The Low Volume Loudness Dilemma


I love the power and detail of music played at what I call "Actual instrument volume" which is pretty loud and dominating. 

I like music in the background when I'm reading or entertaining. The problem is that the fullness and richness is thin to gone at low volume. This seems to be the case no matter how much a system costs. I listened to a Burmester rig driving a set of Wilson Alexx V speakers in a perfectly tuned listening room with cabling that costs more than my Lexus and the "missing music" at low volume problem was there too. $350,000 in gear couldn't fix it. 

I did the unthinkable - I bought a DBX 2231 equalizer off of eBay for a couple hundred bucks and messed around with the sound curve. Viola! "Loudness"!  I know this is sacrilege and may cause excommunication by the purist class but I am able to get full rich sound at low levels. The Eq also compensates for the anomalies in my listening area (large great room with other rooms connected to it.)

I don't have the square footage or budget to build a proper dedicated listening room with all the sound management treatments so I'm "making due" with what I do have. 

Does anybody have some guidance or constructive thoughts on how to get full rich music at low SPLs? 

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Read the post, it was a post about his positive listening experience of these AR amplifiers. wink

I did read the post!

 

"Are they worth the ask? I have a pair on order. Definitely outside my budget but I suspect that long after the price is forgotten the quality and sonic purity will continue to reward me. "

Bravo! ARC! You have outdone yourselves with this one.

Compression and parametric eq/DSP is your friend. Forget about “purists”. Do whatever it takes to address whatever problem is at hand.  That’s what technology is for.   One must merely learn how to apply it properly case by case. 

If your system doesn't sound good at low volume, you have work to do.  High volume is a patch to make mediocre system sound better.  Maybe an equalizer can be an option if you like the sound. Wouldn't be for me.