Noise floors

I'm not really sure I agree on the greater the system resolution, the less ambient noise floor should matter. As I've attained ever increasing levels of resolution, the more these ambient noises bother me. I tended to listen at higher volumes when system less resolving. Also, as my system's dynamics, resolution, transparency have improved I"m listening to much wider range of music genre, greater macro and micro dynamics mean quiet passages are that much quieter (system wise), higher level of ambient noise means I can't make out those minute micro dynamics quite as well as the macro, this phenomenon is very noticed in my room and system. Lower ambient noise levels would allow that minutiae to be heard better. At the level of system resolution I'm talking about every single little link in chain matters. I'd suggest listening room may be single most important component in audio systems. Even though I have dedicated listening room that's been judiciously treated with room acoustic devices, I'd now consider my room to be the weak link in system.

And I often hear the old adage, my system sounds better late at night. Usually you hear cleaner AC as the reason for this improvement, I'd also suggest it may have as much to do with lower ambient noise floor in listening room. Much less human activity, all activity makes some level of noise.

As for the snow thing, do you know that snow can be an insulator, ever heard of snow forts, may save you if lost in wilderness. Tires over pavement much louder than tires over worn down snow, yes, new snow will make crunching sound, not worn down snow. And if piled up around house may reach quite high on first floor of house, this insulates the house somewhat. And then we have much lower traffic volume and decreased speed during snow events. For many of us, traffic noise is likely the bulk of what makes up this ambient noise level.

Don’t laugh at electric vehicles, they will supplant the internal combustion engine, performance freaks need not fret.

Not laughing at the elec vehicle. They have been with us since the cars beginning. They are as impractical as tits on a boar hog. Will they become more practical? Maybe. But I wonder what the consumer is going to react in 6-10 yrs when the battery has to be replaced. Besides the cost of the battery $5-10K plus installation, there will be the recycle fee for all those dangerous heavy metals which go into these batteries and will be filling the landfills at an alarming pace. Then there is the charging stations which will be powered by fossil fuels. So how much have we really lessened our dependence on fossil fuels? And how many other problems have we created? Meanwhile my wife’s Avalon beats the torque monster Tesla X in a 500 mile race with ease. But that’s the long view of things. We Americans don’t consider the long term results anymore.

i agree that in the grand scheme there's very little an individual can do to lower the "noise floor." you can control resonances in your room, you can install separate power lines, you can get the greatest cables ever, blah blah blah but outside of these things you're ultimately at the mercy of your broader environment. there's only so much you can control. i agree with the people saying it's a misguided concern.

 if someone who lives in midtown manhattan can manage to put together a wonderful sounding stereo system, and i'm mad because my neighbor in the burbs runs his lawnmower outside my window once a week, then it might be time to re-evaluate my goals with this hobby. or like the OP said, simply buy some killer headphones  

I have high frequency noise that is beyond annoying and I can’t find it or isolate it and that’s when not listening to music. Music is all that helps. Sometimes it stops. Find an article in the Atlantic about people living near server farms as an extreme example of this. They hear a high frequency comstant tone 24/7. It drove some crazy enough to move. And no ,my ears are ok. The rest I can deal with noise wise. 

@rickderuter


Seriously? That sounds terrible. You live in a house or apartment? Is it inside or outside? This cannot be good for you. I would be hunting it down.