Audiogon member suggestions for a speaker that sounds good at low volume!!!


I am looking for speaker suggestions (new or used) in the $1000-$4000 range that sound good at low volume (45-50db).  I listen to mostly jazz and classical music late at night while everyone else is sleeping so the volume is low.  My current speakers are Vandy 2CE sigs and they sound good at higher volume levels but I listen most critically, at low volume and hope to do better.  My amp is a Classe CT-2300 with a Classe CP-800 preamp. I have a larger room 20ft X 20ft but seldom listen to music loud. Monitor of floor standing is fine.  

I understand the limitation of human hearing (Fletcher-Munson Curve) and also an appreciation of the synergy of speaker design, speaker placement and room effects.  Anyone out there have a speaker they like at low volume?

Thank you in advance.


128x1282tuby

Showing 4 responses by gosta

Diapason Micra and Ateris are beautiful sounding but also very revealing speakers for low volume. Totem Sky is another. I use them regularly driven by a Paradigm PW AMP and sometimes added with small sub. You may also like the active pro-speaker Neumann KH80 (a bargain). Just a thought - are you really sure about your listening level - 45-50 db is very low.
Anyone with experience of the Tannoy mini Autographs? Very tempted to try them as desk-top speakers for mostly low-level listening.
@tweek
Indeed very interesting. Maybe not for the desk though. High time to try an open baffle full-range (almost) speaker.

Much prefer near-field lower level listening to headphones. For the imaging and soundstage. A very nice experience. Besides headphones hurt and you crank the volume too high. Maybe listen 5 hours a day to my desk top system and half an hour to my (very loud) main systems so makes it wiser to spend most money on the desk system (which I havn't...).