"Power hungry" speakers

Sean...I find that "large scale classical" pieces often run about 76 dB most of the time, with occasional louder passages. The way I determine this is by playing a concerto (for example: violin) or a vocal piece. I ask myself "is the violin louder than a real violin can play?" or a similar question for the vocalist. I often find that it is easy to crank the volume up higher than this criteria would allow. Perhaps this is because we are used to listening to "live" performances that are "reinforced". Amplification of an instrument above its true volume is like putting your girlfriend's complexion under a microscope. You will not like the result.

Down in New Orleans last week (I have almost sobered up) I spoke with some musicians who suggested a reason for the exaggerated bass that seems to be so prevalent. They suggested that the guys who do the audio mixing have been overexposed to loud music, and have lost LF hearing. (I thought it was HF that goes first, but they said No, LF). To these guys the exaggerated bass sounds right.

Somebody started a good thread recently exposing the purposefully cranked up bass response of recent ultra expensive speakers, the explanation being, "That's what the buyer wants."

Those of us looking for the Holy Grail of true fidelity are in a decided minority.

Eldatford -- few recordings are actually made at 0db, containing "optimum" dynamic range of the (digital) medium. Mostly thiongs are compressed and, as you note, processed. So, the actual sound level can go up & down -- accordingly, don't we often play with the volume control during the same symphony?
OTOH, I read s/where that classical can have a dynamic range of ~110db (at a large auditorium). That's staggering for our rooms & equipment, let alone actually recording such ranges. BUT, a Mahler cd I have goes from ~65db (spl) to ~85 at listening position (so count in room reflections as well) in the same movement!
Cheers

Muralman: Is the "Current Trends in Multi Thousand Dollar Speakers" thread the one that you were talking about?

As to Greg's comments, most recordings take advantage of sizable amounts of compression, particularly rock / pop recordings. This is less true in Classical recordings and you can always tell this when trying to listen to something in your car. Some passages are SO much quieter than others that it becomes difficult to hear them when you have the volume adjusted for "reasonable" listening during the crescendo's. It would be nice if the car audio industry introduced some type of switchable "compander" ( DBX type circuitry ) into their head units. I think that the reduction in sound quality would be more than made up for by the increases obtained by being able to hear the entire presentation without having to strain. Sean
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Yes, Sean, what is your take on it?