Thanks for posting!
Fortunately I have the luxury of being able to blast my stereo when the mood strikes, without annoying anyone, even at night. However my throttle indicator is different than yours, 2:30 position on the dial is usually as far as I dare to push it. At this position my spl level in my Man Cave is somewhere in the neighborhood of 110 decibels 'C' weighted, 'A' weighted 100 decibels. I can feel it of coarse but I don't play at this level for every song or album, just the ones I like to hear at concert levels. A few examples that I can think of off hand, Song Remains the Same- cd version, Echoes- Pink Floyd, Pompei, In-a-godda-da-vida, The Tea Party, DSOTM, Elevation- U2, Made in Japan-DP, Epitaph-JP, Black Sabbath- Gathered in Their Masses, Keep the Faith- Bon Jovi, Hang 'Em High (long version)- Booker T & the Mg's.
The 'live concert' sound that I'm trying to mimic is what I heard at a Blue Rodeo concert at the local auditorium over a decade ago. At that time I figured my stereo wasn't even in the ball park in reproducing the 'live' sound. With equipment upgrades I was seeking a very transparent balanced sound. This is where the bass, mid-range and treble sound even to my ears, without one region of the sound spectrum sounding dominant and the sound excites the whole room.
My typical listening spl range would be about 92 decibel peaks 'A' weighted and the bass would peak around 95 decibels 'C' weighted. I don't generally listen at low volume and I believe my speakers come alive with more juice.
Lately though I find that I'm suffering listening fatigue from all the noise at work. So at home I embrace quiet time until my days off.
