Hi, had a similar situation when I was living in an apartment block before I moved to a house with a dedicated music room. I wanted to make sure I didn't disturb my neighbours at the time I had bought a Musical Fidelity KW550 integrated amplifier. Before the amp arrived I asked the company to modify the unit so I cold listen at low levels. The engineer installed different tubes in the pre-amp stage as well as other modifications to take into account my request. In terms of accidentally blasting the volumes levels of your equipment, that will only cause damage and cost you well earned money!

Highway-

Since I've lived in apartments for many years I too know how important it is to look for products that sound their best at low volumes. Speakers can be particularly problematic since many speakers don't come to life unit the volume hits a particular level. Below that they sound lifeless and boring.

Magnepan speakers do a great job at low levels as well as many electrostats (Martin Logan, Quad, etc.) Something to keep in mind with all of these speakers they require more powerful amplifiers to control them effectively, even at low volume levels. Hope some of this helps

A couple of things spring to mind. To start off, your amp need not be particularly powerful. Second, your speaker choice could include low to medium sensitivity, say around 83db to 88db.

There are a few advantages to partnering a lower powered amp with speakers of average to slightly below average sensitivity. Your amp would be working closer to the mid-point of its capability and that is often where you get the best channel separation. If you are listening in the near field, speakers with lower sensitivity will often have lower self noise during very quiet passages.

You have to be honest with yourself about the playback level and you will be giving up some flexibility with the gear in that it would be limiting in larger rooms and at higher playback levels.

In my office, I've had 12-15 watt tube amps driving 87db speakers that produced sound levels that were completely satisfying for my tastes and could reach high enough in level for some hard rocking, just not shake the walls kinda stuff.