Sander deWaal wrote:
said:


One of the ironies of life is that several people I know that have audio
systems with highly exceptional dynamic range (capable of clean, smooth
sound at 120 dB SPL and more) and listening rooms with good acoustics and
are perfectly satisfied with the CD formats bandwidth and dynamic range.
One
such person is well known - Tom Nousaine.


120 dB SPL?????

"I see deaf people.........."


Just because you have the capability, doesn't mean you listen at that level
constantly.


I measured the SPL in my listening room during * normal * listening.
It hovers around 80 dB, with peaks of no more than 90.
With 2 x 2 Maggies of 84 dB/w/m each which makes for 90 dB/w/m in
total, that means that my amplifiers have to deliver less than 1 watt
on average at a distance of 1 meter for both channels.

Normally, I listen at a distance of 3 meters from the speakers, so I
could still even use a 300B SET to satisfy my SPL needs.


We have similar normal listening patterns and the distance from my
listening position to the speakers is 9.5 feet. The SPL figure you
gave is for 'normal listneing,' but thea's noit how I listen when home
alone and I don't ahve to worry about upsetting the wife and kids.

On rock music the norm is more like 90dB.

Anything over 90 dB SPL @ 1 m is almost deafening loud to me.

Do you have a subwoofer?

At the SR company I work for, we have some line array systems that are
capable of 110 dB in a wide beam.
Even when wearing earplugs, I ran away screaming when they were tested
shortly at near full power (2500 watts of total amplifier power, per
side).
That was at a distance of 20 meters..........

How anyone could even * think * about having a sound system in the
home that is capable of going 10 dB and more above those ear-bleeding
levels, is totally beyond me.


You're forgetting how much power it takes to get low bass. :-)
-

- Never argue with idiots, they drag you down their level and beat you with experience. -