More power for better sound at low volumes?

I'm no longer sure what folks here believe the issue is evidenced by. FWIW I measure the low level resolution by the height/width/depth of the soundstage.

Tmsorosk, FWIW I agree with you in part. My experience with electostatic speakers (Quad 63s and Accoustats) which I used over 8 years, support the observation in you first sentence.

Where we part ways is in the second sentence. For example my Silverline Boleros (92db) sensitivity have excellent low level clarity and create a fully dimensional soundstage at SPLs in the low-mid 70's when driven by low power tube amps or high power tube amps. I believe this is not unique. To further contest your statement I owned Paragon dynamic speakers with a 86db sensitivity, 5ohm min/8ohm average impedance, that when driven by 160 tube watts still did not open up until you reached the 80 to 85db spl level. A big difference, for me at least. Think crossover issues perhaps.

I have noticed better low volume sound as the efficiency of the speakers goes up.

... and i think i have also noticed that low efficiency speakers tend to sound better at higher volumes than high efficiency speakers. I could well be wrong of course. Others here have wider experience than me.

Magnepan and triangle are the low volume champs i have owned. The lightweight yet rigid paper cone used in tbe triangle bass/mid driver is a big reason. The Triangles are fairly efficient, maggies not, so that does not support any efficiency theories.

Ive heard quad and ml sound very good to my ears also at low volume in dealer systems though i am not a ml fan overall.

My less efficient ohms are also quite good at low volume though they excel at higher volumes. My dynaudios are average at low volume and very good at higher volumes despite their small size.

Here's my best guess at how to get a satisfying listening experience at low volumes, in roughly descending order of importance...

1. Protect your hearing.
2. Make the room dead quiet.
3. Make the system dead quiet.
4. Sit closer to the speakers.
5. Listen to small scale music.
6. Use EQ to compensate for psychoacoustic effects.
7. Select speakers with high efficiency.
8. Select an amp with low gain.
9. Select a preamp with low output impedance.
10. Select speakers with 1st or 2nd order crossovers.

Of course, all this is highly debatable.

Bryon