Which speakers excel at low volume?

My Quad 63's do a very good job at low levels, much better than my cone speakers. In fact if I didn't want the dynamics that cones bring the Quads would go back into the system.

Earphones.

Drubin -

Let me explain two mechanisms that detract from most loudspeakers sounding good at low volume levels, and then see if I can offer a few useful ideas.

First, imagine you're pushing a car. Small pushes do not show up in a corresponding movement of the car. Now imagine you're pushing a tricycle. Much smaller pushes show up in a corresponding movement of the tricyle. So in general, very lightweight diaphragms give better articulation at low volume levels (and better low-level resolution at all volume levels). This analogy isn't perfect, of course.

Second, different loudspeaker drivers have differing compression characteristics, and in general woofers compress more than do midranges and tweeters. So let's say you have an 85 dB woofer with a 91 dB tweeter. Obviously, the tweeter will have to be padded down to match the woofer. What is not obvious is that, because of their differing compression characteristics, they will only be precisely matched at a certain volume level. So let's say the designer wants them to sound great at about 85 dB at the listening position. Because the tweeter compresses less, up around 95 dB the tweeter may be 2 dB louder than the woofer - so at high volume levels, the speaker sounds bright and forward. But at lower volume levels - say 65 dB - the tweeter will now be 4 dB lower in volume than the woofer, so the speaker will sound dull and lifeless. This is a rather extreme example, but I hope you get the idea.

The reason original Quads sound so great at low volume levels is they have a very lightweight diaphram so they are very articluate, and the bass and treble panels have very similar compression characteristics. I peddle Sound Lab electrostats, which use a single driver and an even lighter diaphragm, and they are probably unexcelled at low volume levels. In fact, I often listen down around 50-60 dB late at night and as long as the ambient noise level is quite low, I don't feel like I'm missing much. And with the volume down low, it seems like I can relax deeper into the music.

If you don't want to go the planar route, then I'd suggest a high-efficiency (lighweight diaphragm) single-driver loudspeaker. The little Omega Super 3 is a very articulate and nicely voiced little speaker for ballpark $540 - $740 depending on which version you go for. The bottom end isn't real deep so you might want to add the new matching (sub)woofer, whose price I don't know offhand (just called the designer but he's out of town right now).

Other lines you might consider are Cain & Cain, Fostex (sold by Madisound; drivers only), Supravox (drivers only) and PHY (divers only). I'm a dealer for Omega and PHY.

Best of luck to you in your quest!

Duke

My Quad ESL 988.

I have heard that the Green Mountain Audio Europas are very good at low volumes. I cannot speak from experience however. I recently purchased a pair, but I am still in the process of putting together the rest of the system. That characteristic was one of the reasons that I chose that particular speaker (among many).