SRS-X99 lack of bass, top tweeters are silent

[TertianIvy]

Hello,

I just bought an X99 off eBay and I'm a bit disappointed. All reviews praise its "room filling" bass output and sound clarity, but I'm not feeling it. I also own an SRS-XB40 which has a much deeper bass output even tough it's much smaller and has only 2, smaller, radiators.

I also can't hear the top tweeters even tough I'm playing FLAC from a USB drive (I read that these tweeters are working only with high-res audio). 

I read that some people were not happy with the latest FW and had to send the units back to a service center to roll it back. The FW installed on my unit is 1.60.2994 (latest).

Am I doing something wrong? Does its location in the room matter? The XB40 provides good lows no matter where I place it.

Looking forward to your opinions.

Thanks!

[Joe_Dohn]

Does this also happen when using the Hi-Res Player mentioned in the Help Guide?

[Sonyvores]

SRS-X99 was built as a hifi quality sound in mind. So you can't expext over done Xtrabass such as with the XB40. You may like that extra boomy sound but it's not deep bass and X99 can go way lower in frequencies but just as it should.

The top drives are not tweeters but SUPER tweeters, so that's normal you can't hear it because frequencies are too high for your human ears. But althought you can't hear it, it's extra music information that adds to the global sound and makes it sound better overall.

[TertianIvy]

Thank you! I did find some answers in the mean time. I read that the supertweeters are playing back from the USB-B source. As for the bass, I noticed that the position of the speaker in a room and the vol. level are important. I keep it on a shelf in my living room's multi-level furniture and at higher vol., it can be felt, but I also placed it on my fridge and no matter the level, it wasn't there. Any input on this theory is welcome.

[Sonyvores]

any picture or drawing of your speaker position in the room would be helpfull 😃

[TertianIvy]

Sorry. Here you go.

[Win_88]

Has the bass level dropped over time or was it like that since day 1?

Win_88

[TertianIvy]

I have no idea. I bought it off German eBay. That was also an idea: hear other X9/X99 belonging to nearby owners.

[Sonyvores]

@TertianIvy  Thanks!

1rst your speaker position is a bit low... it should around your ears hight when listenning. Try elevate it a bit.

2nd you should set the speaker more to the border of your shelf so the sound will spread better