@gdnrbob, he probably was using a typical receiver of the day (2CH, maybe 60wpc max, power supply the size of a pack of cigarettes, if that).
I was using real power on my Vandersteen 4's (100 wpc tube amp on mids + treble inputs) & a 200 wpc SS amp on the input for the subs. It got really loud & dynamic, for sure. Still, I never managed to make those speakers sound 2-dimensional, hard, bright, brittle, "accurate," or any of those code-words for unmusical. They always breathed and made music sound quite real.
My technician friend was no doubt used to systems that rattled his privates (boom, boom) and razored his ears off. The 4's could shake the walls, but neither the 2C's nor the 4's were going to become treble cannons.
I was using real power on my Vandersteen 4's (100 wpc tube amp on mids + treble inputs) & a 200 wpc SS amp on the input for the subs. It got really loud & dynamic, for sure. Still, I never managed to make those speakers sound 2-dimensional, hard, bright, brittle, "accurate," or any of those code-words for unmusical. They always breathed and made music sound quite real.
My technician friend was no doubt used to systems that rattled his privates (boom, boom) and razored his ears off. The 4's could shake the walls, but neither the 2C's nor the 4's were going to become treble cannons.