Audiogon member suggestions for a speaker that sounds good at low volume!!!

Paradigm is going to do a Trade-Up Promotion on their Persona Speakers starting February 1st.  If you’re considering trading or selling your current speakers, you should take a listen to their 3F’s.

You need way more transparent loudspeakers especially for low volume listening. Vandy 2Ci are not good for this. The Vandy 2ci is a lovely for the money loudspeaker they have a distincly warm tonal balance and use a good but not state of the art tweeter therefore detail will be lacking.

At low volume levels you are going to have to overcome background ambient noise if any and at a lower volume you have to listen harder to make out details that would be easier to hear with greater volume.

So you need speaekers with tremendous detail, for your price range you can get a pair of Quad Z4 which use a fantastic ribbon tweeter tthat has unbelievable detail and speed, the speaker also has a huge soundstage, and has a warm midrange and good deep bass reponse which is tight.

You can then add a good subwoofer later on to augment the missing deep bass at lower volume levels due to the ear's inefficeny at hearing bass at lower levels. 

You should try to find a pair to listen to they are amazing loudspeakers for the money.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Quad dealers

Another vote for 'phones. Listening at 45-50 dB allows almost no room for decent dynamics. Forget speakers, unless you listen at realistic levels (65-85 dB peaks). 

I wonder if this person ever came to a conclusion...?
Something I would like to add, speakers sounding good at low volume is going to be completely dependent on the gear running them.  The speakers are the instrument, the gear is who’s playing and controlling what the instrument does or doesn’t do.  

I personally think it has to be a Horn speaker of some kind.