How loud is loud, What DB is actually loud?

I have a friend that listens to his musics very loud at times. In high school he put in ear plugs in his car to "feel" bass and actually got a nose bleed out of the deal. When we shared an apartment he had the system in his room cranked up so loud that a lady from the next building (about a 30 foot air gap) came over to complain. I requested that she wait while I got him since he wouldn't believe the complaint if he didn't hear it from her. In any case, we used a dB meter once to check the listening volume because he wanted to see how it compared to OSHA recommendations for hearing damage. I don't think he even exceeded 95 dB (probably not the loudest he ever turned it up) on the meter. We were both surprised as we expected a higher number. Concert volume is stupid in my opinion.

Mceljo,

Correct , 95 db in a domestic environment is very, very loud, even on crescendos.

Viggen900 , agree , most high sensitivity speakers suffer from uneven and exaggerated bandwidth IMO and most balanced speakers tend to be in the high 80's 88-89 being very good.

I wouldn't let sensitivity be the criteria for looking...

I dont know who the nutter is who had 135db in the car, but I suspect the figure is wrong. More like 95db... Or he is deaf or dead.

I seem to remember the space shuttle taking off is 135db several miles away!

A quad will not get you rocking. Maybe a big sound lab could if you like ESLs. A big magnepan if you like that ESL sound will get you closer and will be cheaper. But you will need a lot of power to keep it controlled. ICE power will do it for reasonable money.

Real men (and real women for that matter) listen at no less than 120 db, for hours. It may seem loud at first, but don't worry, after a few months it won't, and, as a side benefit, neither will anything else. But on a serious note, if you want volume try either (a) horns - for more than one person and mid field or (b) large studio monitors and near field listening. The efficiency of the horns will do away with a need for a lot of power - try to find something with a horn loaded bass as well as the mid and high.