BEST SPEAKER THAT COMES TO LIFE AT LOW LISTENING LEVELS

I thought about my post and realized it may have come off the wrong way.

I am truly sorry for your hearing issues and I honestly believe you would benefit more from headphones than speakers.

Best wishes.

Your ML 11A's are a fine loudspeaker but may not be everyone's cup of tea, so to speak.  Other forum members have accurately described the limitations of nearly every loudspeaker to deliver dynamic music at low listening levels attributable to the Fletcher Munson Curve.  You could try near field listening with the loudspeaker very close to your listening position.  No cost involved and it may just work.

Your choices are therefore limited to 1) Great set of Ear Speakers/Headphones with complimentary electronics 2) An altogether different loudspeaker.  There have been many good alternatives listed.  The Devore O/96 is one of that's been mentioned several times and may fit your needs very well.  An in-home audition would be a great starter.

Best of luck

I also use ML 11As and I find them engaging and enjoyable at the level you prefer, but I understand that everyone's ears and experiences are different. I have also experienced better results after installing a line conditioner, and it's pretty affordable too (Niagara 1200). 

thank you @elliottbnewcombjr for the information on the RLC-1, I have an older (at what point can something I purchased new be considered "vintage"?) preamp that never had remote capability and after all these years it would be nice to finally control the volume from my listening position.

hifiguy42

a ’new in the box’ was listed 2 days ago, $225., make offer option included

all the used Chase RLC-1 units listed now are missing the remote which you definitely need because there are no controls on the unit. a few remotes are listed separately.

IF all it’s lights blink when plugged in, that is normal, and they all use the same KP-1 remote, no pairing required. You could risk buying a remote and buying a blinking one, but no guarantee, only 1 remote listed now.

To be certain it is in it’s default centered positions, you need to unplug it, when you plug it back in all the lights blink, press the remote they stop blinking, it goes to defaults with VCR input selected: balance, volume, all adjustments centered. I just drilled a hole and added a toggle switch to one so I can reset to defaults easily.

someone uses it to control the volume of a stereo pair of self-powered subs

"It’s perfect for controlling subwoofer volume from IR, which is how I used it. But it’s stereo on each of the 4 channels so you can control levels for dual subs. Perfect for AVRs that don’t have an easy separate subwoofer volume."

It has two sets of identical outputs (RCA), and a Fader, so it could control the volume of 4 subs, and adjust one pair of them separately if desired.

hmmm, the implementation I like: bass boost is automatic and progressive when the volume is lowered below default, so using an RLC-1 to lower a sub’s volume is a no-no. all ’loudness’ controls implementation needs to be 1st understood, 2nd setup properly with the ’other’ volume control (your preamp’s volume), 3 REMEMBERED,