Kclone,
Acording to OSHA sustained(one hour or more)exposure to sound levels at 90db and higher can cause permament hearing impairment.Systems with a low noise floor should easily allow you to listen at levels 60 -70db while preserving reasonable dynamics,detail and a sense of vital energy and life(should`nt sound flat and boring).Listening levels of 75-85db should absolutely be satisfying yet still allow for peaks at higher db levels. If the problem is`nt the speaker then perhaps some other component is the weak link(raised noise floor)