Sound system configuration is flaky

[krishna.murphy]

Here a few more ideas for you, Krishna:

I use the following /etc/rc.local to 'max-out' audio volume on my laptop:
added sudo amixer sset 'Master' 64;
sudo amixer sset 'Speaker' 64; and
sudo amixer sset 'PCI' 255.

Audio settings can be viewed and/or changed in an LXTerminal with 'alsamixer'.
(I don't know if driving alsamixer values 'into the red' is harmful;
I keep the apparent volume about the same as in Win7 usage.)

I checked my settings as follows:

 cat /proc/asound/cards
 0 [V8237          ]: VIA8237 - VIA 8237
                      VIA 8237 with CMI9761A+ at 0xe400, irq 22
 1 [Headset        ]: USB-Audio - Logitech USB Headset
                      Logitech Logitech USB Headset at usb-0000:00:10.2-1, full speed
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ amixer
Simple mixer control 'Master',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 31
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 23 [74%] [-12.00dB] [on]
  Front Right: Playback 23 [74%] [-12.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'PCM',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch pswitch-joined
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 31
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 23 [74%] [-12.00dB] [on]
  Front Right: Playback 23 [74%] [-12.00dB] [on]
--------snip--------

I'm wondering how wise or unwise exceeding a value of 31 would be, given what I see here. I have different hardware now than I did before, with an external amp to boost things, but I'm still interested. Thanks again, and

Cheers!
Krishna