Quote Originally Posted by Poultrygeist View Post
I just measured a comfortably loud range of 66 to 80dbs on Dire Straits' "So Far Away" SACD sitting at the apex of a nine foot triagle from my OB speakers in a 15X15 room. My Foreplay attenuators were at step 3 of 11 stepped positions. That's using less than one watt to reach a strong listening level. While I only have a 3.5 watt SET amp it's more than I could ever use with 94 db speakers.

When I add the OB bass H-frames driven by 150 watt mono-blocks at their half volume position I gain an additional 4 dbs ( 84db peak ). I don't listen to jazz this loud but Dire Straits ain't jazz.

JoeE, isn't 100 dbs the threshold for pain and damage?

I remember constantly turning the volume up on solid state amps to hear more whereas now I turn my SET amps down to hear more.
Yes, that is very loud. I've only done it a few times. Most always when another audiophile tells me esl's can't play loud or have limited dynamics. Of course feeding them only 85Hz up makes a difference in maximum level. Levels around 80dB +/- 5dB are where I usually listen. It depends on the music, the company and above all my mood.