Some audiophiles listen to soft music, softly and never crank it up. They are pussies.
For the money that you spend on a real-world audiophile system you should be able to crank it up so that you can make paint chips fall from the ceiling. You should be able to give yourself goosebumps. You should be able to lose control of your bowels thanks to your many subwoofers. Your system should be visceral. Your system should have power. Your system should be able to piss the neighbors off. Anything less is unacceptable.
Raucous music should be your friend. If you want to play Ramstein’s “Du Hast” at 110 dB – you should be able to do so without fear. If you want to listen to Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, AC-DC or any classic metal band – you should be in the clear. If you want to listen to new, hard rock like say “Blackout” by Turnstile, you should never worry about having too much power. Strong audiophile systems don’t back down.
The idea that you need to baby your audiophile system or that music like classical string quartets or small jazz ensembles are better than listening to say Stravinsky is a joke. You need to be able to rock out with your cock out – plain and simple.
QUESTION: if your $25,000 audiophile system can’t play Jimi Hendrix at concert levels – is it good or does it suck? I would suggest the later.
QUESTION: if your kids want to have a dance party to the latest BTS or Taylor Swift drop – should you worry about blowing a tweeter.
QUESTION: If you haven’t gotten a knock on the door from your building manger or the local police – is it possible that your audiophile system might be a little light in the loafers?
We are in the audiophile hobby for fun. Playing your music loudly and proudly is part of said fun.
Wear your rock and roll attitude as a badge of honor. Never apologize. Never back down.
Onslaught Audio people. ONSLAUGHT!