I have 30.2's and drive it with a Luxman 590AXII that has a bi-passable loudness control. They sound wonderful at low volumes. Yes, I know, tone controls are looked down upon. However, as Ccakyol stated and mwinkc chimed in, a loudness control is what is needed at low volumes. It's one reason I went with the Luxman, aside from the Class A power, as I wanted something close to tubes without the heat and tube issues. I don't think changing speakers is the answer. I am sure you'd hate to part with the Line Magnetics, but I'd say it's not a good match for Harbeth speakers. I am lucky enough to have a Stereo store close by with both the Harbeth and Line, and I did not like the combo. YMMV.
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?
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Doesn’t exist! Have a read up on Fletcher Munson Curve. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contour Some will tell you XYZ speaker does it. In my experience those guys seem to enjoy music with zero bass or dynamics. I can’t. My only advice for those late night listening sessions is either get yourself as near to the speakers as possible for intimate listening. Or get yourself some decent headphones. |
Loudness controls are an interesting topic. They have been universally denigrated by audiophiles. But it is true human hearing has less acuity at frequency extremes - demonstrated by the fact most of us can hear nothing at all above 25kHz or below 12kHz. But that is how all of us hear everything from birth to death. So do we benefit from changing that pattern for listening to music? An obvious response is that the hard of hearing benefit from hearing aids. However this is not a reasonable comparison with those of us with normal hearing. A mid-point perhaps is those who are older and suffer from natural detrioration of HF range and intensity. There may be benefit in increasing the intensity of the HF signal. This was achieved by the treble control, which with its LF parner has been out of fashion many years now. |
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