Am I pushing the amp too hard?

[pbvoorhees]

Greetings everyone,
I completed building the S.E.X. 3.0 a few weeks back. It's my first build.
I am really enjoying the amp. I built it to use primarily with sensitive speakers.
Pardon if this is a very basic question, but when listening to the S.E.X. with speakers (98db sensitivity @ 8ohms), I have to turn the volume knob up to about 3 o'clock to get a good amount of volume.
1. Does this seem 'ball park' correct for sensitive speakers? And,
2. If I am cranking the volume knob up, am I also pushing the tubes (or just the amp in general) too hard?
I ask because I recently plugged a set of headphones (Grado SR325x) to be sure that the headphone input was functioning properly and I only had to turn the volume up to 9 o'clock to achieve a significant amount of volume.
I know we all have different ideas about what a 'good amount of volume' is and I am also not forgetting that this is a two watt amp.
I guess I am really asking if cranking the volume knob up very high while using the S.E.X to listen with speakers is at all damaging to the amp.
It all seems fine. I am not hearing any distortion. I just want to be sure I am taking good care of this new piece of equipment.
Thanks for considering this question.
Pieter

[Paul Birkeland]

I have to turn the volume knob up to about 3 o'clock to get a good amount of volume.
1. Does this seem 'ball park' correct for sensitive speakers?

There isn't anything to read into here.  The level of signal coming into the SEX amp will depend a lot on the specific source component you're using.  The amp will play a lot quieter at that volume setting when fed by the headphone output of a phone compared to the output of a Lumin streamer.  I'd expect that specific difference on its own to be over 20dB.

2. If I am cranking the volume knob up, am I also pushing the tubes (or just the amp in general) too hard?

The amp is class A.  It's always running about as hard as it can.

I ask because I recently plugged a set of headphones (Grado SR325x) to be sure that the headphone input was functioning properly and I only had to turn the volume up to 9 o'clock to achieve a significant amount of volume.

Grados need very, very little power to go to full volume, so this isn't surprising.

It all seems fine. I am not hearing any distortion.

That's all that really matters in the end!