volume vs presence


My amp is a bel canto s300 with a Dac3 on pmc tb2+ monitor speakers. I love this combination and find that it can be so deadly silky smooth that I am constantly turning up the volume probably to ear damaging levels as my ears are usually ringing after a session. But it doesn't sound loud at the time. This can't be good for my hearing.

I find I am turning up the volume of my system not to make it louder but to gain more presence and percussive attack. How do I listen at lower volumes without losing that presence? Do i need a bigger amp that provides more drive at lower levels. Do I need a good preamp? Do I need bigger speakers?

I am not sure but know people before me may have gone through all of this and would appreciate your advice. Thanks heaps,
jaffa_777
wow, just got up and so many post already.

My room is about 5x6 meters.

I do have a sub, an mj acoustics ref 100 mk11. It sounds nice.

I will switch to floorstanders eventually I guess. I think most people here are right, I might be trying to get a big sound out of small speakers. My dream floostanders to get at the moment are the new PMC Pb1i. Pricey though.

I was thinking bigger speakers would need to driven louder to fill a room, or could be too big for a room. But maybe the opisite is true?
Shadorne, thanks for the link. I am required to have my hearing tested yearly where I'm employed, but the results given are not very informative. The results of this test really shows where the losses are. My loss started right at 500hz, with a gradual increase up to -12dB at 30 hz. What suprised me the most was how it stayed level when I increased the frequencies until I got to 6khz, which only went up one level, then again at 12khz one level. But at 16khz, I had to jump up to -6dB. !!! Great test!

I'm 52.
Hi Jaffa,

That is a decent size room that you have. I would have to believe that a speaker that goes down to about 28-30hz, will suffice.

You could certainly get "too big" and that won't be good either. The goal should be to get the right sized speaker for your room.

You mentioned that you want a more percussive attack. This is usually in the Bass region 60Hz-250Hz, not the Sub-Bass region 20Hz-60Hz. I feel that your Monitor and Subwoofer won't solve this problem, because your monitor isn't producing enough punch in the bass region and your subwoofer can't reach high enough into the bass region either. I actually prefer the sound of a Floor-Standing speaker with a Subwoofer, than a Monitor with a Subwoofer.

I believe that you need a Floor-Standing Speaker with at least 3 drivers (Woofer, Midrange, and Tweeter). This way the woofer can handle the bass region and the midrange can handle it's region without being pushed harder to perform in the bass region. A Floor-Stander with 4 drivers would also work.., but then you may have two smaller, faster woofers, one midrange, and one tweeter. Since you like a fast percussive sound, I would think that 2 smaller 170mm woofers, instead of one larger 250mm woofer, may be more to your liking.

Although, I have never listened to the PMC PB1i, I did check them out online and I think you're on the right track with that type of speaker design. The rest is up to you my friend...

Good Luck,
Rich
the better apparoach to realizing the punch & dynamics you desire is to retain your equipment & get some horns. That will do the job for you with very low power, probably less than you already have.
Many speakers designed for the S.E.T. crowd may be quite satisfying as well. Talk to the good folks at decware.com Steve is an absolute genius in this area. You'll get the advice you need without trying to sell you anything.