Low level listening


I am interested in everybody's thoughts on speakers on low level listening. Currently I have Tekton Lore's. They are the upgraded model and I like them, but they open to most of the time at a higher volume then I'm comfortable with. Smart me had to much fun listening to live music. " tinnitus".  I have ordered Magnapan LRS+ which I auditioned at my home which seemed more articulate at lower volumes. Any other ideas would be appreciated. Speakers or cures ? Just kidding about cures. 

128x128bobdavid

I have found that the idea of speakers sounding their best at low volume level depends on the amplifier as much as it does on the speaker.  This is regardless of Fletcher Munson or relative volume of frequency adjustments.  

For example class D amplifiers tend to require higher volumes to come alive in the bass regardless of speakers.  

Class A amplifiers tend to do the best job at lower volume levels as do robust Class A-B designs that are stable to very low impedances.  

That said there are speakers that do a better job too- mainly higher efficiency designs 89db and higher including your Tektons.  

Your Tekton speakers should be capable of quality low volume listening and if they do not, look to your amplifier as the reason.  

I was going thru the same thing with my KEF Blades, They were uninvolving until I started pushing to 90db and above, but for me the magic happens at softer volumes. I swapped my Hegel H590(the Beast) for a pair of Mc611's and was amazed at how much the blades opened up at low volumes with less than a watt running thru them? go figured.

For example class D amplifiers tend to require higher volumes to come alive in the bass regardless of speakers.  

Not really found this to be true.  What specific class D amps was this?

Large horns can be ideal low-level loudspeakers why I use them in my office system.

@johnk 

I'm finding this to be true as well. I recently switched out some bookshelf speakers for big horn tweeters in my system. We're talking 800Hz and up. The narrower dispersion on the horns had a surprising effect of making the room sound more lively and airy than the wider dispersion speakers, and this worked very well towards low level listening. I was amazed at how enjoyable and dynamic the sound continued to be at very low levels. I think it's something to do with direct to reflected ratio being high while maintaining a relatively long reverb tail in the room.