Recommendations for speakers that sound great at lower volume levels.

harbeths are actually considered to be very good at low levels and nearfield

if you like the harbeth sonic palette maybe try a smaller model... c7, mon 30, p3?

of course the famous bbc ls3/5a was the original brilliant nearfield mini monitor, with bumped up midbass to fool the ear at lower volumes into thinking it is more full range than it is... of course the treble and midband are beyond reproach

excellent related or descendant speakers of small form factor for lower level or nearfield listening from atc, proac, spendor, kef, sonus faber, and so on - there are many many out there, with different sonic presentations

A great low volume speaker is a pair of stand mount Fritz Carerra BE Speakers. I recently picked up a pair and they are fantastic.

i agree 100%, low medium high volumes... fritz’s are superb standmounts

Every single loudspeaker you will ever own will do the same thing. Actually, it is not the loudspeaker. It is your ears. Better yet , it is everyone’s ears. Google Fletchur-Munson curves.

not so simple, nor absolute

while fletcher munson always applies in a technical sense, in the real world, some speakers are at their best when playing at somewhat louder volumes, based on their design... for example, buchardt s400’s have a rear mounted passive radiator that really works well at medium to higher volumes, the bass then becomes full, powerful, room filling, all around terrific... at lower volumes, not so much...

...in contrast, a terrific smaller monitor like a ls3/5a has very limited absolute volume capability, and is best listened nearfield, semi nearfield, and at lower to medium volumes

quad esl57’s, wonderful as they are, have their issues too, which are manifold

there is no perfect speaker, perfect component

i concur with opinions about well integrated subs (a pair) making transformative improvements to systems using high quality bookshelf/standmount speakers that do not produce low bass

there is effort involved, and some learning curve, but the results, when successful, are most certainly worth the effort

i cannot speak for other makes, but rel provides excellent and detailed instructions on how to integrate their subs, and if those instructions are diligently followed, the user will reap great rewards

lots of folks go on endlessly and breathlessly on this forum about how fuses, cables, damped footers, springs, make a difference in the sound of the system... but the improvement from subs - done right - truly has a magnitude greater impact

@smatsui

please describe the differences you hear between harbeth shl5+ and stirling ls3/6 -- and pls let us know what amp, source and music type

and which version/iteration of the super hl5 plus pls

thanks

High efficiency is over 100db 1 watt 1-meter omega is not a high eff loudspeaker.

no hard and fast rules or accepted definitions of what high efficiency is among speakers...  omegas are certainly presented as high efficiency speakers

if you are coming from a 100 db.w.m horn they are not... if you are coming from a 84 db.w.m harbeth p3 they certainly are...