How many watts do you really need?

@blackbird55 I didn’t suggest 5 watts faustuss did.  But I get what he’s saying as well as you.  My amp is 330 wpc hybrid tube amp. Happy listening 

@polkalover My mistake, I corrected that and redirected it to the sender. By all means surely, he is right when it comes to his purpose and others, who are not looking for headroom in their system amplification. I have 4 systems starting from Class A Vacuum Tube 22 watts/ Class A solid state 150 watts/ Solid state AB 250 watts/ AB Monoblock 500x500 watts per side. I love my Vacuum Tube amplifiers, but when I listen my large rooms, I need HEADROOM for my speakers. So, I do understand his post, but I also know we are not all in one BOX, and fore sure we all are in different rooms, and no two rooms are the same. So, in that it all becomes very SUBJECTIVE when talking about wattage and HEADROOM.

Good day and Peace to All

@blackbird55 

@polkalover My mistake, I corrected that and redirected it to the sender. By all means surely, he is right when it comes to his purpose and others, who are not looking for headroom in their system amplification. I have 4 systems starting from Class A Vacuum Tube 22 watts/ Class A solid state 150 watts/ Solid state AB 250 watts/ AB Monoblock 500x500 watts per side. I love my Vacuum Tube amplifiers, but when I listen my large rooms, I need HEADROOM for my speakers. So, I do understand his post, but I also know we are not all in one BOX, and fore sure we all are in different rooms, and no two rooms are the same. So, in that it all becomes very SUBJECTIVE when talking about wattage and HEADROOM.

@faustuss  VERY SUBJECTIVE, 5 watts is all YOU! will ever need. Also make sure you know what HEADROOM means in AUDIOPHILE Speech or when describing how much headroom someone actually needs in their system. Remember not everyone like or use efficient speakers in their system.

And again, not everyone uses speckers like KLIPSCH, and most care not to. Surely not when it comes to ultra-high end system setups. But you will find them in a basic or average layman’s Audiophile system. Not everyone listens to or even care to have a tube amplifier setup that only actually needs 2 to 3 watts, but you suggest 5 watts, and with that you are not looking for headroom in amplifier wattage. Once Again, it is all very ((( SUBJECTIVE ))).  Some of us just listen with headphones > To each his own.

I don't believe you understand the concept of "headroom" other than headbanging loud! Nor do you even understand the concept of "subjective". That list of amplifier powers you stated to @polkalover the 150w amplifier is only about 6 dB louder than the 22 watt one, the 250 watt one only about 2.5 dB louder than the 150 watt and the 500-watt 3 dB louder than the 250 watts! You obviously can't conceive the power outputs are based on a logarithmic scale and that it requires a tenfold increase in amplifier power with a given speaker to create a twofold increase in loudness.

Interestingly, you only saw what you wanted to in my profile otherwise you would see I also have solid state integrated amplifiers and other pairs of speakers much less efficient than the Klipsch's that I use with them. The Spendors are only rated at 85 dB per one watt, one meter that I use with the Naim rated at 60 watts and a headroom of about 2 dB equivalent to 105 to 110 watts enough to go as loud as I would ever want to in my listening room. In addition, my Dali's I use with the Rotel that are 88 dB at one watt, one meter and are more than adequate with the Rotel's 30 watts since they are 3 dB more efficient than the Spendors and require half the amplifier power to play as loud. I'm sure I've lost you so far because of your very limited and uneducated view of things but that's my "objective" view!

Oh and I love how you pivot to this -

 "Some of us just listen with headphones > To each his own."

when you close in your statement to me. Then continue with -

"I love my Vacuum Tube amplifiers, but when I listen my large rooms, I need HEADROOM for my speakers."

when addressing @polkalover! Make up your mind Sir!

@elliottbnewcombjr 

Some meters have a ’peak hold’ feature, others have a fast response/slow return so it’s easier to see values and peaks.

Which products are you referring to? I’m not aware of any analog meters fast enough to show peak.

You can also find 'peak' or 'max' on SPL meters, and calculate from your 'avg' (to ascertain how many watts were needed for those peaks based loosely on your speaker's sensitivity.

How do you back into it when the rated sensitivity is only from 300Hz - 3kHz? Maybe I'm not seeing something.