After searching through the threads and not finding any info on this I decided it was time to ask for help. My Pioneer VSX-1014TX has been a great receiver so far. I've had a few mid-high end receivers over the years and this one is as least as good if not better in 5.1. However, in stereo 2 channel mode it seems very lacking. The first thing I notice between 5.1 and 2 channel is the lack of any real bass. I'm not a bass nut, but I do want to hear it. I've had this receiver a little over a year now, but normally only use it for home theatre and not for music. Lately though I've been using it more and more for music. I don't run a sub, but my left and right channels are run by Yamahas that have 15" subs on them (not powered). In movies the bass is perfect and really has some power when it's needed. I have a standard run of the mill sony DVD player that I use for CD's as well. It's connected to the receiver digitally with a coaxial cable. I get the exact same sound however if I use my old CD player (analog connection). So I know it's not the digital connection or the analog connection. It has to be something in the receiver. Just upping the bass in the tone settings doesn't add much of anything. The 2 channel sound in general is pretty flat, but like I said before the bass is the first thing you notice missing. I have run through the MACC, so that's all setup. Any help you guys can give me would be great. Thanks!

Just to confirm....you did select large speakers right?

Yeah, they are set as large. When I'm watching movies in 5.1 the bass seems to be fine. I only notice it missing in 2 channel when I'm listening to music CD's.

Do you have other speakers that are set to small? I used to have a 1014, so I'm trying to remember. What does it sound like in 7channel stereo? Also try stereo direct mode and see what that does. Could be a LFE and redirected bass issue. I used a sub, but I remember a lot more bass when in 7ch vs stereo because in 7ch the bass from all speakers set to small is redirected to the sub, or in your case the mains.

this receiver was real good for movies but didn't satisfy me for music. add a powered sub if you can. it makes a world of difference and will give you the added thump you're looking for.

Thanks for the replies so far, but something doesn't make sense to me. If my mains are able to punch out the bass in 5.1, why not in 2 channel? I can't justify spending money on a sub when the mains are already producing all the bass I need in 5.1. All of my other speakers are set to small. I have to believe it's a setting somewhere that I'm missing. I have a 2 channel amp and my speakers are bi-ampable. I guess I could use my amp and run the 15" subs on my mains as the sub. Anyone else have any other ideas to try first?

I plan on trying the bi-amp idea on Friday, but I'm hoping that someone will chime in with another idea before then. I just seems to me that if the receiver and speakers I have can produce more than enough bass during a movie that it shouldn't be a problem in 2 channel. If it were a computer I'd say this is something that should be fixed in a firmware upgrade. Anyway, like I said... if you have an idea on how to fix this (minus buying a sub) please let me know. Thanks!

I have a VSX-1015TX. And I am running Paradigm Monitor 5 v.4 from it. Initially I was using same 22 gauge cables that cable with an HTIB setup I upgraded from. I was really disappointed with the Monitor 5s. While they claim down to 35hz in the specs there was no bass coming out from them to speak off. While Athena AS-B2.2 had tons of bass running of the same receiver.

At one point i decided to get nicer cables and replaced the 22 gauge cable with 12 gauge. Wow that really made a world of difference. The bass came back and boy did it come back. WOW is the only way I can describe it.

Anyway first check that you're not using crappy cable, if you are go to home depot and buy some 12 or 16 gauge lamp wire (no need to shell out for expensive magic-voodoo cables).

However chances are it simply might not be able to drive that huge 15" woofer at any respectable volume. So yes, bi-amping might be an answer. It would be interesting to see how sensitive your Yamahas are? Compare them to modern speakers, if they are really not sensitive the best option would probably to get more modern speakers.

I actually already bi-amped them and have all the bass I would EVER need. HOWEVER, the speaker wire I'm using is pretty crappy. I think I will run over to the DePOT and see about getting better speaker wire. Maybe I'll be able to take the amp off. We'll have to see. Thanks for the tip!