Recommendations for speakers that sound great at lower volume levels.


I have a pair of Harbeth SHL5 Plus and they sound wonderful when I crank them up. But at moderate to low volume levels they sound disappointingly flat and unengaging - instruments are less palpable, bass has less bloom, and soundstage has less air and dimensionality. I drive my speakers with a tube integrated - a Line Magnetic 845 rated at 26 watts of power. My Harbeths are rated at 86db. Would a higher sensitivity speaker be helpful? Or how about a good quality small shoebox sized pair of speakers coupled with a subwoofer? Or not. What speakers are going to deliver music you can feel at low volume levels? What say all you wisened audiophiles?
128x128neptune123
you need a big subwoofer (it will add bulk, but not volume) + a good preamp ...
The best late night low volume listening I have had was with Magnepan MG-20..............but it was also a heck of a system...CJ ART, etc.  I have had Martin Logan, Advent, Vandersteen and others.  The myth about efficiency and low level listening is just that. 

Quite true @terry9. That's a result of the Fletcher-Munson characteristics of human hearing, not the Quad ESL itself. Of course, a speaker with more bass output at higher levels will have that at lower levels too, relative the Quad.