Does the Devore Fidelity Orangutan 0/96 speaker play rich and full bodied at 50 Decibels

Full disclosure. To clarify, most of my listening sessions average 55db. 

Got to admit, one thing this site does is when I make a claim of any sort, I do so with a little fuzziness as I deem it accurate but without scientifically securing the facts beforehand. 

Only after self-doubt that I was misleading some do I then do the work. Not lazy by nature, but maybe a bit self-aggrandizing to get my day started. (Self-doubt is a late night issue :)

Not to get sidetracked, my peaks are generally in the sixties with an odd 80 db rendering if done over a number of songs. Of course, songs have differing sound levels and I don’t always manipulate the volume to make up for that.

Nevertheless, I listen with another person and that requires me to be diligent about caring that they don’t abandon me and my love for all things audiophile related. 

Just to be clear, I use an app on a phone to measure sound levels so not real sure my measurements would be the same if someone were to use a real microphone, etc. We may all be sharing data that skews the results.

Maybe I have issue if somebody were to call me a low-level listener. *Yikes! That is not really descriptive of my perception. I don’t want to be a low-level listener!

YOU! Go over there an hang out with the low-level listeners! NOOOOOO!!

My ears never ring, and sometimes I jam after the witching hour, but I no longer find I need to fill my room with bass or create the overwhelming presence of sound that I revered in my youth. That is most apparent to me when in my car as I used to listen at high volumes in my car. Now, not so much, but the accuracy and clarity of the music is much more heightened. 

What is important to me is that the music must be able to be rendered at low-levels the same way they do at higher volumes. What I don’t want is to spend the kind of money that an O/96 requires and then find out it only sounds good at low or high volumes, not both.

Well I've been trying not to weigh into this discussion but... While I've nothing against highly efficient speakers and have often thought it would be fun to play with that kind of setup along with set amps etc it's not what I've got at the moment. 

Currently running Eggleston Works Andra 2 - and I find I listen to them at all volumes, certainly often at louder volumes, just so enjoyable letting than sing but equally my typical morning routine is a coffee reading the news or something and music playing quietly. 

I have noted on more than one occasion to one of my very few hi-fi friends how lovely they sound at low volumes. Certainly no lacking at all in any regard and particularly no lacking in bass. 

So while I absolutely endorse looking at highly efficient speakers if that's of interest I would suggest that if the only reason is because of a belief that only highly efficient speakers will achieve what you want at low volumes then I suggest that's not necessarily the case. 

I just tested my typical low level volume listening and it's at an avg of 53db. If I'm honest I expected it to be higher, in my mind I was agreeing with previous posters that 50db is too low. Well I guess I just proved myself wrong!

So point of my text for what it's worth is consider broadening your search, I don't see why any good speaker can't achieve what you want. 

E.

I have been chasing the low volume thing for a while and have been through a list of speakers over the last few years. While the speakers you choose obviously make a big difference, I have found a huge factor in improving my low level listening is reducing the noise floor. I am strictly digital, and I keep finding ways to clean up the signal. With each improvement I hear more bass and better articulation of the entire spectrum.

As for speakers, I don’t feel that the sensitivity rating has much to do with how a speaker plays at low levels. As you have found with the JBL’s, the woofer just doesn’t wake up until you get to certain dB level. Keep in mind those sensitivity readings are typically taken at 1kHz, and do not reflect lower frequency response. 

The best low volume speakers I have found to date are my current FinkTeam KIM’s, not overly sensitive, but extremely well engineered, and an easy load impedance-wise. 

@goodlistening64 

I currently have the O/93 driven with a McIntosh MC312 solid state amp and Cary Audio SLP-05 preamp.  

The sound is exceptional at lower volume levels.  Bottom line is that the O/96 are fully capable too but it will depend on your source and amplification as well as the speakers.  

I've never owned speakers that sound rich and full at 50 dB.

To my ears, my system sounds best when played at 80-85 dB.

For songs I really wanna jam to, 85-90 dB is righteous.

Rock on!