Best Loudness button you've heard

My favourite is the old Marantz loudness button, specifically the 1060. Added weight at low volumes and removes the veil from vintage speakers. In my secondary vintage setup the loudness is pretty much always on.

 

Never heard a loudness button that I ever wanted to engage again.

 

marantz "contour" which is variable loudness, comes in handy with low level listening...

 

The one on my Yamaha C4 was pretty good, but the tone controls bypass button was my go to setting.

 

Wow my old first love. Loved this intergrated. It was to me a 1978-80 amp that actually sounds different and better than most of the negative feedback war amps. john m.

 

I’ve never liked the loudness on any amp Ive had until I got my Sansui 9090. It’s fantastic.

 

I never liked or used the loudness control on any of my vintage receivers. However, I recently got a Yamaha A-S801 Integrated amp and the thing (loudness) actually works!

 

the best one? the one that is not used...

 

As a youngster "loudness" was essential for low volume listening. It has its place.

 

I used the variable loudness knob on mine today for the first time with company over. we were listening to music pretty low but when I turned the loudness knob I got a nice full sound. I'll definitely be using it again for that purpose, though normally I will bypass the tone controls.

 

Next year I'll buy an integrated for my second system and I'm considering Yamaha and Marantz. I think that to have a loudness button would be interesting because the amp will feed some old B&W CDM-1 that may need a bit of tweak. I'm leaning towards the Yamaha because of integrated DAC, but I just noticed that the Marantz PM8004 doesn't have the loudness button but has an interesting "mid" tone control besides bass and treble. I assume this mid knob can be used along with bass and/or treble to create a loudness effect. Have someone tried it?

 

The current RME ADI2 DAC has a loudness feature. Here's an example on how it works. If your lowest listening level is -35db this value is now set as Low Vol Ref in the Loudness menu. Then Bass and Treble Gain can be set between 0 and +10db. Default is +7db for both. Increasing the volume by turning the volume knob causes the gain in the bass and treble to be lowered smoothly over a 20db range. So when the volume is set at -15db the music is quite loud but the loudness Bass and Treble are at 0 db gain. It actually works well.

 

I was privileged to hear a pair of Polk SRTs at the time they had a pair of 1000w Krell monoblocks hanging onto the top and mids with their powered bass sections - the loudness and other adjustments sounded great.
In many ways that system was exceptionally good (Biggest audible downside was everything in the wooden house vibrated when the system was cranked up)

 

Because of this thread I finally started messing around with my variable loudness control on my Yamaha AS-501. I had only previously engaged the “pure direct” button strictly adhering to audiophile rules...

Well I love it. Sounds great for low level listening if used sparingly and properly. I’m sold. I’m thinking losing some of the audiophile nervosa would be a good thing to do in 2019 and just go with what sounds good to ME.

 

I had a Luxman L100 integrated. It had a variable and subtle loudness control. A great amp. I would like to get a modern version of that amp.

 

That's what it should be all about.

 

My old Marantz 2525.

 

Are there any preamps or integrated amps that have a good loudness function that can also be controlled by remote? I briefly had a Yamaha A-S801 but couldn't tolerate that the loudness couldn't be adjusted via the remote.

 

Yes I use one currently and it is hands down my new favorite loudness button!

 

None

 

I s this "best loudness button you've heard" akin to an air guitar shoot out?

 

In my limited experience, owner of four medium-low range amps and two of friends, without doubt: the Nad 3240PE.
It also had a button to enhance the bass ...
It was like an organ in a cathedral, exciting.

https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http://i.ebayimg.com/images/i/222257536008-0-1/s-l1000.jpg&f=1

 

On low volume playing its seems silly not to use the loudness option. My Kenwood 500 has loudness controls that are just fun to play with to see how well you can get the sound to fit for your needs. Living in the mountains is very quiet most of the time and sound can travel amazing distances. Even inside playing at lower volume is just respectful of others not directly listening to your music. So loudness controls have been my friends. My Pioneer SX-1250 has been wonderful hitting the great sounding low level sweet spot. Speakers can be more helpful or not in this area I have found through the years. My Wife has a library and small office area of her own. Her original Pioneer SX-980 is setup with the little Minimus 7W speakers that given she plays music softly in there they need a little bost given to have fullness. Those are my favorite receivers and intergrated amps with nice loudness controls. Yes there are others that sound as good or better I know. Love the ones that can play sweetly at low volume but still can crank loudly should the time be right.

 

I've recently weened myself off of the loudness button. It took maybe a day for my ears to adjust, but now?

Mids, where have you been????