Serenity ... It's more of a "I have been meaning to discuss this for years" than it is a "pressure is up" that got me to post this morning. Plus - I had some free time.
You mentioned implementing gear ... and that reminded me of one gent who is using about $15,000 worth of subwoofers with a pair of 12 year old Rocket 750's - which were decent speakers - but talk about a lack of balance in a system.
I have been amused by these guys for a long time. I have asked this question a few times, on other forums, for years, and never get an answer.
The question: When does sound quality start to matter? If SPL is "everything", then we should all buy Cerwin Vega and call it a day.
This whole idea that "this subwoofer is 0.5 dB better" based on a chart is just ... wrong.
