Not my experience over seven years now with current YG Sonja XVi or Paradigm Tribute speakers or prior Wilson Alexandria XLF. Which recordings have you noticed a lack of bass extension?
it's not about what loudspeakers you use, it's when you play certain recordings on other CD players and then you come back and play them on PB players that suddenly you notice the glaring bass extension deficiencies.
while i hear it on many pieces of music it was most obvious on the japanese Fujiyama recording (part of the Ondekoza boxset) track 1 and 3. earlier i was using the marantz sa10 and the bass impact was jaw dropping.
when the MPS-8 first came i wasn't too concerned about sound as it had to be run-in properly.
even after the requisite 800 hours i still wasn't rushing to scrutinise every little performance aspect.
the highs/mids of the MPS-8 was so silky rich and smooth rivalling even the 2-box EMM Labs TX2/DA2v2 that I had previously owned.
however i did felt that the MPS-8 bass was lacking extension and impact for much of my usual music rotation compared to the EMM Labs combo, which i then chalked it up to the prowess of the 2-box system running on 2 separate power supply lines.
also i was using the MPS-8 in the living room, and even though i have 2 same loudpseakers in both the living room and the other listening room, i could be forgiven for chalking up the bass deficiencies that i had started noticing to room size and acoustic differences.
the first real signs that something was amiss when the Pass Labs Xs150 came.
i ran the MPS-8 direct into the Xs150 and it was the first time I really could sense that bass extension was lacking.
driving the MPS-8 into the Pass Labs Aleph P pre-amp first helped to alleviate the feeling a bit, especially if I push up the gain settings a bit more.
yet, when i play the Fujiyama recording, the really deep low ends were still missing.
i got the Pass Labs Xs pre in and the result was the same.
i substituted the Marantz SA-10 into the system - and wham! the truth hits me in the head and guts.
it's the MPS-8 that was not reproducing the deep low notes.
i continue back and forth between the PB and Marantz over many other recordings. The result is always the same.
the MPS-8 is lacking real bass extension when compared to the 4 times less expensive Marantz SA10.
take note: my Marantz SA10 is switched to the Filter 2 (conventional brickwall) setting.
when i switch the SA10 back to filter 1 (slow roll-off) setting, it too exhibited some truncation of the deeper low frequencies.
(i mentioned this issue on another audio forum)
www.stereonet.com
that raises a new question: Is the PB also afflicted with the same problem as the Marantz?
i really doubt it, because the bass extension deficiency problem is much more acute on the MPS-8.
i remember after i had upgraded the firmware on the Playback Designs MPS-5, suddenly i noticed that the bass was't as deep and impactful as before the upgrade. (I then reverted the MPS-5 back to factory setting).
