I own the Green Mountain C1.5i 3-way floor standing speakers. I agree with Jb3 that the GMA speakers (his prelim Europa recommendation & my C1.5i reco) sound good at low volumes. I listen often at night 11pm & later when the rest of the house is asleep & my volume levels are in the 70-75dB level. The C1.5i are quite excellent at this volume. Per the manuf. advice I had to break them in to get this performance. Just as an aside, Roy Johnson recommends that music be played at both sane & insane levels (absolute level to be determined by the user as each person's sane & insane level is different). This loosens the woofer cone & allows it to respond better at low volumes. The drivers are superbly integrated (w.r.t. Duke/Audiokinesis nicely explained write-up) so the speaker is very non-fatiguing to listen to. Listening session is often hours & hours & only dictated by when I cannot sit down any longer.
Which speakers excel at low volume?
I do much of my listening at lower volumes than I imagine most of you do: 60-70db for me much of the time. I understand why many speakers are designed to sound correct at live-music levels, and the hell with how they sound at lower levels. But that doesn't work for me. I need a speaker that resolves details, conveys proper tone and timbre, expresses microdynamics, and has a respectable balance, including a sense of weight, even at low volume. (Low volume does not mean low amplifier power.) This is an aspect of loudspeaker performance that is rarely addressed in reviews. It must be that most audiophiles don't care about it, or that reviewers feel it is not a criterion that loudspeakers are or should be designed for. Fair enough, but I still want what I want.
I used to have original Quad electrostatics, which were terrific at low volume. My ProAc Response 2.5s aren't bad (though they don't resolve detail too well even at high volume). The Thiel 1.6 is pretty good, the 2.4 less so.
What have you heard, particularly in dynamic speakers, that fits my requirements?
I used to have original Quad electrostatics, which were terrific at low volume. My ProAc Response 2.5s aren't bad (though they don't resolve detail too well even at high volume). The Thiel 1.6 is pretty good, the 2.4 less so.
What have you heard, particularly in dynamic speakers, that fits my requirements?