I was once front row at a low stage sitting ears high towards that accordeon…my ovators still haven’t been able to reproduce
That must have been good. A while ago I was in the front row at a Trygve Seim concert and he was about 2m in front of me. Almost too close but thoroughly enjoyable. A stereo can never emulate the live experience, but so long as it lets you get to the emotional heart of the performance, that’s all you could wish for.
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It was, three giants Richard Galliano, Bireli Lagrene and the now late Didier Lockwood. Some 10 years ago I think.
But well: speakers for bass. I play bass, electric basses need big speakers. You feel the low. Acoustic? Different vibe all together, for me, that is Prat.
There’s acoustics, and there’s psychoacoustics. There’s specifications as written, and there is what you hear. But the only thing that really counts is what you hear…
I tend to agree with most of the other posts on here - decent source will get the most accurate rendition of the recording which then gives the rest of the kit a fighting chance… Speakers need to be good, but specs on paper are only worth what they are written on - you need to hear them because (i) your ears are your own, and (ii) your room has significant effects at these lower frequencies and so something on paper that should be great will be awful (in your room) and vice versa. What you want is somewhat that makes you sit up and go ‘wow’. Hard if you can’t audition, I agree - maybe when C-19 is reduced you can seek out others there and listen to their systems to get some ideas?
There is nothing wrong with the amp you have - nor the rest of the kit, in some sense - but if you are missing something, then somehing needs to change. But setting a somewhat arbitrary specification goal and aiming for just that is not the best way. You have described the best way already - you know what you like listening to, so set up a decent quality playlist for that stuff and get some auditioning done…
Thanks that’s a great album recommendation
Great bass test, found it on Tidal 
Many speakers will handle acoustic bass… the key thing in my experience is to go for low colouration… which unless a jumbo size speaker means infinite baffle (sealed enclosure and NOT using a bass reflex port)
You will find many Hi-Fi speakers including infinite baffle designs will handle 30 Hz, but will be attenuated…possibly significantly. However your room tends to reinforce lower notes, and your brain fills in the missing parts. If you need to feel the air move then it is relatively large speakers to room size and a large and fast muscle amp, or high end headphones/headphone amp using magnetic planar technology… both of these will give wallop and slam, as well as that pressure wave effect.
As I say the key thing is control (for low low colouration) so for a finite baffle design probably means a powerful amp.
Reflex port designs tend to be easier to drive at lower frequencies, but are more prone to room interaction resonances and other horrible artefacts… as well as hearing bass notes in a stepped chord or riff with notably different volume levels
A very large volume speaker with a reflex port can work well, as the resonance refrequency can be very low almost below audibility.
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It should also be noted that unless you have an exceptionally large room or an acoustically treated room done very well, then below a certain value (typically about 80Hz) you’re listening more to the effects of the room than the performance of the speakers!
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Indeed in my room it’s about 60 to 70 Hz, but I use infinite baffle designs that seems to cause only acceptable interactions with my room as they fall away below around mid 40s Hz. But they still slam and thump quite effectively and musically follow basses with pitch and intensity … but I found the power amp was important for that. (Speakers ATC SCM 19s)
I just can’t get on with reflex port designs in my room… they just sound too lumpy as they interact with the room.
I’ll be listening to this later… played one track no was instantly drawn in to it! Thanks
The album sounds interesting… it shows what a complex set to tones and colours there are on a double bass…
I love the subtleties in the fingering and plucking you can hear… definitely has an Eastern European feel to the music.
The rhythms and timings in For Luis are rather good aren’t they…
Very bassy … with some bow work with some lovely reverby resonances from the bass itself I think, as opposed to the added reverb in the recording.
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Certainly are. Bonus is that Mrs Fotobrooks is a fan of jazz and bass players.
Indeed, reflex and open transmission lines exacerbate the room interactions in several ways, (particularly when the ports are at the base of a floor-standing speaker - this increases the complexity of the interaction).
My modified Spendors are also (now) sealed box, and with the relatively stiff suspension of the bass mid cone, have a -6db point at about 48Hz, despite relatively large (30l) enclosures. The positioning in the room (including the listening position) is set to reduce the room interactions in the 45 - 250Hz region and there is a lot of broadband (35-350Hz) bass trapping. The only significant defect I still have left is a very narrow -20db null at about 200Hz (I don’t remember the exact centre frequency, but the null is only about 5hz wide, shoulder to shoulder so in reality not a major defect in the greater scheme of things.)
I find deepish narrow nulls almost transparent compared to resonant peaks which I tend to find objectionable.
It is interesting I found a resonance point that was at times quite off putting at around 68 to 70 Hz with my previous NAP250, but I have found with my now Chord Etude it’s effectively gone. and the bandwidth feel seems more extended, tighter and musically clearer (easier to follow phrasing, notes, subtle timings and intensities) in the lower bass notes, not sure whether I was hearing a lack of control of the SCM19s artefact before, especially when coupled in the room, but the extra grunt of the Etude seems to address it… it certainly gets warmer than my 250.
BTW I suspect this track is a good test of bass lumpiness/resonance unevenness and overhang …
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… and I’m now scared to try it!
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Charlie hi. I agree with the posts that discourage the subwoofer approach to attain what you want. Your “worry” about integrating the sub into the soundstage is real; it’s often a challenge. And the prior posts are accurate about a sub generally being much better at adding what rock or pop music is lacking in the bass, vs the nuances that make an acoustic bass sound realistic. This is especially the case within your budget of your overall system.
The Nait XS2 is a fine amp; I owned one. I think that pairing it with relatively efficient speakers is a good idea. @anon4489532 mentioned Devore; I originally paired my XS2 with Devore The Nines and it was a lovely pairing. Bass drivers require energy, and it’s hard to obtain a large volume of bass generally without significant current from the amp.
But I think that for what you’re looking for this is NOT your issue. You’ll hear what you’re missing with better source (you can easily obtain a nice slightly used Rega P8 or RP8 within budget) perhaps including a phonostage upgrade as well. Your bio here does not mention which Rega phonostage you have. I’d upgrade your TT and maybe your phono stage (Rega Aria is where you should be; not lower). THEN start listening to different speakers.
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I couldn’t get on with Linn Isobarics when I demoed them. By comparison Focal Sopra 2s felt natural in my 6.4 x 4-5.5 m irregular room. The bass units use Infinite Horn Loading according to the Focal website.
They certainly produce very nice sounding bass with the very varied sounds on the Bass Room album mentioned above by @jsaudio (thanks) and all the other music I play. Very very happy with them for the wide range of music I like to listen to.
Soft furnishings seem to deal with most issue that might otherwise require room treatment.
Phil
Que?
Apart from the fact that it is a meaningless term, I see no evidence of any form of horn loading on the pics I’ve seen of the Sopra 2…