Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners How Loud is Loud?

I have seen a number of posts where folks talk about listening to loud movies/ music. Well, I was wondering how loud is loud?

This evening we watched the Aviator and I sat the Radio Shack meter down and watched it for a while. Anything over 80 dB was a little too loud for us. Fluctuations between 70 and 76 dB seemed about right.

I'm going to measure it again when I watch NASCAR and they say "turn it up!"

For those of you who have meters, how loud do you normally listen to your movies/ music?

There is an 80-ish dB crowd, a 90-ish dB crowd, and a 100-ish dB crowd.

I'm in the 90 dB crowd. You're in the 80 dB crowd. Most of the people in the 100 dB crowd have M80s and/or separate power amps.

I'm in the 90-100 dB crowd, but I use headphones mostly so no problems with amplification here.

Otitis media sucks. My 95 dB is someone else's 89 dB, and in the bad ear, maybe even 85. It's something I'm trying to get fixed before I buy a hi-fi. A lot of people who play music loud aren't doing it to deafen themselves, but to listen at normal levels with their hearing loss.

I'm in the 70-80 crowd, I think. Although Dennis's system was quite impressive around 100 dB!

I'm in the 90db plus club.

WOW!!!! 100dB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had NO idea how really loud that was until I tried this little experiment.

At my listening levels, I guess that there is NO chance that I will "damage" my old Kenwood receiver with the M80s.

Have a GREAT day.

Bernard, I rarely get much past 82 db except for the occasional explosion, etc.

Decibel (Loudness) Comparison Chart

Decibel Sound Pressure Level Examples

jack always knows where the cool links are!!

bigjohn

Old people are like that ya know.

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Yeah, 90-100 is loud by nearly anyone's idea.

My RS meter says I hit 109db on my couch - and that was a piano and female singer. To be clear there - I had some other guinea pig run the meter while I stood in the other room. The other guinea pig ran home to try that trick with his paradigms, and promptly needed another tweeter replaced.

I have m80s with an Outlaw 770 - but the 109db was before I traded up from the 7100.

Anyway, I posted a while back - before I bought - that I was skeptical of REAL volume coming from such a - ahem - tiny package. I stand corrected. And my ears are still ringing from the mayhem.

I used to think I liked it loud. Now I'll just say 90-100db, and y'all can debate what's "loud."

Hi,

With movies, peaks of about 80 to 85 dB SPL at my listening area (M22s, EP500, VP100, QS8s) in 5.1.

With some "large orchestral" stuff (Wagner, Mahler) I up the levels so peaks are around 95 to 97 dB SPL. But that's using multichannel SACD or DVD-Audio or Logic7 with CD. Those levels are considered "very loud" on all the subjective scales of loudness. I often switch to the M80ti's for this material, along with the EP500, QS8s, etc.

Regards,

I always worried before my purchase that the speakers/receiver wouldn't be loud enough. Ha ha. Turns out I prefer the 80-90 dB range. You guys in the 100+ club are insane.

It's a fair thing to be concerned about. When I'm running M2 mains they are happy in the 80dB range but not really any more than that. M60s are happy in the 90dB range and could probably go higher without complaint. M22s are probably in between somewhere...

I ran the M80's up to 95 to 102. Had to stop there. Too loud, could get painful. I would have to say 85 to 90 would be the limit to my comfort level.

I've worked around jet engines for 20 years and might be sensitive to sharp/loud tones though.

My pain threshold drops to about 75 when the wife arrives home!!

Those charts neglected to mention the dB level of your significant other's voice as he/she yells for you to turn the volume down.

I'm waiting for NASCAR this Sunday. But, I suspect that I will NOT get to 102 dB.

My house will fall down.

LOL!!

also keep in mind that hearing protection is required at 84 dbs /8 hours. and double protection at 104 db's / 8 hours. Instantaneous sound levels of 140 dbs requires double hearing protection.

otherwise, a threshold shift (permanent hearing loss) will occur.


I'm in the 90+ club.

You folks are gonna have to speak up, if you would please...I can't hear a word you guys are saying.

I've never put the SPL meter on the HT side of my system other than calibrating but I do listen to music in the 90db range, unless Stevie is kicking out some tunes...then we turn it up.

You guys are going to need hearing aids in a year or two!!!

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hearing aids with an auto eq feature would be cool

OK
When you guys are ready for hearing aids, call Sandia Hearing Aids in Colorado Springs. My brother will fix you up.

In reply to:

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OK
When you guys are ready for hearing aids, call Sandia Hearing Aids in Colorado Springs. My brother will fix you up.

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Aren't hearing aids just small amplifiers?

Hmmm, a couple of monoblocks inserted in my ears. Might not be a bad idea Bray!

Or just get headphones and bypass the whole speaker / room acoustics / hearing aid thing...

I do like the idea of room EQ in a hearing aid though...

In reply to:

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Or just get headphones and bypass the whole speaker / room acoustics / hearing aid thing...

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What are you trying to take the fun out of it John?

You know, this talk about these hi-tech hearing aids may have me on to something. Every time I talk to my mother in law she just looks at me real funny and goes to humming...now I'm thinking that woman just may have Tony Bennett blasting in there!

Maybe they know something that we don't!

Well, I watched the NASCAR race this afternoon and when I really cranked it up, the meter was reading somewhere in the 80-85 dB range with a peak or two in the 87-88 range. That was really too loud for me to listen to for more than a couple of minutes!!!!

I really don't know how you guys listen to 90-100 dB sound. I don't think that would be fun for me.

But, then again, when I attend a NASCAR race in person, I wear earplugs the whole time. LOL!!! No kidding!!

That Biffle is on a roll huh?

Wow, 80-85dbs isn't what I would consider to be too terribly loud. But if your stuck listeing to the likes of Darrell Waltrip for 3 hours at a time I can see where 35 dbs would be outrageous. The boys in the booth blew it on that Stewart-Gordon incident (I mean take-down!), was saying how Jeff just lost it....right up until the replay.

>>I really don't know how you guys listen to 90-100 dB sound. I don't think that would be fun for me.

Try doing sound for the local bar bands for a few years, plus target shooting, plus motocross, plus going to a lot of loud concerts and sitting in front of the compression horns (no I don't think my Axioms are bright, why do you ask ?) and you'll find yourself going "pardon ?" at 80 dB

LOL!! No thanks!!

I like my hearing just the way it is!!

I'm in the 90 db range as well. I have to have some reason to justify keeping my Cinenova.

Got this from another board. How loud is loud?

"When you and your guests experience involuntary bowel movements from the listening position."

Yes, LOL, I would say that is too loud!!!

I gauge loudness with the cell phone factor. If it has to be on Vibe to be ‘heard’, then the tunes are most likely loud.