I totally agree with David12. Everytime I audition a system, even at a friend's house, the volume is turned up way too loud for my tastes. I normally listen to <70db, more like 60-65db. I do this not only for my kids and neighbors but I find this volume to be more relaxing. Every once in a while I will crank it up, but this is never for critical listening.
For me, I needed to find a speaker that had driver technology that was light and dynamic, allowing it to produce music with low levels of power. I found the Usher beryllium mid and tweeter to fit this bill. The Eton woofer is also fast. For the amp, I chose something with Pure Class A power so there would be distortion and no change in power regardless of what volume I used. Another thing to consider that I have had a hard time getting is a preamp that has adequate volume adjustability at the lower end. I have found most preamps to be too loud for me even at the lowest volume settings thus not allowing me enough sensitivity in terms of incremental adjustments.
For me, I needed to find a speaker that had driver technology that was light and dynamic, allowing it to produce music with low levels of power. I found the Usher beryllium mid and tweeter to fit this bill. The Eton woofer is also fast. For the amp, I chose something with Pure Class A power so there would be distortion and no change in power regardless of what volume I used. Another thing to consider that I have had a hard time getting is a preamp that has adequate volume adjustability at the lower end. I have found most preamps to be too loud for me even at the lowest volume settings thus not allowing me enough sensitivity in terms of incremental adjustments.