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Wattage is overrated. Its about quality not quantity. I use my 35 watts tube amp to drive my speakers KEF Q900's and it is more than good enough. Although I can drive it up to eardamaging levels, I realy dont want to.

I did for years, using dual mono PP 6v6 then 2a3 amps. But it wasn't until I went 300 watt class D monoblocks that bass truly came into its own, and at the same sound levels. Tempted to get a pair of active crossovers and go biamped dual mono with the 2a3s on top, but that would bring up the subject of the unbearably complicated volume knob.

That is really true. I listen to 85db efficient Dynaudio C1 Conf SIg with a LTA amplifier that maxes out at 13 watts and could not be happier.

You're right. Even if I didn't listen at lower volumes, listening louder would be for short periods of time, maybe 10 to 20 minutes and for harder rock music or really dynamic music. Of course the desire to listen loudly has changed as I get older too. Listening to classical and other period music, jazz, acoustic, etc., there is a level I prefer for long listening sessions over several hours in my current environment. For dynamic music I tend to listen directly and with full attention and while I may do the same with more level music, that music allows me to do other things with concentration without leaving the music altogether. There's also the neighbors one has to consider albeit grudgingly. So I have become accustomed to lower levels over time. I also prefer listening to recorded music over live venues which are likely to damage your hearing, I did enough of that in my youth and can't hear much above 13K Hz. Not to say I don't enjoy live venues but harder music or a traditional rock concert is no longer a desire, hasn't been for a long time. Having a truncated frequency range now may be a reason why I find a Definitive SM45 duller than my other speakers while others find it bright as it spikes up past my hearing threshold or because it is more dynamic than other bookshelves/standmounts. So for me to do reviews that someone younger with a healthier hearing range of frequencies wouldn't be accurate. But I do like Focal and Triangle as well as other speakers with a nice, more detailed midrange and highs as long as the upper mids aren't too pronounced relative to other frequencies (so bright amps are a no go). I also like digital formats but have yet to start streaming as I have hundreds of CDs which continue to be readily available used and are inexpensive in comparison to vinyl. I have listened to vinyl on more capable equipment and while it sounds nice, I am not willing to spend the time, energy and investment $$$ to switch over. Given my listening habits, digital formats are fine and are less expensive and more readily available used. This year, I will start looking at headphones for a desktop alternative although I much prefer a two channel speaker with or without a sub setup. My preferred listening habits have allowed me to enjoy lower power amps thereby downsizing my equipment. For many of us we were seemingly lusting for more powerful, heavier equipment while now I am happy with having a smaller, lighter footprint with an integrated and without losing too much of the SQ I had. Finding smaller speakers has been more of an issue and I just started dabbling with dacs. So what do I have now? A small 40 watt Keces E40 which offers low distortion along its' power curve with a Lavaudio DS600 (needed optical for movies) and a Marantz CD6006 all to drive through Focal 807Ws. I prefer the AKM and CS (Marantz) sound over ESS for most music however I needed a basic unit that had some capabilities while I decide what features I need and prices I am willing to invest in. An amp or CD player I can have repaired. To me Dacs are less likely to be repairable at least for my local repair guy and it may make more sense to replace so I don't want to buy a really expensive one especially as they continue to evolve at a rapid pace. I did try a Topping D70s and really liked it, the best of the bunch I tried and touted close to sounding like R2R dacs for the price but I found I liked it more for some music while I liked the dac in my Hegel h160 better for other music. The differences were in clarity vs warmth which could bleed into the music making it have softer vs sharper edges. I liked both however. If I were planning on keeping the Hegel the Topping would have been a good candidate. But I am giving up XLR so certain dacs may be overkill albeit $700 isn't really outrageous. If I end up subscribing to Tidal and am happy with that, I will revisit dacs and perhaps the same Topping. No SMSL or Loxjie dac I tried ever made a tight connection with optical, hence I likely wouldn't consider them. How difficult is it to make an optical input secure? While the Lavaudio isn't the same SQ as the AKM in the Hegel or the Topping D70s, it suffices for movies and is ok for music as I can switch directly to the Marantz for that. One thing the Lavaudio does do to my surprise is to play SACD and HDCD formats and yes, there is a difference! I feel I underutilized the Hegel with the equipment I have and the levels I listen at. It is far more useful for someone with large and/or hard to drive speakers who wants to listen to music requiring more power in watts and current. That's the logic I went through. Just to be clear the Hegel is a great amp but lifting 40 lbs to swap dacs and speakers got old as I get older. I also like class D chip amps well enough for desktop and on the go use. I would like to try an Omega speaker and if I like its' sound presentation it could be a replacement offering a smaller size with greater efficiency. There are a few other small amps I would like to try/have including tubes. So, there you have it. If you are younger or still want to rock out or just want to experience music as Steve describes in this video, just buy according to your needs/desires/abilities, etc., and enjoy.

Bingo

rock and roll hoochie koo

And your wife

Yes I agree,every song has a volume

OMG that’s so true

I use Steve's method of marking down the volume setting and although the next listen might not be at that exact level at least it will be very close and not be way too loud or way too quiet so as to spoil the effect of the music. I listen mostly to classical music and with it's greater dynamic range it can take several minutes to zero in on the right volume which of course is what I have to do with a new recording anyways.

Lol I do that sometimes too

Wow, thanks!

Now that's a conversation I'd love to hear given Neil Young's history with Pono, etc

YES

Well said!

Me too I am 55 - But it’s so addictive at that live/almost live level

exclnt

Thank God for remotes...didnt used to be that easy

If John Crabbe said that he was paraphrasing Peter Walker but Walker didn’t use a camera analogy

@@NateEll Well it goes to show that the analogy works

The Michell Argo pre amp, made in the UK, had “Focus” on the volume pot not “Volume”.

@@stephenstevens6573 Actually, I deliberately bought a pre-amp without a remote, TO get me up out of my chair more often and that might mean I'm up more than once for a song. I like what that does for my legs, balance, and my mind.

Love it!

The canvas she presents is virtually perfect in many of her songs, and she 'touches much of what is available with the various instruments and her voice. I've been studying her initial release, "Stepping Out" and she's got it all there: texture, soundstage depth and width, truly beautiful songs by both lyric and vocals. She must be a very focused, disciplined, very careful sort of person.

You CAN still meditate on the available silence and this kind of meditation will calm your nerves, which I've found improves my tinnitus (sometimes). The instruction is to NOT get emotionally or judgementally involved with the tinnitus, which is also part of improving listening (making it less about thinking about the music).

Yes, If you don't have tinnitus. You are lucky if you don't as you get older.

@@SubTroppo 25+ years making furniture/cabinetry along with a fondness for piercing guitar has wreaked its havoc upon the ole timpanic membranes. Not only is silence golden, but a rare luxury of the wiser man indeed.

How far do you hold your phone from the speaker? Right up by it or from the listening position?

@@memberrrberry7282 listening position, which is about 8-9 feet away

I totally agree. Something very special about listening to music late at night with the lights out. I also find I'm quite happy with a far lower volume than during the daytime. Probably a good thing to keep the peace with the neighbours!

that sucks

@@JohnDoe-np3zk 😆

Our wives can be friends. When I have music on and my wife gets home, she turns it down. Even if it's not loud.

To stop her you should listen and vacuum all together.

LMAO

Agreed, well said. I believe home listening volume levels should ideally approximate the typical volume levels of that particular genre of music in a live performance venue, with reasonable reduction of excessively loud volumes typical of some genres. Of course not everyone has the luxury of those choices (with speakers as opposed to headphones) when consideration for family or neighbors is a factor. I have difficulty remaining engaged by the music when listening at significantly lower volume levels.

Ah, youth. Been there, lost the high frequencies. I miss them

@@pkdude5334 what? Lol. I should have specified in my post that when we play instruments in the home it's at home volumes (amps on 2/10 volume, light touch on drums ect.....). Nobody here in the home is cranking a marshall stack and going full out on a drum kit......we play our instruments at small jazz club volume levels and match the hifi to that volume. People seem to have understood that we are playing in the home at stadium volume and matching the hifi to that lol

@@billbones1000 Know what’s worse than loud music? Riding a motorcycle without earplugs. The wind noise is murder over time. It’s not the exhaust noise - it’s the open helmet. That’s what got me. The concerts and car stereo didn’t help though. It was the icing on the hearing loss cake.

@@billd9667 funny, I was thinking the same thing about sailing! The Bbs of constant wind breaking over your ears is brutal!

@@billbones1000 there’s your warning! Act on it. You’ve probably lost a few thousand Hz already. Pass it on. It’s not common knowledge.

60 db in a really quiet room can be enough. Will it sound anywhere close to a real concert? No, but you can hear dynamic articulations much better than at loud volumes.

For silent listening one should have loudness correction because without most of low frequencies simply won't be heard. They are important for whole reception.

Well I don't have a meter, just an app on my phone. Indicated 70 is definitely too loud. Not painful but not necessarily entertaining. I find around 65 loud enough to feel depth, hear dynamics, experience imaging and not worry if I'm deafening the dog.

@Lassi Kinnunen 81 no. 85 db is safe for exposure lengths of 8 hours continuous, and every 3db drop doubles safe listening length, so 80 db is safe for over 16 hours of continuous listening. 70 db is not the upper range for home listening. A lot of people would consider that quiet, especially if you live in noisier environments like cities and don’t have soundproof walls.

this

Quiet or loud are both wrong for me..........especially quiet.

I have found that to be true some of the time. On the other hand, I've found that the quality of my LISTENING is the bigger determiner of the experience, dramatic or otherwise. Songs I thought were 'okay' have been revealed to have much more nuance, care, call it 'chemistry' than I recognized when my attention was not SPOT-on. It's worth assessing what it means to pay deeper, easier, more relaxed yet open attention...