Low Level, Nearfield Nirvana?

I use two sets of speakers that while both planar, couldn't be more different in their presentation. My heavily modified Maggie MGIIIA's sound wonderfull cranked, with a huge and dimensional soundstage. But for near-field magic and intimacy at lower volumes, I have heard nothing that equals my Stax F-81 electrostatics. Also fabulous soundstage, but much smaller, and arguably more realistic than the Maggies'; with a midrange purity that is approached only by the original Quads in my experience, and fast, fast, fast.

Incidentally, a good friend is also a Timpany IV owner, who has tried a bewildering number of different amplifiers with them. To my ears, the only amps that he has tried that allow the Maggies to not sound hazy and a little veiled at low volumes, have been Jadis monoblocks. Great speakers, nonetheless; and if you want increased transparency at low volumes, I strongly encourage you (if you haven't done so already) to upgrade the crossover caps, and ideally the entire crossover networks. The inprovement in transparency is not subtle.

Regards.

You might want to try an audiophile speaker instead of the Genelecs, which are considered "professional" monitors. There is a difference between the two. Pro monitors attempt to be very detailed and faithful to the source, where most audiophile speakers attempt to do that same thing in a pleasing way. The monitors are designed for nearfield listening, but they will usually be more clinical sounding. You may also want to try some other brands of pro-monitors. They're a lot like audiophile speakers in the way that they all have different strengths and personalities. The "Genelec Sound" may not be for you. I've seen pro audio sites where people disliked Genelecs, and preferred Audix or Tannoy monitors instead. There are plenty of options.

You might want to try a digital graphic eq. The classic approach for near field is to introduce a 'room curve' which is a 3dB/octave attenuation above 2kHz (some people use 2dB/octave). If they still sound harsh, a reduction at 2kHz (the 'presence' range) might also be necessary. Personally, I wouldn't use Genelecs for near-field monitoring without such an eq.

Try Soliloquy speakers, small musical 2 way that do not need much power and create magic and definition with small input levels...2A3's and 5.0's have been well reviewed.

My suggestion is warm-voiced full-range electrostats. In my experience good electrostats have superb clarity at low volumes, so you can hear everything that's going on. I often listen at 50-60 dB, and I can hear everything that's going on. You want a warm voiced speaker (like the Sound Labs or Original Quads) because the ear has a harder time hearing low frequencies at low volumes. The dipole bass of a full-range electrostat will minimize the amount of bass propagated through walls to bother people; you'll be putting 5 dB less bass out into the environment than with conventional speakers. With tall line-source approximating electrostats like the Sound Labs I sell, the volume falls off more slowly with distance, which would be a slight drawback late at night. The generally point-source approximating Original Quads wouldn't have this problem. The 63's are also a possibility, but the Originals sound sweeter.

So my suggestion for the ultimate late night nirvana speaker would be a pair of Original Quads. To warm them up a bit, shorten the legs so they sit closer to the floor or give them a solid stand to eliminate cancellation between the bottom of the speaker and the floor. And if you want the ultimate in clarity, have Ben Openshaw, aka The Electrostatic Doctor, replace the stock diaphragms with lighter, thinner diaphragms and perhaps even give you dual power supplies, one for the bass panels and one for the treble panel. The only potential disadvantage of the Original Quads in this application is their narrow sweet spot, but for the kind of listening it sounds like you're contemplating that might not be an issue.

Best of luck in your quest!