B&K 507 vs NAD713

[Pat H]

I'm new here so excuse my ignorance... I tend to want buy something that will last a long time rather than keep up with every tech advance. The 507 seems like one of those types of receivers so I bought one used (very well taken care of by previous owner). I had a nad713 (early ht receiver - maybe 40w/ch) and when I swapped the 507 in I noticed I lost the deep bass I had with the nad (in 2 spkr stereo). Note this is with the same speakers, cables, gps position, same wife, cat, kids (though older) . I talked with the b&k folks and they gave me a few hints like increasing the gain for various inputs and even the speakers. The tech also said he had not heard a system with a b&k that didn't have a subwoofer. Also, As far as I can tell I don't have any filters or effects (thx, surround) turned on. So, is this just a characteristic of high end receivers when compared to a little lower in the spectrum (the nad)? As it is now, I can pretty much turn the 507 to full volume and while loud it is still listenable - the nad tended to sound raspy and perhaps distorted at high levels. The lack of bass is just a little confusing with all the power the 507 has. Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Pat

PS: I am building a new set of speakers (mtm w/built in powered subwoofer) that should give me 'gangster rap' bass, but I want to know if I'm doing something wrong before I just turn up the subwoofer gain.

 

[Swerd]

... when I swapped the [B&K] 507 in I noticed I lost the deep bass I had with the nad (in 2 spkr stereo). Note this is with the same speakers, cables, gps position, same wife, cat, kids (though older) . I talked with the b&k folks and they gave me a few hints like increasing the gain for various inputs and even the speakers. The tech also said he had not heard a system with a b&k that didn't have a subwoofer. Also, As far as I can tell I don't have any filters or effects (thx, surround) turned on. So, is this just a characteristic of high end receivers when compared to a little lower in the spectrum (the nad)? As it is now, I can pretty much turn the 507 to full volume and while loud it is still listenable - the nad tended to sound raspy and perhaps distorted at high levels. The lack of bass is just a little confusing with all the power the 507 has. Any thoughts?

Pat

Welcome to audioholics .

The B&K receivers are very capable and I doubt that the apparent lack of bass is just a characteristic of higher end receivers. I am not familiar with your old NAD 713 – when was it made? Does it have digital sound processing?

Most modern HT receivers are more like computers than older models. They have many more functions than they have knobs and buttons on the front panel. Most or all sound processing is done digitally, unlike the older models that had analog sound controls which were easily seen on the front panel. To switch these functions on or off, you must go through the menus. And like all digital devices, the software built into their processing chips comes with factory default settings. It is rare that the default settings are what you need in your own set up. So even if you are using your HT receiver as a 2 channel system, you must go through the set up menus and configure your system as such. Read the manual and follow the directions. If you don't have the manual, download it from B&K here.

I can’t tell for certain what is going on with your system to cause the loss of deep bass. As a guess, it is possible that the default on your system assumes you have a subwoofer and has set your speakers to the "small" setting. This introduces a crossover between a subwoofer and your speakers, diverting the bass sound below some selectable frequency (perhaps 80 Hz?) to the subwoofer and the remaining sound above 80 Hz to the main speakers. Set your main speakers to "large" and tell your receiver that there is no subwoofer. This will send all the bass to your speakers.

 

[Pat H]

Thanks for the info. I do have the speakers set to 'large'. The NAD was pretty old (mid 90's) and was decent for it's time - a big step up from a kenwood amplifier and worn out hafler preamp. It's also possible that the sound was just a characteristic of the the NAD. I have been in some high end audio shops and noticed many of the systems didn't produce lots of bass - partially due to what they were playing and generally small drivers without subwoofers - so I'm wondering if what I hear now is more 'correct' vs. my previous experience.

I've read most of the manual and I'll keep working with the menu's to make sure I have it set up correctly.

Thanks,

Pat

 

[Swerd]

Thanks for the info. I do have the speakers set to 'large'. The NAD was pretty old (mid 90's) and was decent for it's time - a big step up from a kenwood amplifier and worn out hafler preamp. It's also possible that the sound was just a characteristic of the the NAD. I have been in some high end audio shops and noticed many of the systems didn't produce lots of bass - partially due to what they were playing and generally small drivers without subwoofers - so I'm wondering if what I hear now is more 'correct' vs. my previous experience.

I've read most of the manual and I'll keep working with the menu's to make sure I have it set up correctly.

Thanks,

Pat

I'm sorry if in previous my post I assumed you knew nothing. I didn't really know what background you had and I've run into too many people who had older stereos and tried to run new HT systems without looking at the manual.

Considering the large difference in amp power, 40 watts for the NAD and 150 for the B&K, I'm surprised that it seems to lack bass.

You mentioned that you bought the B&K receiver used. Perhaps the previous owner had used some setting that causes this problem. Rather than try to hunt this down, look in the manual for a way to restore all the settings to the factory default, and start from scratch. That may be easier.

 

[bandphan]

I'm sorry if in previous my post I assumed you knew nothing. I didn't really know what background you had and I've run into too many people who had older stereos and tried to run new HT systems without looking at the manual.

Considering the large difference in amp power, 40 watts for the NAD and 150 for the B&K, I'm surprised that it seems to lack bass.

You mentioned that you bought the B&K receiver used. Perhaps the previous owner had used some setting that causes this problem. Rather than try to hunt this down, look in the manual for a way to restore all the settings to the factory default, and start from scratch. That may be easier.

Plus 1 for a reset.