In reply to:
I recall going to parties in the 1970s where someone with a cheap Pioneer receiver would have the thing blasting a couple of smallish speakers that were obviously distorting because the loudness control was on.
Hmmm, sounds like when my roomates blew my old RS minimus 7's (or something akin to them) during a party while I was gone for a weekend. This was twenty years ago and even then, I had a Vega non-powered sub, but they somehow mistook that "full sound" as meaning that the speakers were as capable as floorstanders.
Grrrrrrr.......
