Mike,

First, please don’t take it as a personal attack; nothing can be farther from the truth.
We are talking about very specific issue and the difference in opinions should be only welcomed.

Since this issue is technical I feel that it MUST be argued on a technical basis. I can’t relate to the military service. While your example looks compelling, I also doubt that many of the forum participants have used or watched, or heard, besides watching war movies real explosion from hand grenades.

So let’s go back to the realm of cold facts. It happened, I did these measurements (sorry, I like to measure) several days ago, but the thread was dieing so I let it go. Now, when we have returned to the subject, I feel it’s necessary to publish the data for nothing, but dispelling certain myths and misconceptions.

So, here is the experiment. It happens that my listening area in the basement is adjusted to the office room. The listening room size is 16’x29’x9’=4,176 cubic feet. Let’s call it Large Room. The office area is 15’x15’x8’=1,800 cubic feet. Let’s call it Small Room. I moved one of my m60 (HEAVY!) back and forth and played the receiver’s calibration pink noise on that channel at the same level. There is a door between the rooms, so they can be isolated and the rooms are “typical” = carpeted floor, drywall walls and ceiling. I measured the SPL using C-scale, slow, at different distances from the speaker and here are the results:


Distance 3' 6' 12'
Small room 80dB 78dB 75dB
Large room 79dB 77dB 75dB

We see there is a very small (if any) difference at 1dB. Even that difference can be attributed to the accuracy of the Radio Shack meter. At my listening distance 12 feet there is no difference.

Here are the facts. And let me reiterate my conclusion. The room size has a very small effect on the sound level at the same listening distance and at the same power output. The major factor is the distance from the speaker. The room size comes as a factor indirectly, simply because the listeners can sit farther away from the speakers.

Now, back to the music.