Low volume listening dynamics

You need a loudness switch or speakers tuned to be loud. What I mean is, a frequency response characteristic that promotes the treble and bass. You can get this via electronics, or you can find speakers that have this built-in.

Brands that come immediately to mind are Dali, Dynaudio, Golden Ear, and B&W to a lesser extent.

Give the mid-range Yamaha integrateds a try, their loudness dials are pretty interesting.

Best,

E

mikelavigne nailed it. As the Great Robert Harley once said, "If the first watt isn't any good why would you want 200 more of them?"

Great feedback, thank you guys. Perhaps this is the nudge I needed to whet my beak on the tube side of life with high sensitivity drivers. A private and personal musical experience, if you will.

Completely agree about the quality of the first watt and high sensitivity of the speakers for quality low-volume listening...but also consider high efficiency speakers with a flat impedance to really coax some magic out of a low volume.