A thought on the 950's bass being less 'tight' than the HK's: I have a 'no dot' version 950 and have always thought the bass to sound very tube-like. Though I almost never listen to stereo CDs, the bass in SACD and movie formats through the 950 is excellent
I have noticed excellent bass response with High Rez sources while also experiencing somewhat anemic bass with regular CDs. Source resolution and level withstanding, I do not understand why I lose bass impact on CDs at full range settings.
I have powered towers, Boston VR975, (with both speaker and line level connections). I wonder if somehow I am getting a phase cancellation between the speaker level and RCA level inputs. I have never found out just how those speakers are wired. The woofer will run on just speaker level.
I don't feel I have lost definition, just level.