Could be you are just accustomed to bass heavy systems like so many car audio enthusists build. have you heard your present speakers with 2 channel amps in your present room? It could also be the room is sucking the life out of the music or your present speakers are too hard(low sensitivity) for the amp to drive to good levels as bass is the hardest to reproduce.
No, I haven't heard the speakers with just a 2-channel amp. At least not in my living room. Perhaps the room is too big? It's 20 by 30 feet with tiled floors. I have the speakers toed in and sit 10-12 feet away. The weird thing is, sometimes the bass is satisfying, and on other recordings it seems way too weak. All with the same settings on the AVR, and all professional recordings (beck, dave matthews, d'angelo, etc.)
I should also say that I haven't cranked the avr up totally. That's because the with the lack of bass, the highs just get too overbearing when I turn it up too much.
