Will tube preamp add?

[PeterG]

Two thoughts:

 

First, I concur with the earlier recommendation on a subwoofer.  The KEF's are fine speakers, but like all monitors, they will not rock without a sub--as you've experienced.  A REL T5 would fit your punch above weight philosophy for about $600.  You'll be stunned by the improvement, not just at the low end, but at the heft provided to all instruments.  With a good well integrated sub, you will not hear the difference as much as feel it.

 

Second, before you lock yourself into my advice or any other plan, get a local dealer to loan you the sub (or DAC if you go that route) for a few days.  If you do not have a local dealer, second best would be an online seller that allows free returns.  But I mean it when I say local dealer is the best way to go, even spending more on each purchase--you'll get huge value from the advice you get during the process, and also help trading up over time.

 

Rock on!

[PeterG]

3 hours ago, al2813 said:

first thanks for the great feedback and advice. At 51, I am a starter in this, and although the love of music has been the centre of my life since childhood, I was not in a position to build up setups for many years. 

 

About the subs, i have a lot of doubts. First because I am not sure I have the space to fit them and secondly, bass is not at the top of my priority list, separation, depth, transparency are higher on my list. I sold my previous setup (NAD C388 and Focal Chorus 836V - big floor stands) for two reasons: 

 

- I don't get enough of the living room to listen to the music 

- I got to the conclusion that this is a bad space to listen to music. The acoustics there are just awful

- I did not like the combo - too much bass for my taste, plus i was not happy of how the amp sounded. I made a good deal selling them both and decided to start from zero. 

 

About the comments of lack of separation is some types of music, I agree. Still I need to understand why DSOTM sounds so great in my setup and Love over gold does not. Probably it's also my own lack or training, placement (which I can't do a lot about at the moment since I cannot move the speakers too much). not sure what. 

 

 

 

 

I think you missed one of the key points in my post, and another--we are not advocating a sub for overpowering bass, but rather for the weight and feel they will give all of the instruments, this is an absolute must for rock.  You might read the REL website--their propaganda is correct.  Also, if you check my AS profile, you'll see that I share your affinity for both monitors and tubes.  I agree that 2 subs might be too much for a small room, and it definitely adds to the complexity.  But like Sam-I-Am, I only suggest you try it

[PeterG]

1 hour ago, fas42 said:

 

Subs can do the job, but this is not guaranteed - a setup I visited that had everything done right as regards producing low distortion deep bass notes, using two massive sealed subwoofer setups, still failed to give good "weight and feel" to the bass lines in the music. I'm using some decent, bookshelf sized active speakers right now, and the sense of the bass in some tracks was quite overpowering - too much in fact; resolved by increasing the effective mass of the units. The same factor is at work in the comment about Quads sounding better with the bass removed - stabilsing their frames would have been another option for improving the sound.

 

I can only conclude that the subs in question were not set up properly.  I agree with your implication that proper set up is essential.  I've used two subs over the years.  The REL T5 I recommended to the OP was my first, it took me 20 minutes upfront, then a bit of volume tweaking over 3-4 days to get it just right.  My second was a B&W DB3D matched with 805s.  The iPhone app and DSP made this a snap--maybe 5-10 minutes, plus a couple of volume tweaks after that.