Low level listening

A good speaker should play well at very low and very high levels - so I would agree wth Duke. Although this kind of speaker is very expensive and is typically used in studio control rooms where it is crtical that the tonal balance remains unaffected by variations in listening levels.

If you only listen at low levels then you can probably find a much lower cost speaker that only plays well at low volumes...in fact you may deliberately choose a small speaker with less dynamic range over a large speaker as some audio compression may actually improve the audibility at low levels ( where you may run into ambient noise floor problems from AC's etc.)

I would not worry too much about sensitivity given your low volume level requirements ...just audition and select a speaker you like. There is no rule of thumb that says high sensitivity is better than low sensitivity. In fact, I would stay away from extremes in sensitivity as speaker design is all about balanced compromises and an extreme in one area often implies a bigger compromise somewhere else.

"speaker should play good at low and high volume". Why is it necessary to play at high volume?
I'd bet less than 25% of audiogon members listen at high volume.
I've never understood the idea behind loud listening levels. Does music become better at high volumes? The only thing loud stereo does, is bother our family, our neighbors and our pets.
The objective behind all our system investments is to find a image that produces the lowest distortion at reasonable volume level.
I've heard many a system that was cranked up at a half volume and sounded like c**p. These systems were valued at $$$ more than mine and more than twice the size.
I would never invest in a speaker that weighs in at more than 100 pounds each. I think my Thors are like 70 pounds each.

Wow, I'm surprised that you fellows who are generally very knowledgeable about audio topics seem to know nothing about this topic.

No one (myself excluded) has mentioned the effects of compression or expansion and no one has even brought up the old Fletcher-Munson Loudness Curves: http://www.webervst.com/fm.htm

Basically, systems that are more compressed and have prominent highs and bass will tend to sound better at low listening levels. Unfortunately, as the volume raises to higher, more normal levels, flatter, non-compressed sound becomes more desireable and correct.

These factors are equally or even more important than ultimate resolution when listening at low levels.

In other words, two ways to preserve proper tonal balance and perceived resolution at low volumes are to use a loudness contour control and/or a compressor to compress the dynamic range...

These methods will work regardless of the system's resolution or transparency. Putting a compressor in the tape loop and dialing it in for low-level listening could work very well in many cases.

I used to employ a dbx compressor in conjunction with a set of Stax electrostatic headphones many years ago and that setup worked very well.

Good topic; lots of experience and wisdom expressed above.

In my opinion low level listening and detail retrieval can only be appreciated in the nearfield position.I run and Eico HF81 with a pair of RS LX5's with linaeum tweeter in the nearfield and am always amazed what they can do in low level listening. In my main I run Quad ESL 63's with a DK 100MKII and this cannot touch the Eico setup on low level. Full level listening is another matter.