705 bass problem

[ref3706]

Hi guys,

I'm a newbie to hi-fi. I can't seem to get any bass from my 705s. The bass is rather soft. I'm not expect deep sounding bass from the 705s, but rather tight and firm bass. I'm using the system purely to listen to music, not HT.

My equipment as follows

Amp
Audiolab 8000A mkII

Marantz CD 5400 ver2

Interconnects
QED QUNEX 1

Speakers 705 (without stands. I placed them on my wooden cabinets, ard 30" in height)

Speaker cables
Kimble Cable 4TC

Listening Room Size
6m x 5m ( 13ft x 11ft?? )

Speaker placement.
20inches apart from rear walls
5ft between speakers
3ft from the nearest side wall
Not toed in.

I'm suspecting one of the following that's causing the weak bass.
1. Amp is not powerful enough ( 60wpc)
2. I'm not using proper speaker stands.
3. I'm using an entry level CDP.

Can somebody kindly advice how can I improve the bass?
What's the purpose of speaker stands, besides supporting the speakers. Does it improve sound and bass quality?

Sorry if I've asked some very stupid questions.

Thank you!

[corysmith01]

First thing that comes to mind for me is polarity...did you make sure they're in phase? This could diminish bass response.

Outside of that, did you check the tone controls on your receiver/pre-amp to make sure they're set at flat (0) and not in the negative?

Just thoughts off the top of my head. Hope you figure it out.

[ref3706]

How do i ensure they're in phase?

Nope my tone balance are set to 'Flat', bass and treble set to '0'.

What's the purpose of the speaker stands? Does it make a huge different to the accoustics?

Thanks!

[Briz vegas]

Checking phase is just a matter of ensuring that the positive on your amp goes to the positive on your speaker. If your speakers are in phase you can hear a well defined central image with vocals etc appearing to come from between your speakers. Out of phase sound can seem like it comes from no defined point. When I registered my 705s B&W sent me a test CD that gives you examples of in and out of phase sound.

For a bookshelf speaker the bass on the 705 is pretty good in my opinion. When installing a sub recently (I didn't say the bass was perfect) in my 4m by 6m room I was surprised when I measured the bass response of the 705 driven by a 110watt receiver without the sub. In my room I was getting 77db at 100hz, dropping to 72db at 63hz, then up again to 76 db at 40hz and finally 71db at 31.5hz. I repeated this a couple of times to make sure I was getting this right. I have been told that low bass like this from a bookself is not good bass as it is the room boosting the lower frequencies, but it does illustrate how important your room is. If you can borrow an SPL meter and a test cd it is an interesting experiment to do.

I found that moving my speakers around made a big difference to the balance of the sound including bass,treble, how big the soundstage is etc etc. Even moving them a few inches can sometimes make a big difference. Try moving the speakers closer together or closer to the back wall. This can reduce the soundstage but improve the bass.

[Pez]

Here is my insight on the 705:

For a short time I had the 705's and HTM7. The top end of the speaker sounded great but in my room had absolutely no bass at all. Since I like to listen to music in pure 2 channel audio this was not going to cut it. A friend of mine offered to buy them and when we got them setup in his room the sound was totally different, they had lots of bass. The room will play a large part in this, I find the 705's to like small rooms much better that dont open up to other rooms (like my apt). I was using a 125 wpc amp and my firend 70 wpc so I dont think your amp is to blame.

[PewterTA]

One's room has about 50% to do with how a speaker sounds....

I'd say it's your room, the speakers are probably not large enough for the room. Remember it's how much air the speaker can move. Try your speakers (if you can) in a smaller room in the home and see if they sound better.

If it's not that I agree to make sure they are connected properly and are in phase, that will suck all the bass out of the speakers.

I'd also suggest, not sure on how long you've had them, but let them play for a good 200 hours before you really judge the bass. I was really disappointed with my 604s (I mean come on, dual bass drivers) and I thought the bass from them SUCKED. After about 150 hours and ONE TIME of me just deciding to crank it up decently loud (maybe a little under reference) on some heavy music, they just completely opened up like I had never heard them before... So maybe they just needed that little bit of a kick to help them loosen up?!?! One thing I did notice before/after I did that, that the bass drivers moved much more freely on the same songs played at the same level then they did before...so maybe there is a little something to the whole "break in" type of thing...

[tboooe]

I totally agree with pewterta about the room, which is why i recently upgraded from the 805S to the 804S. My wife recently exiled me from my study so now all of my gear is in a smaller, albeit open ended area that opens up to vaulted ceiling living room. My 805S performed terribly once I made this move. Hence the new 804S. I still have some room challenges though. One of my speakers is in a corner. The best I can do is put it 1" aware from the side and back wall. The other speaker is on the side that opens up to the large living room. Finally, directly behind my listening position is a wall. Needless to say I have some challenges.

Anyway, back to the point, room configuration is critical.

[ref3706]

Thanks for the advice guys. Will test out the sound of the speakers in my room, only able to do it on weekends.

One thing here, is it necessary to use speaker stands? Coz I'm not using any at the moment. My speakers are placed on wooden cabinets, which are rather huge. I'm not sure if they drain away the bass.

[Stoney]

Depending on the cabinets, I suppose it would be possible to generate a resonance in the cabinets that would send a base signal into your room, out of phase with your speakers, that would effectively cancel out your bass.
You might try placing the speakers on some material to isolate them from the cabinets. Just for demo purposes, try chunks of styrofoam under some thin carpet pieces, or something similar to isolate any vibrations passed through to the cabinets.