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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? 

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livinon2wheels
46 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
11 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
1,075 posts
 

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

augustus1127
6 posts
 

Meridian Audio active loudspeakers with DSP technology. Expensive on the front end but eliminates the amp & wire game. No need for a sub when listening to music. Very pleasant and natural sounding without ear fatigue. Depreciation is high on the front end like an expensive auto, very affordable on pre owned market.

zigstien
32 posts
 

I do a significant amount of my listening at lower sound levels and have built my last two systems around that goal.

If you want to listen to music at low sound levels, you need to start with the speakers. High efficiency speakers are a must, add quality amplification/ sources and add a little work on the room and you're pretty much there 

Adding bass / mid boost may sound satisfying but you end up obscuring detail and micro-dynamics.  You're not getting the whole enchilada.

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