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RE: I remain amused by this premise about said distortion as 3 to 5 percent distortion is found in ALL speakersnT

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In Reply to: RE: I remain amused by this premise about said distortion as 3 to 5 percent distortion is found in ALL speakersnT posted by Cleantimestream on February 27, 2024 at 15:37:54

It depends on power level and music content.
I usually refer to ambient SPL (average/peak + SPL ambient noise floor) generated by a given amplifier instead of referring to amplifier power.
In the average home listening room you need less than 1 W to even exceed 80 dB SPL.
This means that the speakers virtually operate with almost no distortion at all most of the time (unless you listen to heavily compressed music).
In the past I measured the steady state sonic signature of my audio system (tone generator + test_amplifier + speakers) at 60 dB and 80 db SPL, @330 Hz and @1KHz.
The harmonics (in practice only second harmonic) do not exceed -40 dBc.
Above 80 dB SPL no measurement was made because such a high sound level with a test tone is a real torture.
In general, when listening above 80 dB SPL for more than 15 minutes, hearing becomes impaired.
A suitable procedure for assessing if you need an higher power amplifier is to play a known 'very high dynamic' music content (with your preferred equalization) and to check if the lowest level passage can be comfortably heard above ambient noise.
Then if you play the loudest passage and you do not hear evident distortion then the amplifier is adequate.
I use the Fantastic Synphony of Berlioz (Telarc) to this end.
In practice when I want to seriously listen to this synphony with full dynamic range I have to switch to solid state (more than 60W RMS) because the peak SPL at the end of the synphony exceeds 90 dB SPL and I have never built a DIY tube amplifier with more than 15-30W RMS.
But I love tube DIY anyway.

Omnes feriunt, ultima necat.

Follow Ups:

85 decibles for 2 hours or more will cause a TSS... - Cleantimestream 07:00:55 03/08/24 (1)
Temporary threshold shift. Am trained audiologist and trained RN MICU via Us Army. Musicians better quit now as they ALL are exposed above 85 decibels..
I suggest ample exposure to live music. Loved my Quads

Would still use them save for they don't play loud enough.
The Mind has No Firewall~ U.S. Army War College.
- RE: 85 decibles for 2 hours or more will cause a TSS... - Best audiotransformers 05:12:27 03/11/24 (0)
  !
  The Mind has No Firewall~ U.S. Army War College.
RE: I remain amused by this premise about said distortion as 3 to 5 percent distortion is found in ALL speakersnT - Tre' 16:56:22 02/28/24 (2)
Why do you think you need more than 60 watts to reproduce a 90 dB SPL peak?

Tre'
Have Fun and Enjoy the Music
"Still Working the Problem"
- RE: I remain amused by this premise about said distortion as 3 to 5 percent distortion is found in ALL speakersnT - cellailuca 02:00:12 02/29/24 (1)
  Do you know how SPL meters work?
  Have you ever tried whatever application that measures SPL on your smartphone?
  Do you know that the average SPL (as measured by SPL meters) at any point in the listening room depends on shape, furniture, spatial volume, speakers position, frequency spectrum, reflectivity (in short time/frequency and space eigenvalues)?
  What I think is not important.
  I am only sharing what I found by measurement with my speakers in my listening room (see pictures) and what are the results and assessments.
  I build whatever tube or solid state DIY hardware I like taking into account the opininion of all people but certainly without your examination (I don't care).
  It is not the first time that you try to provoke me.
  
  Omnes feriunt, ultima necat.
  - RE: I remain amused by this premise about said distortion as 3 to 5 percent distortion is found in ALL speakersnT - Tre' 18:40:54 02/29/24 (0)
    I am not trying to provoke you. I was just asking a question.
    Sorry.
    
    Tre'
    Have Fun and Enjoy the Music
    "Still Working the Problem"

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