What do you consider "loud" for your system?

Fifteen minutes at 100dB is said to cause potential permanent hearing loss. I suspect 45 minutes at 90 would too. Certainly not an expert in the matter but as one who has whacked his hearing with loud music, guns and tractors....I don't listen at 90 dB for very long anymore........ just trying to protect what I have left.

For me 'loud' is usually around 80 dB and about as loud as I want it anyway. For most typical well recorded music that is a little past halfway on my volume dial. For over compressed stuff (everything new) that is about 1/3 on the dial. Usually listen at around 60-70 according to a smart phone dB meter (probably not very accurate but close enough).

Was recently at a small venue concert. Around 115 dB the whole hour-and-a-half show. I wore ear plugs. I saw a few others with plugs too...but not many. When I was kid I saw Foreigner. Ears rang for nearly two weeks after the show. Ironic that a wannabe audiophile (me) ruins his ears listening to music.

@mlsstl Thanks for that post. And yes, anecdotal experience is hardly a basis for personal choices. I can't tell you how many people I advise to quit smoking who have to tell me how Aunt Sophie smoked 6 packs a day, lived to be a 110 and was never sick a day in her life. The funny thing is that they often tell me this as they sit there wheezing from emphysema. The point being, folks often latch onto anecdotes that support what they want to believe and hold onto them even after the evidence (wheezing) has proven them wrong.

And while I think our perceptive tolerance to loud sounds can be attenuated to a degree, I doubt that 'warming up' our ears has any effect on attenuating the potential for damage.

I also disagree with this statement:

"If one can't listen at 95 dB comfortably it is most likely because something is distorting."

A pure tone at sufficient volume can become unpleasant and damage your hearing as well. Certainly distortion will make things worse, but I've got a pretty nice system and listening to even well recorded and well performed music above 95 dB gets old real quick. That's just me.

But, my apologies to the OP. He wasn't asking us for a lecture on hearing damage. I should not have brought it up.