What makes a system sound good at low volumes?

  • Thread starter Deleted member 15865
  • Start date
A few things that will help.

1. Noise floor of your listening room. The quieter the room, the better. Less than 35 db of ambient sound would be awesome.

2. Some amplifier and speaker designs are known to provide excellent details and musicality at low volume levels. The preamp section is sometimes the biggest culprit. The first time i heard low volume magic was on a 1st order crossover - green mountain audio speaker driven by a tube amp with a MFA passive preamp.

If you are a low volume listener, it is worthwhile doing some R&D in this area. There are so many high end systems that comes to life only at 70 to 80db or above.

Yes Now I started to understand this thread more elaborately... :D

@SachinChavan High Sensitivity Speakers, driven by an overwhelming amplification (large headroom) should be able to retain most of the details at lower volumes adequately. Just remember the Spl increments on Volume Dial are not very linear(erratic many times) especially with older amplifiers.

High power is necessary only if you have a difficult to drive speaker with complex crossovers.
 
The biggest improvement in low volume listening came to me from the Soundfoundations roller blocks which I placed under my equipment, especially the source. It reduced the noise floor substantially. More about it in a separate thread later. Comfortably able to listen to even rock at 65 dB with details and effect intact.
 
A few things that will help.

1. Noise floor of your listening room. The quieter the room, the better. Less than 35 db of ambient sound would be awesome.

2. Some amplifier and speaker designs are known to provide excellent details and musicality at low volume levels. The preamp section is sometimes the biggest culprit. The first time i heard low volume magic was on a 1st order crossover - green mountain audio speaker driven by a tube amp with a MFA passive preamp.

If you are a low volume listener, it is worthwhile doing some R&D in this area. There are so many high end systems that comes to life only at 70 to 80db or above.

High power is necessary only if you have a difficult to drive speaker with complex crossovers.

If the volume is transformer controlled and not resistor controlled, is the listening quality better at lower volume?

Thanks.
 
For me it's the loudness control on the amp. It adds the punch that gets lost at low volume. Ofcourse the amp power quality and speakers matter too.
 
Thanks all of you. I’ve made my peace with the subject. I’ve concluded that it’s primarily to do with the speakers (efficiency) and amplification (quality of power). Yes, there is some optimisation possible through placement etc. (like moving the speakers apart from each other and away from the wall - till a point where the image doesn’t lose its weight too much), but that’s about it. Every improvement I’ve reported above - whether through isolators or interconnects etc - comes at a cost. None of these can improve sound - they can just modify it - you could improve one aspect but lose on another (like microtones/emotionality when going for clarity).

So, any substantial improvement in low volume listening has to wait till I can upgrade the speaker-amp. And this causality is one input in deciding the next combination - along with other aspects I want (to retain or add) in my playback. But that’s then. For now, I am at peace knowing I’ve done what’s best possible within the limits of my current system’s capability (in the given room) and that I’d need to keep the (actual) volume above 65 dB to not miss on the nuances.
 
@SachinChavan
Ever figure out how to get the Lyrita volume control knob to track incrementally?
I can never get it to do so because of high gain preamp coupled with a high gain SS power amp.
It is a mismatch on paper, but the combo sounds quite good of course, with the volume restriction.
Cheers,
Raghu
 
@SachinChavan
Ever figure out how to get the Lyrita volume control knob to track incrementally?
I can never get it to do so because of high gain preamp coupled with a high gain SS power amp.
It is a mismatch on paper, but the combo sounds quite good of course, with the volume restriction.
Cheers,
Raghu

@raghupb, speak to Mr Bakhshi to get a low gain path added which can be toggled with a switch. It could help.
 
I have observed in my case that if "low frequencies" are missing at low volumes, we feel something is lacking. And then when we try to increase the volume gradually, the "low frequencies" start appearing and then we feel satisfied. Something related to fletcher munson curves.
Many factors can contribute for this to happen. In my case for digital music, it was mostly and mostly the "software player". I also have "bose sounddock", and it has a concept of "active equalization" (not the one which we are used to do manually). It does not have any sort of external equalizers or tone control, and I find it to be one of the best for low volume listening. Whatever is the low volume, very minimum, medium minimum etc, it never gives a feeling of "lacking".
 
None of these can improve sound - they can just modify it - you could improve one aspect but lose on another (like microtones/emotionality when going for clarity).
Thats the key learning which comes with time ie what modifies and what is truly and upgrade..all of us still go through that grind since what works in one system may not in another !
 
I have observed in my case that if "low frequencies" are missing at low volumes, we feel something is lacking. And then when we try to increase the volume gradually, the "low frequencies" start appearing and then we feel satisfied. Something related to fletcher munson curves.
Many factors can contribute for this to happen. In my case for digital music, it was mostly and mostly the "software player". I also have "bose sounddock", and it has a concept of "active equalization" (not the one which we are used to do manually). It does not have any sort of external equalizers or tone control, and I find it to be one of the best for low volume listening. Whatever is the low volume, very minimum, medium minimum etc, it never gives a feeling of "lacking".

Equalisation (of any kind) too, is a modification and for some of us, a strict no no.
 
Equalisation (of any kind) too, is a modification and for some of us, a strict no no.
If your preamp or IA has tone controls, use them judiciously. You will be pleasantly surprised.
These are basic controls that were present in all amps in the last century (some still do have them thankfully).
All rooms are not the same, all sets of ears are not the same, all content is not the same.

Cheers,
Raghu
 
My two cents for a sure shot cheap upgrade that always begets great results, assuming that one’s system is already pretty decent with no obvious weak links in the chain - low ambient noise and finding the perfect positioning for both speakers as well as listener. Sometimes, some rooms simply do not have good acoustics and changing rooms unfortunately becomes necessary.

Loudness toggle on amps or dynamic compression through eq also help.
 
Usually high sensitivity speakers, that are easier to drive ( no nasty impedence dips) are supposed to sound fullsome at low volumes. Secondly transmission line speakers also sound fullsome at low volumes. As the bass is well augmented by the line.
 
In my point of view, is the distortion level what sets our mind to listen to minimum listening volume. The music coming to our ear at the listening position is the appropriation of room balance. When and at which volume our mind perceives that every detail of music is perfect , that very level became our sweet spot. And our mind can handle that much distortion effectively.
May be thats the reason why different people listening music at diffrent gain lebel. ( every amp has different distortion level ).
 
Wharfedale Linton Heritage Speakers in Red Mahogany finish at a Special Offer Price. BUY now before the price increase.
Back
Top