Nearfield Low-Level Listening : New Speakers or EQ? Thoughts?

I listen nearfield at low levels.  It isn't your speakers as much as your electronics.  Most amps suck at low power levels.  tube amps is the best solution but there are others.  of course with tube amps you may need more sensitive speakers. 

But I've tried driving sensitive speakers with high power amps.  if you take a 300 watt power amp and turn it down to 0.1 watt, it will suck.  lets just say I've never heard one that doesn't.

Jerry

Just sell everything to someone more deserving of your gear. You didn’t need all this gear for it to squeal away at 45db.

Get a pair of in-ear earphones, turn the volume way down to 40 dB or whatever.... and let it squeal softly.

At 80 dB, a fairly loud average level your ears are down about 10dB at 30 Hz. It's significantly worse at lower levels. It's not the equipment. What you hear is what happens at low loudness levels. You need to equalize to get the affects you want at low levels or listen at higher levels. By the way ears are essentially level at 100 dB, way too loud as an average level for ear health.

@deep_333 always helpful.

The issues are multi-faceted. Some speakers really do need to be played at a certain level before they "come alive" like Frampton. EQ can help your perception of certain frequencies, but if your speakers "don't sing" at lower levels with a decent dynamic range, then they will simply not sound their best.  EQ is the first place to start by boosting lows and highs, but at the end of the day, you might have better luck with getting some more "lively" speakers that offer a dynamic range even at lower volumes. 

In my bedroom I have some ancient 92 dB efficient ADS L520 speakers and play them at roughly 50 dB before going to sleep. I have EQed them using a streamer app running Tidal. To me they sound great, even at that low of a volume.