I was listening to the Stereophile Editor's Choice CD, track 3 (Mozart-Flute Concerto), the editor, John Atinkson, says "If you set your volume control so that the opening of the Mozart Flute Quartet generates a peak of 91dB at your listening position, the playback level for the chamber music tracks on this CD will be within a couple of dB of the same as that heard live from the mike positions."
So, I got my Radio Schack SPL meter and turned up the volume until it read 91dB (Response-Fast/Weighting-C). Now that is pretty loud! I tried it first on the Pioneer Elite 49TXi and it went up to +6 (the maximum is +12). I then tried on the PS Audio HCA-2/PCA-2 amp/pre-amp and it went up to 91 (it goes up to 100 max). So, not a lot of power left in both cases. The speakers are ML (Martin Logan) Clarity.
Now I often go to classical music/opera concerts and unless I'm sitting way up front I never hear the music as loud as I was playing it.
A couple of questions:
(1) If I want to play music at home at live levels, is using this CD track a good reference ?
(2) If (1) is yes, are both of my amplifiers underpowered ? Should I look for more power?
(3) I usually listen to music set at 80dB level measured using the meter on a -20dBFS Pink noise level. Is that a good reference ? I read that listening to anything over 80dB level for a sustained time may hurt your hearing.

So, I got my Radio Schack SPL meter and turned up the volume until it read 91dB (Response-Fast/Weighting-C). Now that is pretty loud! I tried it first on the Pioneer Elite 49TXi and it went up to +6 (the maximum is +12). I then tried on the PS Audio HCA-2/PCA-2 amp/pre-amp and it went up to 91 (it goes up to 100 max). So, not a lot of power left in both cases. The speakers are ML (Martin Logan) Clarity.
Now I often go to classical music/opera concerts and unless I'm sitting way up front I never hear the music as loud as I was playing it.
A couple of questions:
(1) If I want to play music at home at live levels, is using this CD track a good reference ?
(2) If (1) is yes, are both of my amplifiers underpowered ? Should I look for more power?
(3) I usually listen to music set at 80dB level measured using the meter on a -20dBFS Pink noise level. Is that a good reference ? I read that listening to anything over 80dB level for a sustained time may hurt your hearing.