Which speakers sound best at lower listening level

[Descartes]

It is amazing to me every time I have been to CEDIA or any other Audio show or go to a dealer and demo some speakers the sound is always too loud! Is it because these speakers don’t sound good or because they can’t hear anymore...
I understand they want to show more dynamic but seriously if you listen over 90 db for a long time your hearing will get damaged.

So with that please share your opinion and experience as to which speakers do you think sound good at lower listening level?

 

[Prana Ferox]

Speakers that measure with a theoretically ideal flat response are going to sound like dull mid-heavy crud at low volumes because of the Fletcher–Munson curves. That's why demos crank them up. Also, in general, the human ear and human brain equate 'sounds louder' with 'sounds better', giving us the loudness wars etc.

The key to sounding good at low volume is generally to have some sort of equal-loudness EQ upstream, ideally one that dials itself back as you turn up the volume. The crude version of this is just the common smiley-face EQ.

 

[Jackpine]

In the late eighties early nineties I used to love my Spica speakers powered by a modded Dynaco Stereo 70 for late night quite listening.

 

[ThePriest]

In my opininon, open baffle speakers sound really good at low levels.
Before my OB's, I had a set of Peak Consult 7-5, which sounded really good, once they got some power.
At low levels they were dull and uninspiring.
I think that the inductors in a passive crossover eats a lot of energy, especially at low levels, which lead me to active loudspeakers.
And, since OB is difficult to achieve with a 2-way, the best loudspeaker for low (and any other) level for me is a 3-way, active open baffle.
I have built mine as line sources, which I have come to like a lot.

 

[Jackpine]

It seems to me that modern speakers are higher compliance higher excursion which may make them less dynamic at lower power levels. My knowledge and understanding of driver parameters is very limited so correct me if my theory is wrong.

 

[jonfitch]

Speakers that measure with a theoretically ideal flat response are going to sound like dull mid-heavy crud at low volumes because of the Fletcher–Munson curves. That's why demos crank them up. Also, in general, the human ear and human brain equate 'sounds louder' with 'sounds better', giving us the loudness wars etc.

The key to sounding good at low volume is generally to have some sort of equal-loudness EQ upstream, ideally one that dials itself back as you turn up the volume. The crude version of this is just the common smiley-face EQ.

Yeah that's true, I do recall B&Ws sounding decent at low volume but once you turn it up the highs get really blistering.

 

[Somafunk]

If you want lower listening volumes then I guess active studio monitors may work best at low db, depends how close you sit regarding listening position. And at hifi shows etc they compensate for poor room/booth acoustics by simply turning up the volume as louder sounds better

 

[MrPeabody]

The only thing that is different about listening at low volume is that your hearing is less sensitive to bass, especially very deep bass. It therefore seems a no-brainer that the answer is speakers with exaggerated bass, especially deep bass. The drawback is that when these speakers are played at a more typical volume level the bass will be too powerful. This is why the best solution is for the speakers to be tonally neutral, i.e., flat, and to rely on a well-implemented loudness control to boost bass when the main gain control is set low.

I mentioned only bass, not treble, because even though our hearing isn't as sensitive at high treble as it is upper midrange and low treble, this difference in sensitivity is so slightly dependent on volume that for intents and purposes it is the same no matter the volume. Consequently, a loudness control is a bass control, but a sort of automatic bass control, and a bass control that is contoured specifically to match the way that our sensitivity to bass is different for different volume levels.

I should probably also mention that the effect accomplished through the use of the loudness control isn't altogether natural. If your speakers are flat and if no tonal compensation has been applied to the recording and if the recording mic is flat, etc., then in order for the tonal balance that you hear (with respect to bass) to match what it was for someone who was present at the venue or studio, the playback volume has to match the actual volume at the venue or studio when the recording was made. If the playback volume does not match the volume at the venue or studio, then the perceived tonal balance with respect to bass will not be the same as it was for someone at the venue or studio. The effect of the loudness control is that it allows you to have the same perceived tonal balance, with respect to bass, as for someone who was present in the venue or studio when the recording was made, but with the playback volume level much quieter or louder than it was in the venue or studio. This isn't really a natural thing. If the actual volume in the venue or studio had been as quiet as it is in your listening room when you turn the volume down, the people who were there when the recording was made would have experienced a bass-shy overall tonality, which you do not experience because you use a loudness control (or simply turn up the bass to get approximately the same effect).

Notwithstanding that the effect accomplished through the use of the loudness control isn't altogether natural, I still appreciate a well-implemented loudness control because it means that I don't have to fiddle with the bass control nearly as much, or even with the main volume control.