i find that the louder i listen, the less power(headroom) is available, the dynamics in the recording do not go away because i am listening loud,the system still tries to reproduce them.if the power is not there:distortion,blown drivers,etc.

i have several cds(metal of course) that have extreme bass lines on a couple tracks(DOPE:LIFE&GODSMACK:FACELESS come to mind) and if i have the sub cranked up to fill the room and one of them notes hit,ohhh,let's just say it's a very ugly,unnatural sound.(let's call it noise not sound)

if you want a bass demo try those cds:track 1&6 on dope & track 7&8 on godsmack make sure all sensitive ears are out of the house because they are VERY vulgar songs.but the bass is almost unbelieveable.