Recommendations for floor standers that sound good at low levels too

The amazing thing about speakers are; they don’t know what you’re playing - classical, rock, bullets ricocheting, car’s screeching tires - it all depends on the recording quality. Speakers that are "for" a particular type of music actually don’t exist. Speakers are merely an instrument to play what you put through them and if they don’t do a voice correctly (which everyone is an expert when it comes to the human voice and is the one instrument everyone is familiar with) then the speaker is likely not going to be accurate for anything else. They just don’t know what the recording is you’re playing. So they either give you what’s coming through, or it "colors" what’s coming through. If all recordings sound the same, then there’s definitely a problem with the system.

I think that is ultimately why people feel that certain types of music work well through certain types of speakers. They don’t like most of their recordings and try and find something that alters it to where they like it better or can tolerate it, but ultimately, that pigeonholes the speaker into only where it plays "this type of music" really well. However, in the big scheme of things, the better your system gets (speakers, electronics, cables, etc.), the more revealing and bigger the differences in recording quality will become apparent. Some of your old favorites you may not like or will say, wow, I never heard that before, but I don’t care for the way that recording was mixed, mastered, engineered, EQ’d, or produced.

With that said, we currently have our Paradigm Premier Speakers on sale (25% off) through the end of June 2020.

Here is the direct link to the 800F which retails at $2k/pr:

https://www.paradigm.com/en/floorstanding/premier-800f

These are made in our Factory in Mississauga Canada. If you have any further questions please feel free to reach out and I appreciate any consideration you may give us.

To locate your closest Dealer, please visit:

https://www.paradigm.com/en/dealer-locator

Cheers,
Chris

One note I want to point out that on uncompressed recordings you won't still be able to hear quiet parts unless you're in bunker with no ambient noise.
Closed back headphones will seem to be more definite solution.

I'll second the Reference 3A's  I have the de Capos and listen at low levels with a 4wpc amp. clean and detailed

Look for paper cone, high sensitivity 96dB+, high load impedance 10ohms+.  Adds up to great sound at low volumes.

Totem Forrest speakers are good at low volumes. Many inefficient speakers are good at low volumes. 

Reference 3A  has some very good sounding options. I saw a pair of A Gallo Classico 4s on US Audio Mart for ~ $1200. Found them, Nice narrow front face

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649622229-gallo-classico-cl-4-speakers-in-cherry/

@mlsstl: +1 for the Ohm Walsh's! I forgot about them when I posted about the Vandersteen's. I too have a pair of the older Sound Cylinders with the 8 inch Walsh drivers. They do sound amazing! A wall-to-wall 3-D sound field unlike anything else! The performers are in the room! Uncanny! 

Quality sound at lower volume requires good, effortless bass response.  The ability to produce impact and overcome the ear's bass sensitivity deficit.  
This often has more to do with the quality, power and robustness of the amplifier with respect to speaker sensitivity.  
All else being equal the amplifier is more of a factor for quality low volume bass response than the speaker.  
One example were a set of PSB tower speakers I owned.  
Driven by an 80 WPC NAD amplifier the sound quality and bass at lower volume was OK but not impressive.
I upgraded to a 150 WPC NAD amplifier and the low volume bass impact was precise and effortless and the sound was fantastic- so much better than with the prior amplifier.

I have a pair of Ohm 1000s that I really like, that are right at the $2K mark for a new pair. Small footprint for a floor stander. I find them excellent at lower volumes as well as when I play them louder (though I should note that roughly 85 dB or so is my max volume these days.) 

They also have a smaller version -- the Micro Tall for $1,400 a pair -- which has quite a following. See the long thread on them on Audiogon. The only catch is there are no dealers. They are a direct sale company, but do offer a 120 day home trial, so your only out of pocket is the shipping cost if you don't keep them.