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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
johnk's avatar
johnk
1,975 posts
 
Since loudspeakers can range from about 80db- 1 watt to 112db -1 watt,   I would still say that over 100db is high eff, 89-99 med, below 88 low eff. If it's not this then the term high eff would have no meaning at all.
steve59's avatar
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steve59
1,781 posts
 
A guy with Harbeth's driven by tube gear asking for advice? Do they sound dull in the evening listening in the nearfield?  Maybe too much of a good thing with tubes at low volume. Try a ss int at low volumes?
sounds_real_audio
1,016 posts
 
Perhaps your amplifiers are not very well defined att lower volumes. You shouldn't need much power at low volume so an amplifier with a rich tone....
neptune123's avatar
neptune123 OP
24 posts
 
Thanks everyone. I've come to the conclusion that I need higher efficiency speakers or a tone control to interface with my amp. I'll let you what I do and find out.
audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,218 posts
 
This may be a stupid question…what cables are you using in your system? What source components?
if you’ve paired your speakers with warm sounding source component and cables that would potentially contribute to and explain what you’re experiencing. Also if your room is over treated it could also be a contributing factor. Just curious.
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