What is a really good sounding low volume system??

Here's my 2 cents...also living in apartments...and love to listen loud. but now i listen to softer volumes than ever before and am perfectly happy.

1. The quieter your noise floor and better your resolution (maggies are great for this)...the more you hear at lower volumes without feeling the need to turn it up.

2. If you are a bass freak (i am)...2 things. if you get an Auralex subwoofer platform under any sub (speaker?), it damps for the guy below you. It also cleans up the bass if you have wood floorboards that 'sing' with the bass. So you get cleaner bass and less room-structural vibration. Also neighbor friendly.

the other thing about my system now as i've honed it...is as its noise floor has dropped and i've optimized the bass, is that i can get a great little gut-punch at low volume in the bass. Which at 1am is a great feeling, and i am talking about volume 1 on my cj preamp.

Once i've ended up with loads of detail and a very clean gut punch at low levels...i pretty much have stopped cranking, and the neighbors have stopped knocking! ;) good luck.

Nice! Thanks for the input lloydelee21! Sounds like I should think about some maggies.

Ralph, I couldn'g find the bella twins for sale from thier website. Is that an older model? I'm suprised I've never heard that brand come up before. I fo like the looks of that tweeter. Kind of reminds me of mbl's that I love so much. Are the tweets similar in design?

B_limo, Be aware of these brands you never heard of. Obviously they have poor distribution and there is a good chance that when you need assistance or parts they will no longer be in business. More brands of stereo equipment have come and gone than you can possibly imagine. Giving Magnepan a second thought is a good idea and a good recommendation. Owners of original Maggies from several decades ago can still get their speakers serviced. It's a name you can trust.

I disagree re Magnepans for this situation. While the comments about their bass propagation characteristics are true, they are NOT good low-level speakers; they like to played at medium-high levels to sound fully fleshed out and to not sound very dynamically polite. This characteristic is well documented and after living with them for many years I agree. I like the Quad suggestion although they are physically largish, or I would heed Atmasphere's advice.

I agree with Frogman: Maggies need lots of juice to sound their best and their best is at higher than normal listening levels, IMO. I had some original Tympani 3-panel models a long time ago and they didn't wake up at lower volumes. Yes, they could reproduce sound but it was anemic at lower levels.

I second the opinion for a widebander or full ranger with a tweeter to get the best coherence as they generally need less power to come onto full song which is what you're after. I haven't heard it but the Tekton M-Lore might float your boat. It's gotten great press and is relatively inexpensive. As you go up the model ladder, they are still a bargain.

All the best,
Nonoise