Most people are blissfully unaware of compression from speakers. It is possible that your amp was actually putting out around 15 watts during transients and therefore clipping - it is simply that these transients did not translate to the peaks you expected to observe but were limited to 96-97 db SPL.
Explanations for this are - limited Xmax or thermal compression from the driver. Generally about 97% of what you throw at a speaker ends up as heat. The Xmax on this driver is a mere 0.6 mm - a tiny 1 inch voice coil ( no bigger than a tweeter voice coil) I mean $%#^& - what can you possibly expect out of a driver like this????
I have written several times in A'gon forums about the issue of prevalent use of cheap drivers (often used in expensive speakers). They work great at lower volumes but you cannot expect miracles. Soundstage (who do lab tests ast Canada's National Research Council facilities) state that the do not even test speakers with signals above 100 db SPL as this would DAMAGE MOST OF THEM!!!
Explanations for this are - limited Xmax or thermal compression from the driver. Generally about 97% of what you throw at a speaker ends up as heat. The Xmax on this driver is a mere 0.6 mm - a tiny 1 inch voice coil ( no bigger than a tweeter voice coil) I mean $%#^& - what can you possibly expect out of a driver like this????
I have written several times in A'gon forums about the issue of prevalent use of cheap drivers (often used in expensive speakers). They work great at lower volumes but you cannot expect miracles. Soundstage (who do lab tests ast Canada's National Research Council facilities) state that the do not even test speakers with signals above 100 db SPL as this would DAMAGE MOST OF THEM!!!