Volume Listening Level

jimmypet

I'm curious, do any of you guys monitor your music listening levels on your vintage Polks?

(1) What is what you consider nice listening level?
(2) When you personally want to have a good listen to something that you consider loud where is that?

If Im sitting in my basement listening area just surfing by myself and listening to background music I think around 92-93A is my happy place, but if something comes on that I really like, a great song that I just want to surround me I'm not afraid to sit there around ~100dbA and soak it in.

What levels do you guys listen to on your vintage Polks?
Apologies if this is not On Topic for this subforum, mods feel free to move it to the appropriate place. This is the sub-forum I check the most.

Astrl55

You may not be "afraid" to soak them in, but those levels are not good for long-term hearing health.

skipshot12

I’ve monitored my levels in the past just out of curiosity.
I found my normal listening levels to be in the 70’s-80’s db to be fine. Once the frosty beverages take effect I’m into the 90 db range.

One thing I’ve found over the years is the better speakers are easy to listen to at high levels.
With the lesser good ones 😳 anything approaching mid 80 db are ear ringing levels. Always found myself turning down the volume and wondering why.

skipshot12

I should also say the type of amplification has a lot to do with listening levels.
All the receivers I’ve owned were all no bueno listening at higher levels.

I would imagine some very sensitive speakers may work ok with some receivers but I’ve never been a fan of those types of speakers.

Personal opinion.

DeRod

My normal listen levels are usually around 80 - 90db but the other day I was curious as to how loud my M7B and M7C would go.

I got the M7B with the Peerless up to 101-102db and they started to distort.

I got the M7C up to 104db (it was loud) no distortion and could've gone louder but the cabinets at that level were flexing so bad they looked they were about to explode.

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jimmypet

skipshot12 wrote: »

I should also say the type of amplification has a lot to do with listening levels.
All the receivers I’ve owned were all no bueno listening at higher levels.

I would imagine some very sensitive speakers may work ok with some receivers but I’ve never been a fan of those types of speakers.

Personal opinion.

I agree as well. A good speaker with alot of power presents so differently.
My levels in my office with Mon 7s and an Onkyo receiver powering are very different.
Get downstairs and have larger speakers, more power it really comes on differently.

@DeRod - I have never gotten my M7s up near that loud (well have not tried and I dont think I have the correct power on them to even try).
It's a wonderful speaker I bet it sounded good betting there.
At ~90dbA in my office (when im home alone) and I wind it up a bit they sound so nice.
That little speaker was a masterpiece.

@Astrl55 - Yeah I know LOL. I think my day job has both desensitized me to it and also probably put some internal attenuation on my ears LOL. I have not had my hearing tested in ages but my ex who is a sound engineer said many times during our marriage that I should LOL.

skipshot12

Over 100 is party favor levels for this guy.
And, I find as I’ve gotten older my party favors are less and lesserer.

Kex

I usually adjust my equipment so that +/- 0 on the volume control is 75 dB. That’s pretty loud, since peaks and loud passages will readily exceed that.

I don’t think I’ve ever tried to listen above 85 dB.

The A weighting should be used, IIRC.

A 3 dB increase doubles the noise level.

Anything over 75 dB can damage hearing. A lawn mower is usually 80-85 dB. A chainsaw 125 dB. The higher the dB, the less time is required.

Losing your hearing is not immediate, or painful, so you will not know it is happening, but it cannot be repaired. Hearing aids simply amplify what is left. Former transgressions from a misspent youth may manifest as tinnitus (or tin ear) when you get older.

skipshot12

^ and I agree with this guy.

Younger folks, preserve what you still have.
In my profession we were too macho and stupid to be seen wearing any safety gear.
Don’t be a jabroni!

Gardenstater

Pretty good article:

https://pulsarinstruments.com/news/understanding-3db-rule/

Our ears reduce in sensitivity the louder the sound, which can make it easy to damage our hearing, as said above.

daddyjt

Kex wrote: »

…Losing your hearing is not immediate, or painful, so you will not know it is happening, but it cannot be repaired. Hearing aids simply amplify what is left. Former transgressions from a misspent youth may manifest as tinnitus (or tin ear) when you get older.

This might be the first time I’ve ever agreed with you on this forum @Kex -

Kex

Hopefully not the last @daddyjt! 😂

I’m sure I’ve agreed with you a lot more often than once. 😜

Come to think of it… I don’t believe you: I think we were very much in agreement concerning the quality of Paso Robles wines. 😁

Emlyn

It's not just the speakers, it's about system synergy too. A high quality pre-amp will have a "sweet spot" volume control range where it sounds best. Go above and outside that range and the sound quality deteriorates even if the sound produced is louder.

invalid

Emlyn wrote: »

It's not just the speakers, it's about system synergy too. A high quality pre-amp will have a "sweet spot" volume control range where it sounds best. Go above and outside that range and the sound quality deteriorates even if the sound produced is louder.

It depends on the output voltage of the source and the input sensitivity of the amplifier and the sensitivity of the speakers, technically a volume control can only degrade the sound, but it's needed so that the amplifier isn't overdriven into clipping.

Striker2237

I use a meter to calibrate the "center" to about 80-83db when I'm listening to enjoy, when I want to be more critical or really listen to nuance I back it down to 75 center.

If I'm wanting to go loud I generally do not enjoy exceeding 95 center with 103 peaks. I'm 29 and have a lot of ringing in my ears already from competitive shooting so I have to moderate very carefully how long I go loud for. I also can't go too crazy as my listen position is 15 feet away so I'm sure the speakers are being asked to do a lot already lol!