Dynaudio contour with 30 watt amp

Technically tube amp won't clip but will simply sacrifice the power. To bring these speakers to 87dB you'll need muchmuch more than 1W.

86 db is loud. I believe I listen to music at most at that level.
Is the sensitivity of this speaker measured by "2.83V/m"? 2.83 volt input and the microphone was placed 1 meter from the speaker’s front baffle.

If most of the amp send 2.83V to the speaker, then I only need 2 watts if I sit one meter away from the speaker.

Contour 2.8 has 4 ohm, so I guess it needs 2 watts of input to put out 87 dB.

There is good 87 db and not so good.

More power and current = better 87 db with dynaudios.

Tube amps best apply elsewhere.

Maple22,
Y our math is right, 2.83v at 4 ohm load= 2 watts required at 1 meter distance. May I offer friendly advice? Try the 30 watt tube amplifier and simply judge for yourself. There can be substantial differences between two amps with identical power ratings, quality matters a lot. At CES this year and last year in the Dynaudio room( this was a very generous size room by the way) they used the tubed German Octave amplifiers exclusively on their speakers. The sound and music reproduction both years was exceptionally good. You may find you prefer tube amps rather than solid state, who knows? Just try and hear your self. You're right maple22, 86 db is pretty
loud lf you don't suffer from a hearing impairment. At your specified listening requirements I suspect you'll be fine with 30 watts ( just demand high quality well built amplifier).
Good luck,
Charles,