Does It have to be loud?

Isn’t the assumption that you should demo for the typical SPL that a listerner would hear were she/he attending a live show?

By that standard, MBL (which typically demos louder than anyone else I know of) doesn’t go loud enough. They often play electric blues rock at (my guess) +/- 95 DB. Very loud, but not live loud.

It may not be great for extended audition, but it does demonstrate that the volume levels in your home will likely be limited by the proud new owner’s choice, rather than the speakers’ capabilities.

There are other threads on Audiogon where members report their typical listening levels and IIRC most people are listening at far less than 95dB.  Having a system (and room) that is capable of cleanly playing at over 100dB is nice, but it's just not essential for most audiophiles.  It is similar to the situation with deep bass.  Most audiophiles would be perfectly happy with a system that only played flat down to 55Hz, but did everything else excellently.  Are they missing some element of the music -- sure, but that doesn't mean they can't enjoy the music they have.

Why would anyone want true concert level volume in their domestic living space?  There's a reason you don't put a concert grand piano in your living room.

@onhwy61 +1.

I can see now why some things aren't heard in discussions about cables, fuses and tweaks. 😄   I rarely get into the bottom 90s. The sound I get now is so clean at lower dbs and I still feel it in my skin, not to mention the vibrations in my window and all of this in the mid 80s, if not lower. 

Accurately reproduced sound at mid levels will still excite surface areas, skin included. Try it with some well recorded piano, guitar, or percussion.  If you can't feel it at moderate levels, then something is amiss. It can be subtle, but it's definitely there. Your body, along with your ears, is the perfect barometer. Trust it.

All the best,
Nonoise

@gdhal 

In a subsequent post you made in this thread, dated 03-04-2018 8:57am, you wrote "....people admit listening at levels up to 100 or more dba at the listening position. I’m not sure how they measure, but believe me, most speakers won’t even go that loud, or if they do, they will distort tremendously...."

I took that to mean that you are now stating that most speakers cannot achieve 100 db without tremendous distortion, irrespective of the listening position. And this is simply not true, despite the Soundstage measurements submitted by shadorne as evidence. 

You added the word "irrespective". I'm sure you do understand that this is the key here. 100 dba at 2 feet, or 100 dba at -for example- 20 feet DOES differ, and so does the distortion. 

Anyway, your speakers seem to be able to go extremely loud (as you claim up to "approximately 125 dba, (however you also agree to take that with a grain of salt), for which you would need a lot of power (possibly 2 Kw or so). I have no reason to doubt that, as you certainly must know better about your speakers. All I can say that I don't think my speakers (partially shown in my profile picture...) even come close to producing such levels, at least not at the listening position, and certainly not undistorted. I even have no intention to try it out as well..... But I can live with that. They provide me with enough listening pleasure, at much lower levels. 

@onhwy61 

I agree, but make that "flat down to 35 Hz" 


@nonoise 

100% true.


Happy listening