High end speakers at low volume

I gave up finding what I was after from pre-made a few years ago, and after a few hiccoughs made my own.

I used a 97db wide range driver with a 91db efficient planar tweeter in a folded open baffle, sized to work with the driver QTS to make a passive highpass filter,  and sum with an H Frame cardioid bass panel and it's own plate amp.

It's not the last word in resolution, but for my all in one system it's great. With movies, even when the absurdly loud parts are played low enough not to bother my neighbours, even whispers are easily followed, without riding the gain control.

Not as revealing as some old Tannoy D700s or an Altec 1505B/ 511B horn set up I made about 10 years ago, but it's smoother and images better in all directions.

In my opinion, the best way to get a system that sounds good at low volume is with an SET and a pair of sensitive speakers.  As I have improved the quality of my system, every detail, especially the digital, the less I need to turn it up, i.e., the better it sounds at low volume.

Point number 2:  The bigger and more powerful the amp you buy, the less likely it is to sound good at low volume.  

I won't name names but I had a very powerful amp with a better-than-average reputation which I bought to drive some Martin Logans.  Switching to a much more sensitive speaker pair, I was not impressed with the speakers...I was about to sell them until I heard them with an SET.  the powerful amp was gone in a week.  Currently using a 2 wpc amp while a custom 4 wpc amp is being built.

The ability to sound good at low volume is important to me.  I tend to listen many hours a day while doing other things on the computer (like make this post) so I can't use high volumes that would fatigue my ears.

Jerry

I  am familiar with amazing low level resolution with both the YG Carmels and my YG Haileys.  I am sure the Audionet electronics and Tambaqui DAC are part of the sound.

Experience with lots of pro and hi fi systems over the years says low level sound quality is mostly related to higher gain audio quality- as simple as that. Despite the obvious Fletcher Munson ear sensitivity issues, that would point some towards a loudness control, most of these loudness controls are not calibrated to the efficiency/SPL of the loudspeaker at a given volume- so are just a random more bass and treble control (which when used always sounds better to most listeners). But it is not more accurate. Fletcher Munson curves are directly driven by SPL so must be calibrated to the system and its output to be accurate.

In pro mastering, where a lot of mastering is done at low level and high level both, there is no such thing as a different EQ curve for loud vs soft. I’ve never met anyone in 30 years who thought they needed it or asked me if I knew of anything that did that. If the speakers don’t sound good at low level, they probably didn’t sound good at high level either. Experienced listeners accept there will be less low and high end at low level, but they expect the midrange (the translating part of the sound) to be consistent between low and high level. Engineers and customers both expect the mix or master to sound good at ANY level.

NOW if I am only listening at low level, that could be a different scenario. I might choose a completely system all together. But it wouldn’t be for improved accuracy- it would be for better enjoyment!

I think this whole issue is not worth any jump to DSP as a method to cope with level. The move to DSP can completely change the perception of the entire rig as it affects everything, not just low level loudness compensation.

Brad

Magnepans