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What Volume do you listen at?

When you sit and listen actively to your stereo, what volume do you like to set it at?

I am thinking about replacing my mediocre system with a new High Dollar System ($30K). My guess is that when you have High End gear, you naturally want to play the music at a higher volume. Is that true for you?

I have a RadioShack Analog Sound Level meter. It tells me that when I have music on in the background I set it at about 50 dB. When I set it at what seems right for serious listening, it is more often 75 or 80 dB.

One implication of this is where I will put my new listening room. I had intended to put it in our living room (pictured in the link above). However, if I will be always wanting to play so loud that my wife will complain, perhaps I should set up a room in our basement.
hdomke
gregadd
574 posts
 
Of course the perception of loudness is one of the most misunderstood and neglected areas of sound reproduction.
The presence of noise and distortion adds dramtically to the perception of loudness. A less resolving system will tempt you to turn it up.
Thus my car and mini-system appear louder than my main sytem. Moreover my main has excellent low level resolution(vital for apartment living0
If you have ever lived with an aspring musician you will find ther is almost nowhere in the house where you can't hear them practice.
Live music requires almost no amplification. Your real challenge is to purchase equipment with low noise and distortion. Your desire to "turn it up will decrease.
The next step is dynamic range. Very important. I search for a volume that allows optimium resolution but still leaves sufficient headroom so you can hear dynamaic contrast.
tboooe's avatar
tboooe
1,009 posts
 
According to my RatShack SPL meter, I listen between 50-70. Anything above that and it just hurts my ears.
pbb
1,140 posts
 
Years ago, I made a post here about volume level, the main thrust of which was that for any given piece of music there is only one volume level that is correct. I, obviously, didn't invent anything here as this comes from a recording engineer of some repute. I had even postulated that every record should have some built-in benchmark indicating what that proper level should be.

You are right on one thing: a better system will be way more dynamic and, while the average SPL might be similar to what to you get with a smaller system, the uncompressed dynamics is where you will get your money's worth.

A dedicated listening room is really a must for serious listening in order to keep some semblance of peace in the house.
mlsstl
1,436 posts
 
My guess is that when you have High End gear, you naturally want to play the music at a higher volume.

I've found this to be untrue, especially with fully acoustic music. If the system has good resolution, dynamics and a low noise level, the urge to crank it up actually decreases in my experience.

However, if you are into head-banging rock at live concert levels, maybe you have a point. I don't enjoy the jet-engine sound level of many live rock concerts so I certainly have no urge to recreate that in my home.

However, if you are currently listening at 75 or 80 dB it sounds like you're in my league. I doubt that you'll be turning things up with a new system. Hopefully you'll just be enjoying it more.
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