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Which speakers excel at low volume?

I do much of my listening at lower volumes than I imagine most of you do: 60-70db for me much of the time. I understand why many speakers are designed to sound correct at live-music levels, and the hell with how they sound at lower levels. But that doesn't work for me. I need a speaker that resolves details, conveys proper tone and timbre, expresses microdynamics, and has a respectable balance, including a sense of weight, even at low volume. (Low volume does not mean low amplifier power.) This is an aspect of loudspeaker performance that is rarely addressed in reviews. It must be that most audiophiles don't care about it, or that reviewers feel it is not a criterion that loudspeakers are or should be designed for. Fair enough, but I still want what I want.

I used to have original Quad electrostatics, which were terrific at low volume. My ProAc Response 2.5s aren't bad (though they don't resolve detail too well even at high volume). The Thiel 1.6 is pretty good, the 2.4 less so.

What have you heard, particularly in dynamic speakers, that fits my requirements?
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seandtaylor99
1,262 posts
 
Eldartford ... we must have posted at exactly the same time (and on the same wavelength !)
stehno
1,453 posts
 
I'd venture a guess that you're looking at the wrong component.

I believe it is the appropriate amplifier (more so than the dynamic speakers) that will provide what you are seeking.

-IMO
blptwp
40 posts
 
Quad ESL
bigbry
20 posts
 
My best low level set up was
B&W matrix 804s
and
Anthem Amp2
and
Arc SP9MKIII
great at low level.
Too strident at high volumes.
B
karls
332 posts
 
At the risk of starting a giant discussion, the truth is that almost no speaker sounds good at low volume. This is not the fault of the speaker, but rather the ear's nonlinear response at differing volumes. Do a search for "Fletcher-Munson curves". The suggestions above are correct: a loudness contour button (shudder) is going to get you closer to a "realistic" sound at low volumes than anything else.

In order to hear the proper balance, you have to play the recording at "live" levels, end of story. Listening at any other level results in the perception of an incorrect frequency response. Any speaker that seems to have a "correct" balance at low levels has a deliberately non-flat frequency response and will sound absolutely awful when played at "live" levels. It isn't possible to design for both situations simultaneously because the requisite frequency response is very different.

To answer your question directly, though, I would suggest Vandy 2c's. Due to their inherent "warmth", they tend to sound good at less-than-live levels (although the downside to this is that they sound thick and oppressive at live levels).
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