My Harbeth C7 sound a bit better than my Gershman Grand Avant Garde at low level volume.
However, at high volume level, Gershman sound much better.
At late night, I used to listen to C7. |
I'm taking the advice that high efficiency is the way to go for low volume listening and for my particular amp, Line Magnetic 845ia. Does anyone have an opinion on Omega speakers? I'm reading about the Super Alinco towers. Important factor - will it provide enough bass. Your thoughts? |
You probably wouldn't think it, but Vandersteen 3A Signatures are great for low volume listening. Not sure if low watts would manage, though. |
KEF Reference 1 speakers play wonderfully low, med and at high volume levels. Pair it with the right amplifier and you will be happy.
|
High efficiency is over 100db 1 watt 1-meter omega is not a high eff loudspeaker.
|
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... |
High efficiency is over 100db 1 watt 1-meter omega is not a high eff loudspeaker That's interesting and worth considering. What do other people think? You know, Omega speakers promote themselves as high efficiency and a good match with the LM 845ia. |
I think that tube amps are much better at low volumes inherently provided that the speaker doesnt present to difficult a load. The best low volume speakers I have heard are horns (compression drivers), but they arent very good in other areas which I find significantly more important. |
When I began reading this thread it struck me how free of typical volume considerations I am. Since my wife of fifty years plus recently passed away I live alone in a house pretty much in the middle of my eight acre plot. Despite this my listening levels seldom exceed 87 dB on crescendos. My fully horn loaded, triamplified, 103 dB sensitivity, DIY speakers are very good at maintaining good detail, imaging and frequency balance at quite low levels.
|
you have 4 options-
1 an amplifier with more robust power and dynamics, e.g. a rogue audio cronus mag iii, go to seperates with a rogue audio stereo 100 or a tube preamp with powerful solid state power.
2 more efficient speakers, a slippery slope that comes with compromises, e.g. omegas, klipsch heritage.
3 subwoofer(s)
4 amp and subwoofers
its about getting cone movement, bass excursion at lower volume. it takes a more robust amp or speakers that resond better to the amp you have.
i chose option 4 including a tube preamp solid state amp. i loved the sound of my HL5+ and could not think about what i would lose to gain efficiency. |
Nola Boxers and Contenders sound terrific at low volumes.,very engaging. |
Before I got the RAAL SR1a headphones low volume listening was a very big deal for me. So I tried a few things.
I learned that DAC direct to amp was not the best at low volume. I learned that very quiet electronics, such as Benchmark AHB2 amp + LA4 preamp are amazing at low volume. You are not going to get anything quieter than that, except for the new Topping pre90 preamp. With this very quiet gear my KEF LS50, Thiel CS3.7, and Audience 1+1 V3 all sounded very good at low volume. By very good I mean you can hear all the frequencies but at a lower volume. Not the case with nosier gear and DAC direct to amp (with what I tried).
If I had Harbeth I would use AHB2 on them.
Good thing is today a lot of gear is becoming very quiet such as my CODA 07x preamp and CODA #8 amp. It also sounds great at low volume. |
Since loudspeakers can range from about 80db- 1 watt to 112db -1 watt, I would still say that over 100db is high eff, 89-99 med, below 88 low eff. If it's not this then the term high eff would have no meaning at all. |
A guy with Harbeth's driven by tube gear asking for advice? Do they sound dull in the evening listening in the nearfield? Maybe too much of a good thing with tubes at low volume. Try a ss int at low volumes? |
Perhaps your amplifiers are not very well defined att lower volumes. You shouldn't need much power at low volume so an amplifier with a rich tone.... |
Thanks everyone. I've come to the conclusion that I need higher efficiency speakers or a tone control to interface with my amp. I'll let you what I do and find out. |
This may be a stupid question…what cables are you using in your system? What source components?
if you’ve paired your speakers with warm sounding source component and cables that would potentially contribute to and explain what you’re experiencing. Also if your room is over treated it could also be a contributing factor. Just curious. |
Don’t tear me apart for this.
BIC venturi dv-64 pair, or the venturi dv-62 bookshelf speakers are very very good!!
They are rather fugly looking, but not too bad. I gave the dv-84 pair to my cousin, they are bright for me, he absolutely loves them.
they use very descent woofers, and vifa tweeters, they are very good sounding for the price. Nice soundstage, bass is above average, midrange on the dv84’s was a bit odd, the smaller dv-64’s sound much better. The little dv62 bookshelf’s are great!
I will suggest the dv-62LCR as a pair of great speakers. I use them in my garage, they are great little speakers, full range , great sound.
Most will call them trash, I love the dv62lcr pair, amazing with a 80W old Yamaha receiver in garage, fills whole garage,
I did tape a single layer of t-shirt over the vifa tweeter, as I don’t like bright speakers. After a few months, I removed the cloth square, and they are. Sublime. I had them in my 2nd system for a short while,
You can find great prices on these if you look.
If you can find Energy rc-10’s pair, for a good price, get them, they are soooo smoooth!,
better is the energy rc-lcr. - they are the best sounding bookshelf’s I have ever used. Still looking for a new pair for a fair price.
Martin Logan makes some wicked bookshelf speakers, so does Axiom, their prices more than doubled, but they are a top notch speaker and I’ve wanted the m80’smformamlong time, when I had the cash saved, the price was more than I could spend when the prices raised. Enjoy the hunt. |
For great new Higher end speaker Marten Oscars very good across the board and very fair priced vs the competition
and noticeably better IMO. |
@audioman58 Which Tannoys do you own. I am smitten by my new Autograph Minis at any volume level. Very much want to demo Kensington GRs. (I’ve heard the GRF but have been told the Kensington’s are voiced closer the Minis than the GRF. |
I don’t own Tannoys , now they will be no longer made in the U.K
i would never even consider buying them now ,China specials
same price point, No thanks. |
