatiguing?  All relative and subjective, I know, but for me her comments are valid and useful.

I took a look at your Kefs and agree that they are quite attractive, but these days there are a lot of other speakers with great visual appeal. 

Anyway, I'm following this thread and will be interested in learning how you resolve the issue.

When I was choosing a new integrated, I finally resolved my choice down to the L-590AXII or L-509X. I chose to go with the L-509X, but am sure I would have been happy with the 590A. 

Anyhow, I noted the speakers reviewed with the amps, and the WhatHiFi L-509X reviewer used the ATC SCM 50 and the KEF Reference 1. There was no mention of the issue you are having.  https://www.whathifi.com/luxman/l-509x/review

This Audiodrom review compared both amps and only noted some slight difference between them. http://www.audiodrom.net/en/integrated-amplifiers/detail/31-integrated-amplifiers/574-luxman-l-509x

Advice given previously about your room, may be the most correct, and I fear you could start riding a roller coaster if you change amps. Have you considered a subwoofer? The KEF Ref 1’s are great speakers but can’t be expected to deliver great bass without significant help from the room. 

Good luck!

@jeffreyw

Many here have suggested the problem is room/speaker interface. It’s entirely possible or maybe even likely in your situation.

As an example, Some years ago, I had a pair of Chapman T7 3-way floor-standers, which sounded wonderful in a large living room. When we redesigned the interior, I moved the stereo system to a smaller, but dedicated listening room, I could never get the Chapmans to sound good. Bass went from terrific to awful. It had nothing to do with the amps- I was using either powerful tube monos and tube pre- and a very sweet 150 WPC SS integrated at the time.

I should also say that while the dimensions of the room itself are small, since the rear wall and most of the side wall open to adjacent much bigger rooms, the listening room is in effect, bigger. I fortunately don't get "boomy" bass.

Now, as I said in an earlier post, the Luxman 550AXII works a treat with my SF monitors with or without a single, small sub, but always with the thick front corner bass traps. On some music, I’ll turn the sub off.

Keep us posted.

It sounds to me like maybe the Kef is too small for your largish room. @jeffreyw  Bring your Luxman with you to the dealer to hear it paired with "your" speakers in an optimized room. @erik_squires The Reference 1 actually has a 6.5" bass driver it's the concentric mid that's 5".

Similar set up to you. I have a 30W Class A amp (DIY Hiraga Super 30 W), which is driving a pair of Seas Coax book shelf speakers. (DIY Sealed 5Ltr enclosure using the C16N001/F driver - Seas recommended enclosure and crossover) Room is 12,x18’ approx. I’m having no shortage of bass with this small box. Low watt class an amp, small coax driver. With those 3 way speakers, you should get a better bass response than what I’m seeing. 
 

Have you tried running a 50hz tone sine wave through your set up? You may want to try doing that (can be streamed from YouTube) and walking around in the room. Bass nodes will become very apparent and might help in getting the speakers properly positioned in the room.

just a thought…