When I visited BB they had a set of z-680's set up and when I maxed them out they weren't that loud. Could it be that the computer they were hooked up to had the volume down because it just seemed way to quite for such a pricey computer speaker system. Another question, isn't there two different models of the z-680's?? One that is 450 watts and one that is 500 watts? If so is it just hit or miss finding the 500 watt one or are there certain places that always have them?