dmbartender, what speakers are you using?
Edit: N/M, B&W 603's. Nice speakers, BTW. I've heard 603's before, while demoing before my M60/80 purchase. I wouldn't have described them as bright. If anything, they were a bit on the "warm" side. Pleasant though. Their range is 44Hz–22kHz, ±3dB, so they certainly should be (and are, from my experience) able to produce decent bass. And they're 8-ohm speakers, so they should be easy for just about any AVR or amp to drive.
You could certainly *try* a dedicated amp with them and see if it makes any difference. Some say amps matter, others say they don't. The only way to know is to try it out for yourself. Borrowing one from a local shop would be ideal, but I doubt many would do that unless you have a good relationship with them already. If you buy one new online, most online-only retailers (Emotiva, Outlaw, Axiom, Amazon, etc) have full return policies if it doesn't work out.
Another option would be to just get a new/better receiver. That would give you new and potentially worthwhile features and a more powerful amplification section. Might be more fun/useful than just slapping an amp in the system.
But do check your receiver's settings. Check crossovers, connections, and sound modes. Make sure you don't have something "weird" somehow set up so that on 2-channel music it's not using the sub when it should be, or some such thing.
Last edited by PeterChenoweth; 04/14/09 02:20 PM.
