Pioneer VSX-1020-K lacks midbass

I just purchased the Pioneer VSX-1020-K yesterday and was not too impressed with the sound quality. First, out of the box, it seemed to lack that bright sound. It sounded very muffled. I am running Martin Logan Encore TF speakers for LCR and a Polk PSW10 sub. I ran the auto MCACC setup, and it seemed to help just a little bit, but not much. Furthermore, I adjusted some EQ settings, but still, the sound quality is sub par.

After adjusting for quite some time, I noticed that I could not get enough midbass out of this thing. My previous reciever sounded awesome, with plenty of bass drum punch. With the Pioneer, I can barely even hear the bass drum, but more just the lower frequency bass guitar sounds. I tried using various x-over settings to get more going to the Martin Logans, but unsucessfull.

To give you some background, I am replacing my Nakamichi AV-8 receiver with the Pioneer. The only reason I chose to do this is for the DTS and HDMI switching capabilities. Other than that, the Nak was great! When I first got the Martin Logans, I could not believe how clear and crisp the sound was. Needless to say, hooking up this Pioneer for the first time really upset me.

Has anybody experienced the same thing? Does anybody know if there is some setting I am missing to improve this? Or do you think its just the fact that I am moving from a much higher end receiver to a mid-level one? I had my doubts, but because of the rave reviews of the Pioneer, thought it would be better.

Sorry so long...

ccotenj,

i tried increasing the 125-250 Hz range quite a bit and experimented with various settings. You could start hearing a little bit more, but still not a good punch. Also, it started making other things sound bad. not sure if it has something to do with the xover point, but i even tried playing the fronts as large speakers... doesnt sound great.

thanks.

thanks everyone for your responses. im not quite sure what i did, but the sound is much better now. i think part of it is that i turned off the standing wave feature, as it seemed to be cutting some frequencies out. i also did a better auto mcacc setup again with a tripod holding the mic, while i left the room. i think it did a better job this time.

anyway, somehow, the midbass has more presence now, and everything sounds a bit better. my buyer's remorse is gone, and because i decided to take everything apart and listen to my old receiver again, my cabinet was cleaned out, dust vacuumed, and cables neatly tied and tucked away.