John Phillips
pfm Member
When I moved from my moderate-sized Proac floor-standers to some bigger ATCs I too slowly realized that I was listening at a louder level. Then gradually I found myself returning to a lower volume setting as I got used to them. I actually suspect I listen now at a slightly lower level than before because volume-setting cues from musical detail are now more apparent.I probably listen louder on my ATCs because they just sound so clean & open. However, they still sound great at lower levels.
With no intention to be over-critical of my previous loudspeakers (which I enjoyed for a long time) their smaller drivers did not maintain their good sound at any more than my then-normal mid-field listening level. Above that they quickly sounded increasingly congested. That was one of their constraints I identified that needed fixing with new loudspeakers.
I suspect that freedom from this constraint meant that I temporarily over-indulged the volume control. But now it's back to normal and I too don't experience the common meme that ATC loudspeakers come to life at high volumes. What I experience is that they stay healthy at high high volumes where I found my previous loudspeakers started sounding poorly.
I am quite sure people do perceive the difference they describe. But I have come to use different words to describe my version of the experience.