Does It have to be loud?

@shadorne 

You will find few if any speakers that Soundstage found capable of true high fidelity at 95 dB and above. We agree on that point. 

Absolutely, well said. Related to this discussion, purposely I had my system up to 98 dba last weekend, and even though it sounded (thundered) still good, everything was shaking in my room and I became somewhat frightened ;) By the way, I used a cd with organ music for that purpose, frequencies possibly as low as 25Hz or so.

So MAYBE, my speaker system can do it, in my room, with the many acoustic corrections done. It's just that I don't think it is necessary for me to go that loud. So yes, maybe my speakers are capable of producing SPL of up to or even over 100 dba at the listening position, it just doesn't make sense.

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.

Hello @han_n

Not to belabor this, and frankly at this pointy I’m looking to conclude the matter, but you do realize that I didn’t add the word irrespective to your quotation. I used that word in my statement.

Secondly, I agree with you and understand that 100 dba at 2 feet, or 100 dba at 20 feet differs, however, in our examples herein it differs on account of the spl the speaker is producing,  which is typically (manufacturer specs) measured 1 meter from it. So in order to achieve the same db further from the speaker, the speaker needs to be playing louder (emanating more sound pressure). And of course, distortion will increase as the spl increases.

You will find few if any speakers that Soundstage found capable of true high fidelity at 95 dB and above. We agree on that point.

Hello @shadorne

No, we do not agree. I suspect this boils down to what you and I consider "true high fidelity". It seems to me you believe true high fidelity is "scientifically perfect sound reproduction as measured with the most precise device known" as opposed to "this sounds fantastic, authentic and enjoyable".

Depending upon the specific bass design a loudspeaker that is flat to 55Hz could be down 6-12dB at 27Hz.  That would indicate strong bass response into at least the mid 30Hz area.  This might not satisfy classical organ fans, but it would more than cover bass guitar, most synthesizers and bass drum frequencies.

Just to mention when the speaker manufacturer states Sensitivity spec the loudness at one meter in dB is for 1 watt of Power. That is not the speaker’s full capability. The spec is provided to indicate the speaker’s relative sensitivity. And there is no reason to assume speaker distortion will increase significantly when more power than 1 watt is applied - up to some point, obviously. Furthermore, the distortion you hear as more power is applied might not (rpt not) be produced by the speakers per se as I have pointed out before - I.e., comb filter effects from room anomalies (pressure peaks in room corners and elsewhere, slap echo, standing waves as well as other, uh, less understood phenomenon, beyond scope.

+1 @geoffkait

And coming from me that’s a rave! :)