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If bass wasn't important to the track the artist/band/composer wouldn't put it in. If it is in the track and the system fails to reproduce it, well you know what I'm going to say. If there is no bass or little bass and someone wants to artificially boost it , I think thats also a bit of a problem. As it seems some will try to over power the mids by drowning it in bass. Bass done right is pure magic! IMO of course.

Today I took delivery of my new speakers - WLM La Scalas. With this, my system has finally reached the place I've been working towards for the past couple of years. It's taken a lot of work to get here. All money for this project has come/is coming from my second job. I delivered a lot of pizzas to get this... Turntable - Exclusive P10 Cartridge - Benz Micro Glider H2, Soundsmith Ruby OCL retip Phono Stage - PS Audio GCPH Amplification - Weston Acoustics 'New' Topaz KT120 Speakers - WLM La Scala Speaker cables and interconnects - pretty much random bunch of stuff. Ixos, QED, Chord etc. Am still playing around with the speaker positioning (haven't got the soundstage dialled in quite right yet), but am already very pleased with the way things are headed. Spent the afternoon alternately playing fairly delicate stuff and being a hooligan (my first press RATM LP was a great way to enjoy the dynamics this setup is cabable of). Aside from that, there are a few remaining things to do. Firstly and most importantly, I need a rug and some (visually subtle) acoustic treatment. Things are definitely way too live at the moment. I knew about this from the word go, but previously I could ignore it as I was listening to my Magnepan MMGs nearfield, so all the room issues could be ignored. After that, I'll be looking for a LOMC and probably change the phono stage at some point. All in good time though, once I've sorted the acoustics (which sadly I won't be able to do for a couple of months) I won't be in any hurry with the rest of it. Will be spending money on music and hoarding the remains to go towards said changes, rather than what I've been doing lately, which was save all the money for the gear and neglect the music buying. Thanks are due: Mark (Lebowski), for selling me his La Scalas. They are beautiful, and in stone mint condition. Love your work, Mark! Tony from Audio Addiction, for going above and beyond, organising the freight for the speakers from Mark's place to his work, and then delivering them to me in his lunch break. Thank you very much for your kindness, Tony. Earle for building a beautiful amp, and for putting up with me bugging him with stupid questions repeatedly, and for generally being great to deal with. Shane (Turntable), for selling me his P10, and for very graciously putting me up for the night after the long drive from Brisbane to Sydney to pick said turntable up (also for letting me listen to his awesome system). Ray (Ozrayyau), for selling me the GCPH. Brian (Guru), for showing me the way when he came to set up my old turntable at my old, tiny unit, several years ago, and lastly, to my wife Amy, for putting up with me generally, and my annoying, room-stealing Magnepans in particular, and for letting me raid our savings account when Mark put his La Scalas up for sale before I had enough pizza money stored up.

I'm with Jv on this one, probably the speakers, though my experience with rotel is that they are a bit bright with metal tweeters so that would probably rule out the Osborns from his list. Which Xindac ICs are you using? If you can find out a little about their construction you may be able to tweek the sound by replacing them with an IC of a slightly different construction (ie replace multi stranded copper with thick core copper) fairly cheaply. Any effect will be fairly small (certainly nothing like changing the speakers) but you should be able to do it for a much smaller outlay as well. Just a thought.

This is the official VAF DC-X35 thread. The DC-X35 will be shown at the Australian Audio & AV Show in Sydney 19-21 October (Next Week), and you'll see an offer for the first 50 in a seperate VAF Show thread. We won't reveal all here just yet, but the new DC-X35 builds on the previous platform with smoother response again, better dynamics again, 10% deeper bass (as if its predecessor didn't go deep enough), and 10% higher bass power handling too Prices will start at $2,999 in Black European Oak. Other finishes will be available. A DC-X35cc centre speaker will also be available for $1,799. Every set will be individually serial numbered for each owner, and a gold plate on each speaker will identify these limited edition speakers. Questions welcome...

I am in the process of amassing pro amplifiers, 18" drivers, microphone, downloading software etc so I can build 2 bass bins and setup my speakers after I refit my room. The 2 x 18" bass bins will be at the front of the room, and my current 12" sub will be the bass support at the back of the room. Paul Spencer has previously assisted with taking ~50 measurements of my room using REW etc, so I know what my room does bass wise. So part of my plan at Bathurst this year, was to setup my laptop with external sound card, REW, microphone, etc and learn more about setting up test gear & using REW & using this new found knowledge back at home. Well it seems that after a lot of fiddling, swearing, cable swapping, swearing, looping back, swearing etc my particular effing laptop wouldn't do it with the internal sound card, an external sound card or any other effing sound card or external device. But... It worked straight away & as easy as pie on 2 other laptops (one was a Mac one was using Win 7). God I hate computers some days. Make that most days. Even though it didn't work on my laptop, I was still able to learn from others efforts and it again was reinforced how for a coupla hundred dollars and an investment in some time; testing and measuring can remove days, weeks & months of effing around & basically guessing as to what we are doing when trying to optimise speakers in a room. You could still not have it right after months. We worked our way through a white paper on optimising speakers for stereo listening (reference to follow). The ability to identify changes in not just frequency response, but also other things like determine noise floor, waterfall plots, room echo etc cannot be underestimated. So although my laptop is crap for this type of function, I will either get another/borrow one or use my PC to do the testing in my room once I have built my bass bins. How we could spend many $000's of dollars on vinyl, CDs, etc & many more $000's on equipment and setting up rooms and not spend a coupla hundred dollars on some test gear, or spend a coupla hundred $ paying someone to do it for you is beyond me. So, if you are one of the "microphones are for singers" crew, I strongly recommend you check out what some measurement can really do. Maybe you know someone with some test gear, and a laptop or computer (that isn't like mine). It is a real eye opener. Graham

Here's a bargain. RATM box set. 2 x CD's, 2 x DVD's, 1 x book....and most importantly 1 x LP. £16 on amazon UK v's US$136 on amazon US. I think someone's stuffed up so I suggest you order quick smart. http://www.amazon.co...9G7ZYUO/ozba-21 http://www.amazon.co.../dp/B009G7ZYUO/ some info on the contents. http://www.nme.com/news/rage-against-the-machine--2/66551

About 30000 people marched down Sydney Rd in suburban Melbourne to protest about the shocking rape and murder of a young woman a couple of weeks ago.Many politicians supported the cause and expressed solidarity with the marchers and supported their views about stopping violence towards women. Well today they showed their true colours by allowing a convicted rapist who has never shown any remorse into the country. Everyone deserves a second chance but in this instance he does not because he continues to denigrate the victim.Mike Tyson and those who allow him into the country are a Disgrace!

Decided to pick up the 40th anniversary lp release of David Bowie. aka Space Oddity, from a coupe of years ago, while it was still available and only $20. Brilliant packaging. I knew this was a digital master - done from the master tapes at least. I have US 1980 copy and the Ryko release from a few years back, both of which are less than desirable. Overall sounds good and happy with it. Nicely clear and clean sounding. Can't wait for the Ziggy all analog reissue done by Ken Scott to arrive

My Nova battery powered SS phono stage is quieter than my Minimax tube phono stage. But I prefer the sound of the latter.

The problem with these kinds of discussions is that most have not really experienced exceptional bass. So a lot of audiophiles settle for "good enough" and actually have no idea how good it can be and what it actually does for the musical experience. Bass is only 10% of the music, we live in the midrange right? Do a poor job with 10% of the music, and 100% of it is diminished dramatically. The hole that sinks a boat is less than 1% of the hull. Who cares if 99.9% of the hull is sound, the boat will still sink! Likewise you need good bass to fully appreciate music. You can buy great midrange, but to really get good bass it takes a lot more work and skill. How loud should the bass be? That is a very system dependant thing. You can measure the "house curve" in the listening position, but once you get it right in one system, for one person, for most of their music, it applies nowhere else. The relative level may vary by as much as 20 dB from one system to another. What so many do, when the bass isn't right, is compensate by turning down the bass using whatever means they have. It's never a real solution. When you experience bass done right without band-aids, you'll find going back is underwhelming. Like eating a meal of lettuce leaves. There are no words that can show people what they are missing, it's something you have to experience. I'll say this. To hear a system that really has this area sorted, that reveals all that is on the recording ... that's a rare system.

Ooh. Cool. So what has been changed compared to the Gen 4 MKIIs, in terms of drivers, crossover, cabinets? Will this eventually replace the MKIIs? That power pack looks like a pretty great deal.

Ooops, please disregard the last flyer. it listed the price on the "Power Pack" incorrectly. Attached is the correct pricing :-) VAF www.vaf.com.au VAF News Oct2012 EMAIL.pdf

Link to the StereoNet VAF Forum here: http://www.stereo.ne...-dc-x35-thread/ VAF is aproaching its 35th Anniversary, and the DC-X has been an important model for VAF. Now in its 6th incarnation, the DC-X continues to evolve. The new limited edition VAF DC-X35 will be shown to the public for the first time at the Australian Audio & AV Show in Sydney October 19-21. Check out the flyer in the VAF forum for details. Comments and questions welcome. VAF www.vaf.com.au

Bass is just as important as everything else in music, like every good system, nothing should stand out, it should be balanced. There's nothing worse than hearing something overpowering in a hifi system, typical example being the doof doof cars.

Honestly I think this might effect the value of the Mobile fidelity sets. I know that there was a fellow who was ripping the MOFI sets and providing his own mixes.... up until the 2009 re-releases which I believe he indicated there was no need to release his own versions as these were far superior. EMI have spent the last 4 years on this release. Seems like these could be damn awesome to be honest and the box set shipped works out to $25 an LP Hmmmmm

But it might just be worth improving it rather than updating your gear. Depth, soundstage and imaging are more often that not limited by the room.

oohh.. big call - I'll leave that one alone! To the OP - I'd suggest having a look at the following brands for speakers which I have found to partner well with Rotel: B&W, Spendor, PMC and Harbeth. Cheers, Chris

Great Question, the room is a component of the audio system, more often than not the room is the weakest link in system setups, though it is also the most oven overlooked. Room dimensions, layout and constriction materials WILL contribute to the sound result, from any system in the same room, room acoustic treatments, (the right ones) should be the next upgrade.

All things being equal the Euro pressings will have closer to the master mother stampers so should sound better.. EMI don't use GZ, however god knows what Universal will do in the future. Good news

What is it about your current speakers that you would like to improve?

Let me start by saying I have not heard your equipment, either individually or in combination. From personal experience and from what I have read there may not be a correct answer to your question. Only your ears and your opinion at the end of the day is the correct answer for you. In my humble opinion your speakers are the weakest link. As the Jade is a more expensive model than your current speakers they will most likely sound better than your current speakers. The question then is whether the extra costs will be worth it and also if there are better speakers out there? I would suggest that either new or even better used you will be able to find speakers that are better than your current speakers or the Jade's. My personal preference would be Osborn, Lenehan or Paradigm, but I would still try to listen to a similar system or a home demo and let my ears decide.

Thanks Mick. I should add I am a bit of a Leonard Cohen fan too!

Hi vmhf A nicely eclectic mix! For me, it's been one of the great joys of SNAhood to discover and appreciate new artists and musical forms -It'd also be great to have a system that reproduces music as well as yours. Cheers Mick

Or just take out the non-working parts and send in an envelope.....

Typos thanks to auto correct. Gibbon monkey nipples.

I'm at the noodling stage of putting together a system that wil fit into a reasonably small Pelican case. I was thinking about the Topping TP32 since it has remote control & headphone amp. Speakers would be uFonkenWK. Same size as the older uFonken. I've never put one on a scale, but small and made of 12mm ply, can't be that heavy. dave

Bass is tuneful not monotone, Unfortunately the unwashed masses don't know this.

It's also important to distinguish bass detail from bass volume. I've heard a lot more systems with bass volume than I've heard systems with bass detail. At first listen, more detail can sound like less bass (as in less bass volume).

I would describe it for you, but the amp I paid for on the classifeds here 2 weeks ago still hasn't shown up

I'd like to see examples of KNOWN intentional posts that are considered ambush marketing. We are well aware of this practice and regularly monitor and control it. It is the members who continue to post statements like this, that actually create a perception that in reality is not even a real issue. Sponsors are of course encouraged to contribute to threads and offer solutions to questions such as this topic. It is up to the OP to sort through the posts from members with commercial interests (as declared in their signatures), and members with real world experience and formulate their own short list for consideration. One post has already been removed from this topic as it was clearly just a products competitor digging and pot stirring.

I have the Ref 5.2 (the "non-musical" version of this DAC). First 1704 DAC I've had in my system. Very early impressions are it's a good step up on some other AudioGD DACs I've had here, especially in PRAT. ... but I'm a bit disappointed so far with the USB ... probably got my hopes up a bit high :-/

Items relocated to Ebay--thanks to all W

Hey heman thanks for the suggestion..I will keep it in mind. Can you Pm with how much you would be looking for? Also, props for spinnning Flying Lotus. What an album!

When you don't listen to music that you do like because it is a bad recording.

You listen to music you don't actually like, just because it is a great recording.

Now thats funny

The PS3 is a fantastic Bluray player - oh, and it also plays games.

Nice ontopic discussion.... go get a room you two George - polyserena .... one of the best aussie albums of recent times