What makes a speaker perform well at low volume?

My experience indicates that more efficient efficient speakers usually "perform well" i.e, deliver music and detail at lower volumes.

I agree that this is not a trivial issue, and certainly not a newbie one either.

I am in the camp the music sounds best within a narrow range of volume. This is most often very close or a few dbs louder than the recorded volume. I find that music that is excessively loud tends to become unrealistic. Whether this is due to room acoustics, speakers, amps, etc is open to debate (but please don't). It's probably a combination of all those factors. I suspect the room acoustics is likely a huge factor.

When music is too low, the instruments lack weight and palpability. The best example I can give is trying to convey the image of massed strings, like a violin section in a full orchestra. This is extremely difficult for a stereo to do, and I believe a speaker needs to move a critical amount of air to achieve this effect. At low volumes, it just doesn't sound like a full string section. I now have my stereo tweaked so that it does convey that elusive massed string effect, but it needs to be at least at a concert-going volume. My stereo can convey alot of detail at low volumes, but a good volume is important for having a connectedness with the performance.

I suspect that all this comes down to listening preferences, music preferences, stereo preferences, room acoustics, and the components as well. Good luck in your quest...I suspect you'll need it.

This is very important to classical music, as it is not usually very loud live. Next time you're at an orchestral performance, notice that you can easily hear someone's sniffling nose 5 seats away, or your own feet shuffling, on all but the loudest of crescendos. Most stereos have to be turned up much louder than the live orchestra to convey the same richness and excitement. If you can get involved with the music at low volume, you have a very special system indeed.
Excellent question, I wish I had the answer.

Well,

1st thing, study the Fletcher-Munson curve to help define how your hearing changes at varying dB's, then measure the average spl at which you listen to music. Look at the chart.

2nd realise that equalization is needed, whether the speaker has it subtley built in itself or something as coarse a loudness button on your amplifier.

All of the answers above to one small degree or another are correct but the true reality is a speaker that has boost in the highs and the bass will sound the best at low volumes period. Those speakers will achieve the nearest flat response to your ears relative to normal listening levels at lower listening levels.

A sensitive speaker and amplifier have little to do with the overall performance unless they address the F-M Curve in some fashion at the levels you are listening too. Address your hearing and background noise in the room and you will solve the problem of listening at low levels.

An decisive solution to your problem is the Accuphase DG-38. This will solve all your problems, at normal and low listening levels.

Honest1,

You are right about the volume difference in a concert hall vs. at home. I can easily whisper something to my wife at a concert, but she is always telling me to turn down the stereo because she can't talk to me.

This brings up an interesting question, of whether a stereo has the physical capability of conveying the type of dynamics of an orchestra. Of course, a stereo is a vastly simplified illusion, and is amazing the degree to which it approaches a real performace. However, consider that there are over 100 musicians on stage. Each musician has an instrument, often with multiple strings, each of which is vibrating independently. When you think about the 1000s of pieces of string, reed, skin, metal, and wood vibrating on the continuum of a stage, you realize that a stereo will always fall short. A full-range speaker will most often have only 8 points of vibration eminating from 2 points. Our mind is fooled even though the approximation can only be considered grotesque.

Also, a concert hall is very different than a living room. It is professionally designed and has space to allow the different vibrations to assimilate, reinforce one another, and disperse. How can one compete with that?

Rob