What is your listening position distance? How.....

JohnnieB

JohnnieB

Senior Audioholic
Can't figure out how someone could listen to music at 100dB. Maybe it's just because I'm young and have good hearing :)

Sent from my SM-G360T1 using Tapatalk
Are you implying someone is old and deaf?o_O
I dont think its nice to talk about TLS Guy that way. :D
 
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yepimonfire

Audioholic Samurai
Are you implying someone is old and deaf?o_O
I dont think its nice to talk about TLS Guy that way. :D
Haha. No, just that 80dBc sounds pretty loud to me as it is. I have no problem with movies hitting 105dB or even 115dB during intense scenes, however, a majority of this is LFE, 100dB for music, especially rock music or other types of music with limited dynamic range is uncomfortable for me.

I've heard other posters claiming 75dB is "background music". Can't figure out how, 75dB is my average slow weighted music volume, and I don't consider it background at all.
 
JohnnieB

JohnnieB

Senior Audioholic
Admittedly, I do have some hearing loss. Womens voices at speaking volumes seem to be the worst for me. Probably why my ex gf said I never listened to her. :rolleyes:
Yes, compressed pop/rock at 100db is a bit much after while, even if it is just frequent peaks. I will say though, the fact that I can even stand it, speaks volumes of the RAAL tweeters IMO.
 
P

PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
So since you dislike me asking apparently....what is it you dislike about me asking since you mentioned you didn't understand?
I am curious to know the reason too, but I suspect it was due to misunderstanding. It appeared you wanted to ask some questions prior to giving specific answers. That's fair, and I agree that could be an effective way to allow precise to the point kind of follow up response, but that might have been taken as being sarcastic. I am just taking a guess as I have had encountered something similiar (the "dislike" thing) in a recent post..

Mr. Magoo: We cannot simply go by the volume position when trying to determine how much power the amp is pushing, how loud (in dB) you are listening to and whether your risk damaging the amp/AVR and/or speakers. You can have two RX-A1020s in two different rooms set up normally but differently; and connected to different source players, or simply playing different source material, yet one could be outputting twice as much average power, or more, even if both are set to the same volume position. "Reference" is only relevant if everything in the chain, including the source media itself follow the same standard, such as THX.

As you probably know, one has to consider many other factors such as distance, sensitivities of the speakers, the room acoustic environment, the source signal input level, and whether you have run YPAO or made manual EQ, or tone control adjustments, among others. So in theory even when the volume is in the negative range, you can still risk damages to the speakers if for example your signal input is super strong such as some online MP3 material. As an extreme example, in some cases you risk damages even simply by turning on your equipment in the wrong sequence, resulting in that dreaded "pop" sound.

That's why some people are reporting their sitting distance, dB they listened to using spl meters, wattmeters on their amps (such as move's Mc amp). You can also take voltage and current measurements at the speakers easily if you have a suitable multi meter (not all can do it with reasonable accuracy).
 
T

Tankman

Audioholic
I was about to be real disappointed. I am a considerate and uneventful neighbor. I had just dumped a ton of work into this system, thinking now I was going to have to play it on eggshells. Total bummer. I have stepped outside before and I barely hear it. When all else fails, rely on one's rights. This woman has given me a hard time about everything. Turned me into the city about the paint on my eves. Inspector couldn't find anything but it causes me aggravation and worry at times. She needs to live in some HOA somewhere. She's old and miserable and her husband is a miserable sort. I am sure this is just her projecting her unhappiness outward. Lucky me!
MrBoat, I to can surly relate I to had some of the nastiest neighbors living below me a year ago. Old couple, he a sicky man and could get mean in a heart beat, his old lady was as nasty as an old lady could be they where both huge. They moved, well cause as nice as could be nothing seemed to work so in short of a long story I went to war so to speak with them. Cops and all I won, well cause I used my cell phone on record, voice and video cause me who lives alone it worked. Oh and his old lady was going through all the mailbox's so umm...she got reported to the Post Master...hehee..now I live in the downstairs apartment they use to live in hehehe...
 
M

MrBoat

Audioholic Ninja
MrBoat, I to can surly relate I to had some of the nastiest neighbors living below me a year ago. Old couple, he a sicky man and could get mean in a heart beat, his old lady was as nasty as an old lady could be they where both huge. They moved, well cause as nice as could be nothing seemed to work so in short of a long story I went to war so to speak with them. Cops and all I won, well cause I used my cell phone on record, voice and video cause me who lives alone it worked. Oh and his old lady was going through all the mailbox's so umm...she got reported to the Post Master...hehee..now I live in the downstairs apartment they use to live in hehehe...
Probably 40ft between our houses. Their bedrooms at the other end of that so add another 30 ft or so and their house is concrete construct like mine. They live with the windows closed/climate control as do I when I have the music on. Smooth Jazz mostly at night. I have a 12" subwoofer in a sealed box so my system isn't exactly bass forward. The level light on the sub amp only blips on the first light during bass peaks. I don't watch movies with it on. I just like to cancel out the ambient city sounds.

Anyway, I think the officers talked some sense to her and maybe she was just having a bad day, or something.
 
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Tankman

Audioholic
9'.6 from HDTV it's as far as I can go, and dead center of sofa, and around 90 db,s. Apartment life s..ks man..
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
Man, that's something I just take for granted, living in a house. I don't have issues with neighbors and can pretty much turn it up as loud as I want. I feel for you man. For that reason alone apt life does kinda suck.
 
T

Tankman

Audioholic
Man, that's something I just take for granted, living in a house. I don't have issues with neighbors and can pretty much turn it up as loud as I want. I feel for you man. For that reason alone apt life does kinda suck.
Thanks for the kind words, at times believe or not I do get to fire it up to reference level at times but it's not that often I do. At times when I have Diana Krell spinning on the TT I crank it to the 1 to 2 o'clock sweet spot.
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
Thanks for the kind words, at times believe or not I do get to fire it up to reference level at times but it's not that often I do. At times when I have Diana Krell spinning on the TT I crank it to the 1 to 2 o'clock sweet spot.
That's not as bad as some. 90db is a pretty lively listening level. I've lived in places where a sub or larger speakers would be absolutely out of the question.
 
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Tankman

Audioholic
That's not as bad as some. 90db is a pretty lively listening level. I've lived in places where a sub or larger speakers would be absolutely out of the question.
I don't have my sub running hot it is set at 75db. When I first moved here I was upstairs after a lil over a year moved downstairs. What helps is I have a end apt and no one above yet and the peeps who live to the right are gone most of the day. So I get to crank it up some that helps. But yeah looking to move come OCT.
 
Johnny2Bad

Johnny2Bad

Audioholic Chief
The values like -10dB and -18dB are not relevant criteria.

For it to have meaning, we would need to know the 0dB reference Sound Pressure Level (SPL) in dB.

The SPL at your listening volume should be measured instead, so for example you should be using a measured value at the listening position, such as 90dB SPL, and if you use a weighting, indicate which one (A, B, C, unweighted, etc).

For a standard reference you could also measure the SPL at 1 meter as well as at your listening position, and indicate the distance from the speaker you sit.

The output of the amplifier should be measured at the loudspeaker terminals without altering the volume setting with a voltmeter and converted to watts with a formula that takes into consideration the loudspeaker impedance. Since most voltmeters are unreliable above perhaps 100 Hz, the voltage measured should be considered as applying at that frequency and below, and will provide values usable for comparison with other systems and listeners.

It would also be helpful to indicate what kind of music you are using, since the crest factor varies with musical genres, and that will affect the average voltage output of the amplifier. Ideally we would all use the exact same recording for comparison, actually.

As the majority of power used by a system is at low frequencies, that is reasonably reliable as a measure of overall voltage output.

If you use the voltmeter to measure speaker system impedance, consider that the measurement will be at DC (0 Hz), not 100 Hz. You may be able to determine the impedance at <100Hz from a chart provided by the manufacturer, or a test report. If you do so, consider the lowest impedance in the chart that falls in the 1~100 Hz range as the impedance that uses maximum voltage output from the amplifier for your calculations.

2.83 Volts at 8 ohms = 1 watt output; at 4 ohms it equals 2 watts output, and so on.

If you go through the exercise, you may be surprised at how little power your amp is generating when listening at your normal volume level.

As for determining the peak power level on transients, that depends almost entirely on the source material. The voltmeter won't respond fast enough to read beyond an average level indication, and you will want to use a "true RMS" capable meter.

If you use a classical recording from an LP record, the difference between average and peak voltage could be as much as 20 dB, but if you use a modern pop recording from a digital source, it could be as low as 3dB and even 0dB ... the average level is the peak level.
 
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killdozzer

killdozzer

Audioholic Samurai
I suspected it would be more complicated. I have no means of measuring, but I know I have more sound reflections in a hard walls/floors room than most of you (and an unfortunate boominess to follow). If the volume knob is half way (which of course means nothing) I can barely stand in the room. But knob at one third and further away from back walls is wondrous.

kd
 

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