I did a quick SPL check - at my listening positon listening to music around 47dB to 51dB. everything is clear and clean as a bell. It's raining outside and my AC is on low - without the music, I get 35 to 38dB. This is a Smartphone SPL meter as my real SPL meter is back in Canada so how accurate this is, is hard to say - perhaps add 5dB as a margin of error. I am pleased by their loud level capability as well - far more than I would ever need.
There are two sides to every story, but which one is true? I don’t think just because Peter responded that it automatically makes him right. I’m also not saying that Kondo is 100% right either. I’m guessing the truth probably lies somewhere in between both sides.
That's impressively low background noise for Hong Kong Richard are you very high up? Three floors up here in downtown DC the best I can get daytimes with no AC is 41-42. The bulk of my listening is done between 50-75db but in a rather small space.
These meters will give you all sorts of readings. My Radio Shack meter is considerably lower than others I have.
Great. I wasn't specific in my post, so to clarify, I wasn't thinking about low-level listening at all. I was thinking about the times when the music pulls you in and you want to crank it up as the emotion demands. Although it might've been the tiny room I was in years ago, I recall certain speakers which wouldn't allow me to turn it up when the mood called for it. It's disappointing when the speakers stifle your emotional high, and it's magic when it all clicks.
Are we talking actual low level music or actually loud music music played at low levels. The latter never worked for me under any conditions.
I live on an island that doesn't allow cars - there is a taxi stand and buses from the island to a small city of around 200,000. I live on the top floor 28th and have a private rooftop balcony - so no one above me. Kind of away from everything. Living in the city for audio would be horrendous. This is the little island I live on The video is pretty good - shows my daily commute on the bus over the bridge - 12 minutes and 8-minute walk to work. I'd hate to live in the downtown - I did that in Seoul - uggh. He left out some things: There are also three clubhouses with three gyms, several tennis courts, a bowling alley, a library, (and a mobile library and mobile Vet), two grocery stores, two indoor swimming pools and three outdoor swimming pools, saunas, Pool table room, table tennis, an Indoor vollyball court and a squash court. These are for the tenants. You have to rent them by the hour but it's like $3.
You mean like playing AC/DC at a low level? I mean the point of AC/DC is to be played loud so to me it's always better played loud because that kind of music sort of demands that. What I am more talking about is playing any kind of music - say Sarah McLachlan and on a B&W and Bryston set-up I feel I need to play it loud because at low volumes it sounds "muddy" so you keep turning it up to try to make it sound full and clear. So you get a feeling where you're there. With the AN speaker and their gear I could make everything out just fine and it sounds full-bodied and no need at all to turn it up. That to me is where other HE speakers also have had the advantages. You don't need to crank everything to make things out.
If it becomes “muddy” at lower volumes somethings very wrong somewhere no matter what the power of the amplification. It’s the quality of amplification and a synergistic match with the speakers that counts. I like levels at realistic performance levels and being transported to the venue, not the other way around. I’m a firm believer that you can detect quality in design and build of amplification and it directly translates to the enjoyment of all music. Works for me.
Lol...Good fking grief..."45db with 60db peaks"....dudes who do this type of "low volume listening" need to just "SHUT IT OFF" and go to sleep.
Oh wow....Peter Whatever cried me a river about what a rough life he's had...I feel so sorry for him now...NOT! One of them's a liar and it is a well known fact who it is (to those who've been around for a bit) ..But, go ahead man, come to your own conclusions...I really don't wish to argue this old news crap.
It looks to me like you are so far drunk on your "great" brand's kool-aid that you will find your own truth/justification about the guy selling it to you. Keep the troll talk/accusation out of it. Your biases make YOU look like a troll to begin with.
Unfair about what exactly. I think the original statement about listening at 47db was he could listen at that level and everything is still clear and clean. It seems a lot of folks here would be better off hitting the ignore button on a certain individual instead of adding flames.
Just that it seems odd to me to spend that much money on hifi and then listen at 45db - that's noise floor for a lot of people. Not sure where you read "could", I definitely read that as his regular listening volume. Kind of puts all of his comments into perspective though - not sure I confidently take much from his listening experiences when we listen at such different levels. One thing I've been realizing is that being a musician and playing a fair share of live music might make what I'm looking for quite different than an audiophile that doesn't have that same experience. I want to feel a recorded acoustic guitar in the same way I do when I play one and it's against my chest, I want a male vocal to resonate in my chest the same way I feel it when I sing, I want to feel a kick drum in my feet like how I do when I'm standing on stage. I can't imagine any of that happening at 45db listening levels on ANY speakers. Given the new understanding that some people listen at lower volumes than a refrigerator makes, your point of using the ignore button seems apt - I don't think I can can actually glean much from reading those musings.
I was laying in bed last night and counting sheep trying to fall asleep. But, the sheep were bleating just too loud (85db with 95db peaks) in my imagination. Then, I imagined a AN playing at 45db with 60 dB peaks.....fell asleep pronto.....bwaaaaahahahaha
This is my room (NIOSH app, it's accurate +/-2 dBA). With the TV low volume ~45 dBA. I can't imagine listening to music at that level. My average level is 70-75 dBA, peaks 100 dBZ
A few hours a day at 75 dBA will not cause hearing damage. I have my hearing checked annually, due again by the end of the month. I'm very careful about it, foam plugs and muffs when exposed to high levels. The threshold is 85 dBA for 8 hr/day over a long period of time, years.
One great attribute of my average listening levels is that they definitely keep unwanted visitors away. Every decibel has a silver lining. Decibels are your friends!
