Bad Guy and the clip you always remember

Some tracks are music, and some are a test you did not ask for. For my B&W 800 Series, that test was Billie Eilish's Bad Guy.

That deep, detailed bottom end pushed them over the edge above about 95 dB, and they clipped. It had to be loud to happen, but once you hear it, you cannot unhear it. This clipping, you always remember.

One familiar song did what no review ever did for me. It told me the speakers were not the right match for my McIntosh electronics, and it sent me hunting for a better one. That hunt ended with the Wilson Yvettes. On the same track they reproduced that bottom end perfectly: no compression, no distortion, powerful and dynamic.

Then the same loud region taught me a second lesson. At around 95 dB with the Yvettes, when reality bends and the band materialises in the room, I sensed for the first time the MA9500 working at its limits. Not struggling, a McIntosh doesn't struggle, but pushing its limits.

Keep one track you know too well and play it loud. It will tell you the truth about your system before any specification sheet does.