From my own experience, I've found that most speakers don't "take off" until they are played at medium volume or higher. I suspect this due to the amount of energy needed to overcome the inertia of the driver, and to properly damp the speaker. This is particularly true with dynamic cone speakers.
However, I noted the same phenomenon with my old Acoustat 2's, which I owned in the late 1980's. With them, however, there was an additional problem: low efficiency, due to the speaker's transformer. Many electrostatic speakers tend to have similar problems, and all of the ESL's that I've listened to over the years don't really start to "sing" until they get some juice.
However, I noted the same phenomenon with my old Acoustat 2's, which I owned in the late 1980's. With them, however, there was an additional problem: low efficiency, due to the speaker's transformer. Many electrostatic speakers tend to have similar problems, and all of the ESL's that I've listened to over the years don't really start to "sing" until they get some juice.