rjohn79395 wrote: With music in the background, SL's are typically in the 55-60 db range.

Sitting listening to "good stuff", 75-85 db.

When I want to really crank something, 95-100 db.

Listening to, for instance, a symphony on Blu-ray, SL's can vary from upper 60's to close to 100 db.

Average is probably around 75 db.

GEt's sound great at all the above!

Rick

+1

charliehatch wrote: ..... I have zero faith in the accuracy of any of these inexpensive meters.....

Hi Charlie. You certainly do have a point regarding the accuracy of inexpensive meters. However, even inexpensive meters are not necessarily as inaccurate as you might believe. Here is an excerpt of posts I recently engaged in (some rather heated debate too) forum.audiogon.com/discussions/does-it-have-to-be-loud on this subject.

I'm using a Dawson DSM101N multi-meter, which I realize is by no means a truly scientific exactly perfect measuring device. Also, according to manufacturer specification, it has a range of 40-100db, with .1 db resolution, accuracy ± 3.5%dB at 94dB, 1kHz sine wave. I have read higher than 100db within 2 feet of my speaker drivers, at the midpoint of the speaker cabinet (which in my case is 29 inches off the floor) on a number of occasions. I've read as low as 33db in the early morning hours when all lights are off (but the meter has a backlight), there is no traffic outside, other residents of the building are asleep, etc.

TIP:

When metering via a smart phone app, remove the protective covering, case, etc.

This may be more in the "more than anyone wants to know" category....

As Charlie said, unless it's a calibrated mic/high end instrument, there's room for error in the readings.

Wayne, I have a db meter similar to yours. My model only has dbA readout.

I have 4 SL app's on my iphone 7 Plus. (db Meter, SPL meter, RTA audio, and SPL Pro). The latter claims it's well matched with the iphone 7 Plus mic. RTA Audio shows SPL's in frequency bands from 32 HZ to 12+k HZ, and does show data down in the 32 HZ band.

ALL the app's on the iphone read some 4-5 higher in dbA mode than the hand held meter, and another 4-5 db higher still in dbC mode (especially with music with high bass content). So which is more accurate? The handheld unit or the iphone app's? Can't say for certain. Re dbA vs dbC, my understanding is that dbA tries to show data in the human hearing range and moderates effect of higher and lower frequencies. dbC does not and so is maybe more accurate in representing the SL's that reach our ears (and might damage hearing at excessive levels), whether all the frequencies are heard or not??

I could get a calibrated mic that is recommended as a good match to input to the SPL Pro, but I'm happy with the level of data I have. I use the iphone 7 app's in dbC mode, especially SPL Pro, to monitor SL's, and they are pretty close to each other. Those are the averages and readings I quoted earlier. May yet get the calibrated mic just to see what it says...

As Wayne said, enjoy the music at whatever levels work for you!

Rick

There are also so many reference charts available that can serve as a guide to whether or not your meter is accurate.

www.google.com/search?ei=4_emWp-YI8jx5gL....76....0.j1YAnqcWlUI

GDHAL wrote: accuracy ± 3.5%dB at 94dB, 1kHz sine wave. I have read higher than 100db within 2 feet of my speaker drivers, at the midpoint of the speaker cabinet (which in my case is 29 inches off the floor) on a number of occasions. I've read as low as 33db in the early morning hours when all lights are off (but the meter has a backlight), there is no traffic outside, other residents of the building are asleep, etc.

GDHAL, I hear what you're saying, and I've had similar readings with my meters. They all measure a wide range of sound pressures, but your accuracy is specified only at a single frequency at 1 kHz. The trouble with that is we listen over a very wide frequency range, and there is no specification over that range. (One of my meters has a similar spec, just one point.)

It would be great to see a specification that says something like +/-X.X dB relative to C weighted (or A weighted) standard from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. And, the spec should state over what sound pressure range that applies to (max or min dB). Now THAT would be a meaningful spec!

I fear that such is not to be found with inexpensive meters. If anybody knows of one, I'd love to hear about it.

You did get the point I was making. These meters have limited accuracy. They can be used for relative measurements with the same meter, but you really can't take the reading to court, and comparison with other brands/types of meters should be done with caution.

Charlie

charliehatch wrote:
GDHAL, I hear what you're saying, and I've had similar readings with my meters. They all measure a wide range of sound pressures, but your accuracy is specified only at a single frequency at 1 kHz. The trouble with that is we listen over a very wide frequency range, and there is no specification over that range.(One of my meters has a similar spec, just one point.)

It would be great to see a specification that says something like +/-X.X dB relative to C weighted (or A weighted) standard from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. And, the spec should state over what sound pressure range that applies to (max or min dB). Now THAT would be a meaningful spec!

I fear that such is not to be found with inexpensive meters. If anybody knows of one, I'd love to hear about it.

You did get the point I was making. These meters have limited accuracy. They can be used for relative measurements with the same meter, but you really can't take the reading to court, and comparison with other brands/types of meters should be done with caution.

Charlie

Hi Charlie -

Your point is well taken and I have no disagreement. Of course, the more accurate the metering, the better.

Thing is, as I posted out herein this thread after the post of mine you quoted, there are numerous sound pressure reference charts that one can rely on to draw an inference as to how accurate ones meter is, besides just manufacturer specification. Living in New York City for years, I'm rather accustom to walking right beside a jack hammer while in operation, and purportedly this is sound greater than 100db. Similarly, I've been in sports stadiums where sometimes excessive crowd noise is displayed on the big screen as decibels. And I've experienced well over 100 in this regard too. So by looking at various reference charts, I'm rather certain my meter really isn't all that inaccurate, especially for my purposes. Inexpensive meters are a guide, not an absolute exactly perfect indicator. I'm using it merely as a close (and it is close) approximation.

I'm rather confident that even if one were to use the most accurate meter, it would be shown that I listen to an extremely wide sound pressure range. In my estimation, and of course the source music plays a role, I listen between 60 and 110 db, C weighted. Frankly, I have little use for A weighting as much of the music I listen to at loud levels are lower frequencies. On average though, mid to high 80 dbs would be a fair assessment in my case, again A weighted.