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Recommendations for speakers that sound great at lower volume levels.

I have a pair of Harbeth SHL5 Plus and they sound wonderful when I crank them up. But at moderate to low volume levels they sound disappointingly flat and unengaging - instruments are less palpable, bass has less bloom, and soundstage has less air and dimensionality. I drive my speakers with a tube integrated - a Line Magnetic 845 rated at 26 watts of power. My Harbeths are rated at 86db. Would a higher sensitivity speaker be helpful? Or how about a good quality small shoebox sized pair of speakers coupled with a subwoofer? Or not. What speakers are going to deliver music you can feel at low volume levels? What say all you wisened audiophiles?
128x128neptune123
audition__audio
1,492 posts
 
I think that tube amps are much better at low volumes inherently provided that the speaker doesnt present to difficult a load. The best low volume speakers I have heard are horns (compression drivers), but they arent very good in other areas which I find significantly more important.
kingharold
304 posts
 
When I began reading this thread it struck me how free of typical volume considerations I am.  Since my wife of fifty years plus recently passed away I live alone in a house pretty much in the middle of my eight acre plot.  Despite this my listening levels seldom exceed 87 dB on crescendos.  My fully horn loaded, triamplified, 103 dB sensitivity, DIY speakers are very good at maintaining good detail, imaging and frequency balance at quite low levels.
avanti1960
1,476 posts
 
you have 4 options-
1 an amplifier with more robust power and dynamics, e.g. a rogue audio cronus mag iii, go to seperates with a rogue audio stereo 100 or a tube preamp with powerful solid state power.
2 more efficient speakers, a slippery slope that comes with compromises, e.g. omegas, klipsch heritage.
3 subwoofer(s)
4 amp and subwoofers

its about getting cone movement, bass excursion at lower volume.  it takes a more robust amp or speakers that resond better to the amp you have. 
i chose option 4 including a tube preamp solid state amp. i loved the sound of my HL5+ and could not think about what i would lose to gain efficiency.
clarke10925's avatar
clarke10925
38 posts
 
Nola Boxers and Contenders sound terrific at low volumes.,very engaging.
yyzsantabarbara
4,822 posts
 
Before I got the RAAL SR1a headphones low volume listening was a very big deal for me. So I tried a few things.

I learned that DAC direct to amp was not the best at low volume. I learned that very quiet electronics, such as Benchmark AHB2 amp + LA4 preamp are amazing at low volume. You are not going to get anything quieter than that, except for the new Topping pre90 preamp. With this very quiet gear my KEF LS50, Thiel CS3.7, and Audience 1+1 V3 all sounded very good at low volume. By very good I mean you can hear all the frequencies but at a lower volume. Not the case with nosier gear and DAC direct to amp (with what I tried).

If I had Harbeth I would use AHB2 on them.

Good thing is today a lot of gear is becoming very quiet such as my CODA 07x preamp and CODA #8 amp. It also sounds great at low volume.
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