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What is a really good sounding low volume system??

I'm trying to gear up for when I get married this september and move in with my fiance into her place. Living quarters will be cramped and we will share a wall and floor (thier ceiling) with the home owners. Headphones don't sound like fun but perhaps I'll have to bite the bullet and buy some hd 800's or something. I suppose my other option is to build a "second" system that really excels and sounds good at low low volumes. Nearfield listening? I've thought about just adding a nice pair of bookshelf speakers to my current front end, something that lacks bass but excels in micro detail and imaging at low volumes. I guess I could set up a secondary nearfield listening station but don't know where to start. There is a prima luna pl2 integrated amp for sale locally and I'm wondering if this int. paired with a bookshelf speaker that has great detail and imaging might work for me.
What do you guys think??
b_limo

Showing 3 responses by atmasphere

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,099 posts
 
A set of High Emotion Audio Bella Twins are much more transparent than Maggies or ESLs, are very compact and can be placed about 12-18" from the rear wall.

They are available in 16 ohms which makes them an ideal load for a small tube amp (like our S-30, which is 45 watts/channel into 16 ohms). The speaker is honest to 36 Hz, so you get some idea of the bass. Efficiency is about 92 db 1 watt/1 meter.

That would be a small system with good dynamic range that would have resolution equal to the best high end systems made.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,099 posts
 
B_limo, yes, for some reason the speaker is not on their website. I don't know why. As far as I know, they still make it. BTW this is the company that made the Pipedream speakers years ago. They still make them from what I understand.

Rrog, any tube amp that makes about 15 watts or more will be OK on the High Emotion stuff. They seem to be very easy to drive. I use a different model at the recording studio for near-field listening. They are nice because I can trust what I hear from them (meaning I can do mixes without using the headphones and not get in trouble). At the studio, we play them with a Dynaco ST-70 and a 50-watt Hafler transistor amp.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,099 posts
 
Rrog, if you get their subwoofers, yes. We don't run their subs here, just the Bella Twins, as they have proven adequate on their own.

FWIW I'm not a big fan of subwoofers- getting them to blend is a real challenge. One of the best I have seen is made by Audiokinesis, called the Swarm. Its a set of small subs that you set up in various places to allow you to get uniform bass throughout the room.

That tweeter on the HEI speakers is very fast and detailed, but also relaxed. ESLs have a tough time keeping up, plus the speaker is fairly small. They are the best monitor-sized speaker I have seen so far and great if you don't have a lot of room.
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