The number one reason NOT to use when justifying the new power amp to your SO:

"But honey, its for when, you know, I get all sauced up and wanna crank it!"

Here we go again..... OK, according to OSHA, at 85 db, hearing loss will occur if exposed for 16 hours or more, at 90 it's 8 hours, 100 it's 2 hours and at 110 it's .5 hours. Instant peak db's of 140 will result in immediate hearing loss.

Read this: http://www.etymotic.com/pdf/er_noise_exposure_whitepaper.pdf

Listening to music at 110 db's for any length of time is not a good idea.

I am currently running a set of M80's off a Denon 3808. I'm using them in my great room as surround speakers or four channel stereo. The front speakers are Opus 2.2's, being driven off a 200 wpc Rotel amp with the 3808 being used as a pre amp. The M80's do not have any trouble keeping up with the 2.2's. I've experimented a bit, driving the M80's with the Rotel and then the 3808. I can't tell a bit of difference.

Tinnitus sucks and so does hearing loss, which is inevitable with age . Playing music too loud just makes it happen quicker. Wish I had listened to my dad LOL.

I used to have a couple of speakers like the old Radio Shack Mach Ones on some short stands. I used to pull them up towards the bed so I could lay on it diagonally, upside-down, with my head on the corner. Then I would crank Ted Nugent's Double-Live Gonzo, Aerosmith, Kiss, Deep Purple, Hendrix, etc. as loud as my stereo would go.

Right there, between the two speakers, it was probably peaking to 105 or 110.

Sometimes I have problems hearing people talking to me if there are others in the room talking.

I blame Ted Nugent personally.

Hi Mark,

No question I've abused my hearing lots of times, especially when I was younger. I did start to wear ear plugs on subways (and at Axiom parties!) years ago; I'm not sure how much damage can be attributed to loud playback levels or the usual effects of aging. Certainly by my mid-to-late 50s I began to hate noisy restaurants, bars, and parties (unless I was so stoned I didn't notice) and I now search out quiet restaurants where I can converse in a normal tone of voice, or I make early reservations when restaurants aren't crowded.

On the plus side, I stopped going to loud rock concerts by the time I was in my early 30s, and I always preferred acoustic music of all kinds to over-amplified rock.

--Alan

Because the overall volume bothered you or were you losing the capability of hearing the person you were with over the background noise?

"unless I was so stoned I didn't notice"
Lol

You don't want to get close to one of these. 130dB blasts. The power you feel just from a single blast in the vicinity. It goes when you're trying to turn them off, standing next to it. Oh boy, must be torture!

The 'SPL Meter' app on the 'I' products (I don't own any) had different Db ranges that you could select on a rotary wheel on the screen. I know that it could register over 86 Db.

I know that anything over 85 Db becomes annoying to me - unless sauced of course...

TAM

There sure are a lot of forum members with substance abuse issues!