Turn down the Volume!

as with everything in hifi (and life in general), the key is finding the right balance, the correct degree of moderation, avoid excess

for me, low level sound quality is important, but we of course understand how we hear, and the fletcher munson effect, so we need to realize low level listening has its own challenges - still we live in domestic environments, and so low level listening for many is a must, so their systems better to tuned to sound good at levels they listen at

otoh, reproduced music can and should take on a scale and impact somewhat approximating a live performance... so to experience that, one needs to have the volume to a level where a piano sounds like a real piano, a real bass has the body and weight of a real bass, and so on... this requires a decent level of spl’s

for me, i do try to listen in the range of 80-85 db peaks, and do alot to try to preserve, and protect my hearing, which is obviously essential to our continuing to enjoy the hobby

I agree with the OP. When I upgraded my amp a few months ago, my system become much more engaging at moderate volume.

@larryi +1

As my system has gotten better, less and less volume is required. I am sure there is more than a couple reasons. But the first most obvious is the noise floor. Less expensive and old systems like in my youth had very high noise floors. Often it takes experience to “hear” this…. It is the jacked up quality to the sound and pressure on your ear drums. So, turning up the volume you are looking to increase the dynamics… the contrast. This also increases the noise floor.
 

Good systems tend to have a place where they sound best, balancing noise and dynamics. Great systems sound great at all volumes. This I one of the marks of a great system. They are engaging at a whisper and 90db. 

I remember being impressed going to a high end audio store in 1980 and achieving 110 db. The salesmen and I were really psyched at what we had done… but my ears were practically ringing. It was the incredible volume of the stuff in between the notes.

There are other reasons, faster bass transients…. And greater articulation.

Decade after decade as my systems improved the volume required the music sound great and dynamic has come down. While I used to play in the 90db range in the 1980s… now in the low 60’s to 70’s db. The music is completely satisfying.

My previous system I called my “reference system “ as it was really good at reproducing the venue, scale, and volume of music. It was very detailed and dynamic… encouraging me to match the venue. I have season tickets to the symphony.

So, I went through a period where I tried to find the “correct volume”. This is particularly important in classical since the entire dynamic is used… from the very quietest sound… a single flute played at low volume… slowly emerging from the dead silent background, to a crescendo over 100db with the whole 80 per orchestra playing at once. So, if the volume is too low… you miss the quiet passages… if too loud.. the crescendos are ear splitting.

Anyway, I spent a bought six months getting myself calibrated to adjust the volume correctly for that system.

It also depends on the source material. I turn the particular music up until the dynamics and balance between instruments feels correct and engaging. Too low becomes like muzak.