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Full detailed sound at 30 - 40 - 50 dB

I love the nuance you can hear when listening to music at loud volumes, but unless no one is home, it’s not considerate or feasible to listen at such high volumes. Plus I just had a baby so everyone is always home and volume levels are limited to 40ish dBs. 

Any recommendations for getting the most detail at these volumes? Additional gear or recommended integrated amps?

My NAD 7175PE has a loudness button which boosts the treble and bass a little, and that certainly helps things in the Kitchen. 

My living room amp is a Rega Brio-R which doesn’t have any tone controls. 

Any thoughts? Thanks!
leemaze
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,849 posts
 
Other than subjective listening, how might a customer objectively derive from specifications alone at which harmonics the distortion is occurring?
That is a good question. You can get some of that from the spectral analysis. this can be tricky- I've seen some of this done on our amps, but the methodology is was incorrect (one speaker terminal got accidentally grounded by the test equipment) so the readings were off. If the measurement technique doesn't introduce problems, this can be one way of sorting things out. 
willemj
1,036 posts
 
But if the total is low, the  components must be even lower (or theoretically at most equal).
gdhal's avatar
gdhal
1,641 posts
 
But if the total is low, the components must be even lower (or theoretically at most equal).
Right, but atmasphere is stating that "a 7th harmonic at 0.005% is a much bigger sin in terms of coloration than a 2nd harmonic at 1%". So even a very low THD still begs the question, "at what harmonic"?
erik_squires
16,185 posts
 
+1 for good tone controls. :)
leemaze OP
330 posts
 
The Loki tone controls are really great.  Got the unit 5 days ago and used it to add just a touch warmth and boost the upper register.  It sounds really excellent - crystal clear, doesn't muddy anything at all.  I got matching AudioQuest ICs for the in and the out, and listening at night I no longer have burning desire to keep turning up the volume.

Worked like a charm - thanks for the idea @wolf_garcia @tketcham 
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