Low level listening


I am interested in everybody's thoughts on speakers on low level listening. Currently I have Tekton Lore's. They are the upgraded model and I like them, but they open to most of the time at a higher volume then I'm comfortable with. Smart me had to much fun listening to live music. " tinnitus".  I have ordered Magnapan LRS+ which I auditioned at my home which seemed more articulate at lower volumes. Any other ideas would be appreciated. Speakers or cures ? Just kidding about cures. 

128x128bobdavid

Macg19. Sorry I wasn't clear. What I meant is our ear's balance changes with level. The louder we listen the closer lows and highs are to the mid levels. But this doesn't imply we should listen at 100dB. But the nearest to correct balance(assuming good recording engineering) will occur when the level at one's ears is the level the recording was balanced at. But complicating that is how linear level changes are in a system(due to speaker dynamic linearity and the relationship of amp/speaker and to some degree the rest of the system. If it's right at one level and the system compresses above that it will be wrong at higher levels.

Anyway listening at the ear at low levels makes the bass and treble sound lower than they were recorded at relative to the mids.

 

Bob'd,

How did the LRS+ sound in your home at low volume?

 

jl1ny,

Which amp(s) do you find best for LLL?

@dynamiclinearity No worries and thank you.  I agree with you. 
 

Hearing loss and tinnitus is a serious and sometimes debilitating problem. I do think it is helpful for those of us with hearing loss and an interest in hifi to protect our hearing from further (preventable) damage and that with some understanding of our diminished frequencies, and maybe some trial and error , a great sounding, safe system is obtainable.

I have had success low listening with 2 setups. One my tannoy ardens with luxman class A (the loudness button boosts bass at low volumes really well) they shift a lot of air so effortless low.

 

Others were Falcon Ls3/5a driven by leben cs300xs... Small 18w el84 push pull..... Even more amazing with headphones.... 

For any speaker to sound good at low levels it has to be designed with a giant suckout in the midrange to exaggerate the highs and lows lost to the dreaded Fletcher Munson curve. There is no free lunch.