Good speakers at low volume?

I auditioned the Dali Mk II model 400 a while back and compared it to similiarly priced dynaudio, martin logans, mags, focal, b&w, and every other speaker I could find in a 50 mile radius - the Dali made it to my short list. I just don't like the ribbon technology. Another very nice sounding set of speakers were the classic line of Spendor.

One thing you may want to consider is the cabinet construction. What may be of interest - when I auditioned B&W 804s and 803s - the only real difference I noticed was in the sound at low volumes - while I have not bothered to conduct extensive research, my 'gut' feeling was that the cabinet construction made all the difference - particurly since in nearly all other respects the speakers are very similar but there was nearly a 30 pound difference in the weight of the speakers.

I am unfamiliar with the amp you are using. However, the amp does make a difference although less so than the speakers and acoustics. Recently there have been two posts where the persons complained of poor low volume sound and both were using Rotel products. That was my impression also when auditioning speakers driven by Rotel vs other amps. The Rotel had plenty of power, just did not sound good at low volumes. Just something for consideration.

Depending on what music you listen to, the absolute best sounding vocals that I heard in months of auditioning were from a classic spendor driven by a low powered tube amp. If I listened to a lot of vocals I would definitely have that system.

Branislav: Yes, I found the 803 to sound better than the 804 at low volumes. I performed the same test at one store twice and once at another store. In each case there was only the time to turn off the amp and swap the speaker cables turn the amp back on and play the same piece. And in each case I went back and forth several times. While this sounds like a good test, keep in mind that I was aware of which speaker I was listening to at all times. Hence, you have only my subjective experience. I noticed a difference, but that difference could have been actual or subconciously influenced by my knowledge of which speaker I was listening to and which speaker was more expensive. Obviously, I, the test subject, would be incapable of discerning whether the percieved difference was real or imagined. That being said, I believe that cabinet construction and its effect on sound is something worth investigating as to your application. You may want to look for a true scientific basis for a difference in sound at low volumes due to a more robust cabinet construction.