low level listening speakers

[duficity]

Looking for a pair of speakers for low level listening at night. Want to get the dynamic punch of my main speakers, at a much lower loudness level. Any recommendations?

[Alec124c41]

Considering you will be maxing out at a much lower level, the dynamic range will be more limited.
For night-time listening, a small pair of speakers that are much closer to my ears do well. Arm's length at a desk, half that in the bedroom. Good earphones are wonderful, but I have to be aware of other sounds.

Cheers,
Alec

[duficity]

Yes, I have a good set of headphones, but I prefer listening in the open air. I am looking for something that sounds good at about the level you would use for watching TV at night. Not that I am looking for AV speakers, just good sound at that level.

[bauzace50]

Hi,

for a small and excellent speaker, which is suitable for close-up listening, you could consider the Epos ELS3. You can do a net search for details and availability. These seem to be recently discontinued, but had a market showing for the last 5 years or so. Highly recommended, and probably available from stockists or eBay.

The Rega RS1 seem to fit the bill, too, but are somewhat larger.

Regards,
bauzace50

[josephazannieri]

Yo duficity:

Since what you are looking for in this application is low levels and restricted dynamic range, a speaker rated in the 85-86 dB area will work fine. My suggestion is the low-buck champ, the Dayton Audio BR-1.

And good luck from that inefficient old guy,

Joe Z.

[avole]

Harbeth, or the Sonus Faber Minima.

[awty]

Wouldn't higher efficient speakers work better, like 90db+?

Would low wattage be better than high?

What about a high efficient full range speaker in a large TQWT type box?.....although your probably not going to get as big a dynamic range as a multiple speaker set up?

[cats squirrel]

Hi,

for a small and excellent speaker, which is suitable for close-up listening, you could consider the Epos ELS3. You can do a net search for details and availability. These seem to be recently discontinued, but had a market showing for the last 5 years or so. Highly recommended, and probably available from stockists or eBay.

The Rega RS1 seem to fit the bill, too, but are somewhat larger.

Regards,
bauzace50

I think the problem with 'speakers of this type is that it takes a few good watts to get them going, whereas high efficiency paper cone types are probably going to suit this application a lot better.

[I own a pair (and centre channel) Epos M5's and they take 100 watts without complaint, but still quite a few to come 'on song'. They are not good at low level listening duty].

[josephazannieri]

Yo debaters of efficiency:

Normally, I like highly efficient speakers. They give a wider dynamic range, and way more output with way less watts. This particular application, which is near field and low level, does not require a wide dynamic range, just the low end punch, which comes from having a good low frequency response. As a matter of fact, when listening at low levels, some compression may be necessary to avoid losing the softer passages.

In near field, because you are close, you get more punch becasue speaker is close. Any more, amplifier power is cheap and easily obtained, so you are not restricted to 10 WPC amps, like you used to be back in '60's when I built my first amplifier kits. There are lots of good 40-50 WPC amps that will work well when driving a speaker at close range, even if speaker is not real efficient. There are also lots of modular amps that are pretty good and dirt cheap. My experience with Dayton Audio BR-1's in near field with a Yamaha CR 220 receiver, 20 WPC, was that they sounded real good, produced adequate volume despite low efficiency, and they were solid and punchy sounding, with response down to about 40 Hz. Much better for range than a lot of "audiophile" speakers. They are better for instrumental music than for spoken word or vocal music, such as for opera. But. of course others who use different speakers may disagree, and they are certainly entitled to do so.

And good luck from that harmonious, but punchy old opera fan,

Joe Z.

[Alec124c41]

The problem with high efficiency speakers is that with some amps, you can only turn the volume down so far and still have consistent sound. I have a couple that lose one channel at minimal setting. YMMV.

Cheers,
Alec

[Ldg]

Looking for a pair of speakers for low level listening at night. Want to get the dynamic punch of my main speakers, at a much lower loudness level. Any recommendations?

Original mission 760, or AE100, in a near field setup. One has to go NF to preserve listening levels, retain proper character, yet minimise spill.

HTH !

[Purnendu]

Hi,
Room conditions would also be crucial in low level listening. As I write sitting in my bed study (13x16) which is well furnished and a bit crowded with furniture, the leben 300 with Proac tablettes is just about adequate at 9.00 clock setting. A little lower and I have to strain for the details. Am listening to a Hayden quartet right now, and have just had to turn up the volume when an interesting passage came in. ..there I have reduced it agin..
My feeling is that a large speaker with high efficiency would serve the purposes of low level listening better, if one does not wish to stick ones neck between the speakers, or if the room is larger than the one I am in now.
I was listening to the Blumenhofer fun 17 (92db horn)in a huge room (4x mine) just yesterday and your post made think that it would be very good for low level listening. The only hitch of course is that its cost is three times or more than my tablettes.

[jake]

Speakers made in England, in general, have the best sound at low listening levels. The Brits have always had a passion for small, good sounding systems. I do not think the Quad ESL 57 can be beat for low listening levels. They sound like a big set of headphones.

[willb]

I must admit higher sensitivity seems the way to go.
I have a small room, so use stand-mounters, but one pair are 89db and the other pair about 85. They both work well at low levels, but I use a 100w Sugden power amp, on tick-over.

A clean mains supply helps to keep the background noise down, so that when volume decreases, the sound doesn't disappear into the morass!

I'd agree UK speakers tend to be good, (with exceptions), but French ones are good too, Triangle, Cabasse etc. generally pretty sensitive.