What is wrong with negative feedback?

Acoustat6, that's true. My system can play so loud that prolonged exposure can result in damage. But playing rock as loud as it is often performed has a bugaboo: most rock recordings are anything but live! Quite often the guitar amps have only 15 watts in the studio, so who is to know how loud such a recording is to be played.

I have a white-label Vertigo press of Black Sabbath's 2nd LP (Paranoid), which is an amazing recording and one that can bring most systems to their knees in a heartbeat. You play it loud, but even that one is hard to tell how loud it should be played.

I play in a rock band, and recently we did a memorial show where we were the only band on the bill that was not metal. The club we were playing in was a metal club. It was on that night that I discovered that metal bands don't play all that loud. The most powerful guitar amp we saw that night only made 25 watts. They rely on the PA.

So- how loud is that supposed to be? Rock is always tough because there is no good answer for it.

Atmasphere said "My system can play so loud that prolonged exposure can result in damage."

I assume you mean damage to your ears, not your system. I agree 115db is too loud as we do not want to damage our ears. Also I think that for audiophiles in general that level is very difficult to obtain. IMHO it is an unrealistic goal.

But you say, you play the Black Sabbath loud, so...

The Black Sabbath Lp you said you play loudly then is it louder than the Verdi or is the Verdi LP the LP that you play loudest? In other words, is the Verdi LP a test lp for "you want to hear loud?" then this is the loudest we go?

I am always on the lookout for LPs that streatch my systems limits, it sounds as if thats a great test LP for a systems ability to play loud. Though I dont get anywhere near 115db!

Bob

If you get the original Vertigo press there is a lot of bass and bass impact! If you try to play that anywhere near 105 or 110 db, which is justified by the material, most systems just can't do it- too much energy required. The trick it to be able to play it that loud without it **sounding** loud, IOW the only sense of volume should come from the LP itself, not the system.

Hi Atmasphere, Thanks for the advice. I have several "system busters" Lps. Certainly Daphos is high on the list along with Carmen suite on RCA and a few others that have very big dynamics.

I am curious as to your system, what does it consist of? There must be some nice OTL amps, but what else do you use? I dont believe I have ever saw references to your system speakers etc. Could you post a few pictures of your system here on the 'Gon. Although I would expect that it is constantly changing. Is this system in your house or at work?

Thanks,
Bob

Hi Bob, the system I have at home uses a pair of Classic Audio Reproduction T-3s with dual 15" woofers and field coil drivers in the midrange and tweeters. They are about 97 db.

When we first got them I noticed that phenomena of loudness cues: we were playing them a lot louder than the previous speakers, which were 89 db. Now of course you can imagine that one might do that with a more efficient speaker because it is possible, but really the limiting factor with the less efficient speakers was that the loudness cues made it uncomfortable to turn it up the volume any higher. The CALs in the system allowed the amps to make less power/less loudness cues so we were playing them louder very naturally and effortlessly.