Denon D-M41 hi fi poor sound

November2

My old 1980's Akai stacked hifi system finally gave up the ghost at beginning of the year and after much deliberation I plumped for a Denon D-M41 hifi cd player as all I play nowadays is cds.  I'm really struggling with it, I thought I just had to get used to the sound  not being 'as full' as the Akai which had large 3' speakers, the Denon sounds so 'weedy'.  Turning volume up doesn't help at all, I've increased the bass which helped slightly to give it a bit more sound.  Basically my cds all sound low and muddy, there's just no power, its as if half the music is missing.  I'm using Denon speakers so they are compatible.  The Denon reviews are all excellent and just wondered if anyone else has experienced this difference in sound quality to an old system.  Maybe the reviewers just think this weedy sound is normal.   

EssexExile

What speakers are you using? I have the D-M40 playing through small Mission speakers and it's amazing for the price. When I tried it at Richer Sounds before buying I tried a selection of speakers and the Mission were miles ahead of the others. I am biased of course, I now have three pairs of Missions in the house and they are all brilliant.

November2

Hi, speakers came with the player, they are Denon SC-M41.  Tried playing OMD Sugar Tax album yesterday and had to turn it off,  it's as if everything is muted and the music and vocals equalized to one sound level and the high production stripped from it.  Do you have problems with the player not reading discs?  Sometimes it makes a noise when the cd is inserted then says no disc and I have to open close drawer a few times before it reads it (genuine cd not cdr).   
I really miss my old Akai! Sex Pistols would blast out with power and energy, yet it would also play Kate Bush with such wonderful clarity and richness.   Its all missing with the Denon.

EssexExile

I don't often put discs in it but I've never had a problem.  It sounds like your's is faulty, take it back. Sound quality wise mine compares quite well with my 30 year old Quad system.

Heedtheadvice

Have you still got your Akai speakers to like do much?

A good chance you can use those with your Denon! It will just need a few facts checking and if ok away you go

November2

Unfortunately threw the speakers away, never occurred to me to keep them.  Bought it from Argos so will see if they'll swop it.  Thanks for replies.

SurferDan

The D-M41 has a headphone socket on the front. Have you tried plugging a set of headphones in to hear if the sound is ok through headphones?
Have you checked that the loudspeakers are connected properly ie "in phase" if they're not that will affect the sound particularly the bass frequencies.
Is the sound poor on all sources? 

eamon

An easy check is have you got the speakers wired up correctly? It can be fiddly getting them fixed and remembering that they are colour coded.

Sandtree

If you can take it back then do and then go to a hifi store with some of your preferred CDs and listen to a number of systems to find what works best to your ears.

Most HiFi manufactures have a "house sound" and Denon's tends to be described as bright which some people love whereas others prefer a warmer sound for music. I've a much older version of the unit thats relegated to the Mrs' studio and is just going through a budget pair of wharfedale speakers but it sounds good for the price and age... clearly my Arcam/Kef combination in the lounge is much better but then a single speaker of that setup is several times the cost of the full denon setup.

A high fidelity system should basically sound as if you were in the room with the band/orchestra but achieving that is both difficult and expensive. To make up for lack of fidelity and limitations of small speakers many budget systems will artificially bump up the bass etc to try and sound "better" and in the 90s it got so bad that music was even mixed to further extend this. Ultimately if this is what you are used to it can be a bit of a shock going from bloated bass to something that is truer to life. On the surface it sounds like there is something wrong either with how you've set up the system or with the system itself. In the first instance double check the speakers are correctly wired and if the speakers are ported, that there is no bung in the port (unless they are rear ported and the speakers are near a rear wall.

another_casualty

If you can change the speaker cables do so. I use qed 79 strand . Far better than the thin bell wire type often sold with stack systems etc 

November2

Thank you all for suggestions, will dismantle and reattach speakers but they look ok so not sure if that's the problem.    It's possibly as you suggest just personal preference, I'm so used to a much louder and thumping sound.