I want a quality pair of speakers, but am only interested in low to moderate volume listening. (No HT...music only).

I know the M80s will play quite loud, but how do they sound at low volumes...chamber music, mood music, music to relax by?

I have auditioned the Paradigm Ref. 80 and 100, and they sound great...until you turn the volume down. Then they just sort of wimp out...lose most of their robustness and detail.

I am using a Denon 5802, so have no problem there.

I have also heard B&W and Klipsch...same response.

Someone suggested I would be happier with a pair of electrostatics for quality low volume listening.

Axiom's 30 day trial sounds good before I spend the $$$ on a pair of electrostats.

Comments and suggestions are appreciated.

Hello,
The M80ti's sound fine at low volume, as any well-designed speaker should.

What you are hearing when you turn down the volume on the other brands you auditioned is a peculiarity of human hearing--not just your hearing--we all suffer from the same anomaly.

At lower volumes, our hearing is quite insensitive to bass frequencies, which is why the speakers you auditioned all sound thin, with no bass foundation, at low volume. There is a somewhat diminished sensitivity to high frequencies as well, but it's not nearly so severe as with bass.

That's why, years ago, many manufacturers of preamps and receivers included the so-called "Loudness" control. Sometimes it was a pushbutton you engaged for low-volume listening, and Yamaha even had a separate control. It electronically boosted the low bass (with some treble boost as well) when you turned down the levels. The problem is that this hearing anomaly varies somewhat from one person to another, so the control settings were somewhat arbitrary.

You can achieve the same thing by applying some bass boost at low listening levels, and a touch of treble boost as well if it sounds better. And I do hope your preamp or receiver has tone controls--they've gotten a bad rap in recent years, and for no reason. They're highly useful at times.

Any speaker that seems to have a lot of bass at low volume will probably have intolerably emphasized bass at normal listening levels. Electrostatic speakers are not the solution. Unless they are hybrids, and use a conventional woofer for low bass, electrostatics generally are not noted for deep bass. Many sound somewhat thin at normal volume.

Regards,

Thanks Alan,

That was a big help. I'll start my review process over with that information, saving the Axioms for last since I live in the states and will have to have them shipped.

Saving them for last, hopefully I won't have to ship them back.

Since I had a similar concerns, I thought I could share my experience with Axiom. I live in Hawaii, so buying Axioms was probably a bigger risk in terms of shipping cost to return them if I didn't like them.

I bought the M40's and have tried them on a few different amps, an older Rotel RX855, an old NAD 3020 and an Onkyo TX830. I, too, like listening at low levels (just loud enough to get hear all the instruments).

I needed to move these speakers about 5" from the wall to diminish the bass. I am very happy with the speakers and the company.

Hope you choose well.

George

George,
I too live in Hawaii (Honolulu) and I am strongly considering purchasing either the M40 or M50s. Don't know where you are, but if you are on Oahu and if you would allow, I would LOVE to listen to yours. If you would agree, please email me at stanalanr001@hawaii.rr.com. If not, I guess I can always try the 30 day guarantee.

Thanks so much.