Newbie question: Amplifiers, Volume, Clipping?

Clipping is far less of an issue with tube amps; I would not worry about using triode. If 3 watts give 90db then 6 gives 93db and 12 96. So the triode should give you about 97 db at one meter, actually quite loud in most rooms. Pentode should give over 100. Usually maximum gain is around 1 PM on the volume control but if your source is lower in output than usual it may be higher and vice versa.

I am the furthest thing from a tube amp expert but with solid state the problem with clipping is that it eventually will let DC through to your speakers; this use to be called hard clipping. I think that tube amps generally exhibit what was called soft clipping, in which they fail to follow the waveform completely but do not let DC through. I am sure Al will roll his eyes if he reads this; I could have explained it much better 40 years ago when I actually used tube amps. Clipping will usually be accompanied by some type of audible distortion but not in every case. I really don't think you will hurt them, why don't you get a Radio Shack sound level meter and see how loud you are playing them? They are not expensive; if you have a hi tech phone it may have an app that does the same thing. I wouldn't know, I am a product of the crank phone era.