Quad 12L at low volume

Mat,
I am responding for passive version and have not heard the active ones. The Quads do require a bit of volume to sound their best. I do listen late at night and the volume settings are reasonable. On my NAD amp, the zero volume starts at 6 O'clock position. For late nights I get superb resolution between 8 and 9 O'clock positions. Hope this helps.

These struck me as OK but not great low volume speakers when I heard them.

Triangle Titus 202 can be had used for under $500 and are exceptional, the best small monitors I've heard at low volumes. They can also crank up loud and clear amazingly well for such little guys with good amplification behind them.

The actives sound great at low volume. I listen to Pandora.com through my computer and Hagerman USB DAC straight into the actives. When I'm sitting at the computer I have the volume down quite a bit.

Compared to my 22l/909 amp combination, the 12L actives are more detailed and analytical sounding, which makes them good at low volumes IMO. Of course if you crank 'em up they sound good as well!

I would concur with everyone here. The passives need some juice, but the actives are just awesome even at low volume. The active versions show up all the time here. Snag a pair and you won't be sorry.

I've heard the Titus and think that Mapman is right on the money; you simply can't go wrong, but if I had that little extra cash I'd get the actine Quads. You can't make a bad decision between the two.