Some theories are floating around as to why they are played so loudly at shows.

For one, they do the BIG SOUND thing very well - and there is a significant percentage of listeners who want a loud immersive listening experience most of the times they listen to music.

Secondly, it takes a lot of power to create a spherical sound wave - much more than the directed sound wave from a standard speaker, or even a bi-directional one from a bi-pole.

Thirdly, and I might be wrong about this (who? me?) , perhaps the SPL of some frequencies decay more rapidly than others when they are spherical, rather than directed, so that to get an even frequency response at the listener position, they have to be pushed out harder (louder). Some percussive instruments generate spherical sound waves, so perhaps an expert in this will inform us about the validity of this theory.

Several bands of frequencies were much more compressed than others, and the highs lacked delicacy and finesse. We've heard a early version of the amps up here at Audio Federation, and the scuttlebutt is that they have only gotten better. We are not fans overly much of the Grand Prix Audio turntable, but it is unlikely to be the culprit. Their racks don't completely suck, and we even recommend them for people shopping in price ranges below that of HRS*, though that amp stand setup makes me nervous.