Does It have to be loud?

@gdhal 

If you have not tested your speakers at those levels then I am afraid you cannot know through mathematically applying max rated amplifier power (watts) and multiplying that to your speaker sensitivity. Perhaps I was not clear - very few if any speakers can play that loud without excessive distortion.

I can show Soundstage plots where large Wilson and large Magico speakers (hardly low end) that are already distorting at a mere 95 dB SPL.

@shadorne 

I do agree with you that -in general- very few speakers will comfortably go much higher than 95 dba, without running into higher distortion. The moment you can see the woofer "working hard" there is a very realistic chance that you are entering higher distortion levels as well. At 95 dba, almost all speakers will show this "working hard", they will have to move a certain volume of air to reach the higher sound pressure levels, so as woofers themselves have a certain mass, they will start to "overshoot (both positive and negative overshoots). This will create distortion. (easy to envision). Manufacturers will try solving this by selecting different materials, stronger magnets, tighter tolerances, adding more woofer units, or a combination go the above. In general this results in higher costs. As I like dynamics, and in general stay below 90 dba, my system is still quite within its "comfort zone". At least you don't see its 16 woofers working yet ;) 

han_n,

I have heard the Tekton Double Impact (not the SE version) at a recent audio show.  I really liked what I heard; certainly a great bargain at its price.  I bet the SE version sounds even better.  I don't recall what amplifier was being used.  At 99 db/w, these speakers can be used with very low wattage amps, particularly if the speakers are played at reasonable levels.  To me, it is more of a bragging rights kind of thing that a speaker can play at 115 db--I would not want to listen at that kind of level (like owning a road car that can go 220 mph).

While I have stated a preference for tube gear, particularly where one can get by with modest amounts of power, I certainly expect that good solid state gear can be quite satisfying.  I have not had that much exposure to Pass amplifiers, but, the First Watt amps I mentioned that I really liked are designed by Nelson Pass.  The First Watt gear is aimed at a particular niche market--high efficiency speakers that present an easy load to drive.  I like your choice of the lower powered model from Pass' lineup.  I once auditioned a 50 watt solid state amp and a much higher-powered model from the same manufacturer (both very similar in design) and preferred the lower power model; it might be use of fewer transistors operating in parallel that made the difference (I hear the same thing with using multiple tubes to achieve higher power output, the result is not good).

Most of the better brands of solid state gear deliver decent performance.  There is a sameness to the sound of solid state, including Class D, that makes it actually hard to make a terrible choice.  That is not the case with tube gear.  There is much more variety in sound with tube gear and that is both good and bad--good if you carefully choose what works with your system and taste (or get lucky), more likely bad if you don't carefully audition and choose wisely.  A lot of even "bad" (to me anyway) tube gear will still deliver the rich sound and enveloping soundstage that is the most obvious characteristics of tube gear, and one can easily, at first, miss problems in other areas of performance.  It takes more experience finding the right tube gear choice.

I should also mention that, I also like the Ayre brand of solid state electronics.  For Class D stuff, I have heard decent sound from Bel Canto amplifiers.

No, it doesn't have to be loud. I listen typically anywhere between 60 and 75 dBs, and it is plenty loud for me. Could I play it louder and as clean (i.e., without distortion) on my system? Sure, but I see little point to it. The fact is that the human ear is a very sensitive organ, and extended exposure to high dBs is likely to result in major damage. As a musician, I have always used hearing protection when gigging and rehearsing ... and, I'll tell you this ... my bandmates who failed to use hearing protection now are hard of hearing. OTOH, I can still enjoy listening at low levels on a great system without causing permanent damage to my ears.

I think we should draw a distinction between what sounds loud, and sound pressure level, as they are two different things. Also, the distortion as written about herein this thread (occurring in speakers as the volume is raised at and above 95db) is occurring in the *higher frequency band* (above 2K) as measured by sound stage. Those higher frequencies aren't necessarily the dominant factor when it comes to SPL.

In other words, I submit to the group that one CAN produce (hypothetical example) 100 db without much if any distortion, AND it may not sound (very) "loud". How so? Simple. Play music whose content is primarily lower frequencies, drums, organ, etc. If vocal and higher frequency sounds are absent, you'll have your high SPL, little if any distortion and it likely wouldn't be perceived as "loud" as if you had played a vocal track and then achieved the 100db on the basis of the vocals.