2. amps-preamps
  3. 191436-178346

The Low Volume Loudness Dilemma

I love the power and detail of music played at what I call "Actual instrument volume" which is pretty loud and dominating. 

I like music in the background when I'm reading or entertaining. The problem is that the fullness and richness is thin to gone at low volume. This seems to be the case no matter how much a system costs. I listened to a Burmester rig driving a set of Wilson Alexx V speakers in a perfectly tuned listening room with cabling that costs more than my Lexus and the "missing music" at low volume problem was there too. $350,000 in gear couldn't fix it. 

I did the unthinkable - I bought a DBX 2231 equalizer off of eBay for a couple hundred bucks and messed around with the sound curve. Viola! "Loudness"!  I know this is sacrilege and may cause excommunication by the purist class but I am able to get full rich sound at low levels. The Eq also compensates for the anomalies in my listening area (large great room with other rooms connected to it.)

I don't have the square footage or budget to build a proper dedicated listening room with all the sound management treatments so I'm "making due" with what I do have. 

Does anybody have some guidance or constructive thoughts on how to get full rich music at low SPLs? 

128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xyesiam_a_pirate
richardt9000
12 posts
 

A little late to the party here, but I have been pondering this myself. What I haven't seen generally defined, though, is what constitutes low volume vs high volume listening. Max for me is 65-70 db. I've always thought that is on the lower side of max volume?

 

 

bubbagump
8 posts
 

On my modest NAD 375bee I kick up the bass at low volumes, back in the early days the loudness switch of my Sansui AU717 was always on unless it was a party and the volume was at stupid levels. Most speakers won’t blume unless sufficiently powered and can use some help when only a few watts are applied. It’s not a sin if it sounds right ...

 

 

livinon2wheels
70 posts
 

@Crustycoot - I have a couple of questions about Yamaha's YPAO function. All the Yamaha equipment I have owned predates YPAO so I have no clue how well it works although I have read some favorable comments online. That said, does this room compensation software really give you a compensation for listening volume so that at low volume settings for your speakers it really mostly follows fletcher-munson curves? That would be a major point to consider if you are looking at buying new equipment and would be enough for me to consider buying Yamaha over some other manufacturer that does not offer this feature.

seb_audio
12 posts
 

Surprised that nobody mentioned Audyssey Dynamic EQ yet. I have my Denon set for Audyssey to bypass the front speakers since the automatic calibration always sounds worse to my ears, but I have Dynamic EQ enabled which makes it sound excellent at low listening levels and dials back automatically as you increase the volume. 

tabl10s's avatar
tabl10s
1,083 posts
 

What is "Actual Instrument Volume"? An instrument is only as loud as the instrumentalist plays it. 

More to discover