Bel Canto S300 driving Gallo 3.1s

Okay, with the front display reading 95 on a good FLAC (Breathe-Pink Floyd) it sounds very good and is loud...very loud. I am just thinking I shouldn't have to turn it up that far to get the sound...no overhead you see?
My 100W Marshall guitar amp only gets turned up about halfway before it is just too loud...LOADS of overhead.
I don't think the Gallos are really that hard to drive, are they?

Uk,

My original point was that the volume (or decreasing attenuation) control on the BC amp seems to be a fair bit more "back ended" than other amps I've encountered. I end up with high 80s when listening at normal volume levels - but I don't hear anything that concerns me when I go up from there for those all important "head banging" sessions.

The actual position of the knob isn't necessarily indicative of where you sit relative to full output - it's a variation on the old "it goes to 11" joke from Spinal Tap. Give BC a shout if you're concerned (they're very nice folks), but I don't think it's much of an issue.

Marty

Something's not right there- and it's not the S300. You sure about that?

Thers no way 150 per channel is to much,

Marty,
I put on some Sabbath, Zep and even some Kraftwerk yesterday...good solid FLAC files. I turned the volume all the way up on the Transporter and slowly went up to 92 on the attenuator of the BC Pre-3. It had very good sound and was loud, but not exactly head banging loud.
So you are saying that if the attenuator is turned to 100 (max setting, that doesn't equate to full power on the S300? How do I know when I am reaching danger levels on my amp then?
I am also guessing since dbz are figured logarithmically, maybe being at 92 attenuation (attenuating 8 dbz) is still far away from max power?

Coffeey, totally agree. The Gallo's should be able to handle a lot more than 150 from everything I have read. My point is that I want to leave some operating headroom. I have always been told that it is wise to leave some margin for resistance fluctuation and such. Never want to play at max. Have I been told wrong?