And also, how many decibels is when things start getting a little crazy... windows/doors/pictures moving around and stuff?
Thanks!
Thanks!
black_z
That a question that all depends on the frequency and the size of the room. Generally the 30Hz down to 15Hz is where all the real kick and wall shaking will come into play. Your looking at reference levels in the 80db to 115db range.
That's like asking how many MPH is considered fast for automobiles. It's a matter of taste and tolerance. 120db is considered the threshold of pain, but then that varies by frequency. A realistic explosion could easily peak above 120db in the bass without being painful but you'd definitely feel it and if things are loose they will rattle. On the other hand many people (not me mind you) would be totally satisfied with a system that never exceeded 90db. I imagine you'll get as man answers as you will answerers and they may all be right.
Once again depends on frequency and how sturdy your house, furniture and decorative items are. I used to have a sub that hit 130db down to 18hz and I could feel the entire floor moving quite often (so could the neighbor 1 1/2 miles away), but if you have a cement floor and 2x6 walls you may never hear anything rattle. 115db is probably plenty loud for most people and would start shaking most walls and windows. If you live in a heavily populated residential area you most likely will not want to exceed 105db if you are concerned about keeping good relations with your neighbors and local law enforcement. If you keep it above 40hz you could possibly do 110db as lower frequencies move more stuff and travel farther.
Aim for reference, 125dB peaks in a bass managed system. That should shake you plenty.
It also depends on many many other factors. My couch will resonate violently even at 110dB or less, and actually, literally give me a massage when playing some types of music and movies with low frequency content. Very pleasant.
It also depends on many many other factors. My couch will resonate violently even at 110dB or less, and actually, literally give me a massage when playing some types of music and movies with low frequency content. Very pleasant.
Personally, I think as loud as you can go without creating rattles, buzz, hum; and/or not being able to keep up on the mid/high end. If you can't go above 90 without your windows vibrating, you need to fix your windows before you add a sub. SPL without accuracy, balance and control is just noise.
SPL without accuracy, balance and control is just noise.
Realistically, you shouldn't need a sub capable of more than 115db @ 1m outdoors.
Even factoring in distance losses, you get a lot of augmentation from radiation into 2pi space (the ground). Most subs are also placed close to walls. Some are even placed in corners (works best if you've got multiples to average out excitation of room modes).
On average, I'd say any sub capable of around 107db is enough. How loud do you listen? Because this would be -8b on the receiver which in most reverberant spaces such as living rooms, tends to give us a similar tonal balance to a more damped movie theater at reference levels (115db peaks).
More difficult than output, i'd say, is getting the deep stuff < 25hz. Every hz of extension seems to add some serious cost to the project both in terms of money but also real estate.
So how far below 25hz is enough? Some say 20hz extension is fine. Some say 15hz extension is better. Others say 5hz extension is necessary. That's your choice and most likely dictated by your budget. Any system capable of meaningful SPLS (IE 110db @ 10hz) at low frequencies will have excess headroom above 25hz anyways, leading to a very low distortion sound (that may even be "dry" to your ears).
Even factoring in distance losses, you get a lot of augmentation from radiation into 2pi space (the ground). Most subs are also placed close to walls. Some are even placed in corners (works best if you've got multiples to average out excitation of room modes).
On average, I'd say any sub capable of around 107db is enough. How loud do you listen? Because this would be -8b on the receiver which in most reverberant spaces such as living rooms, tends to give us a similar tonal balance to a more damped movie theater at reference levels (115db peaks).
More difficult than output, i'd say, is getting the deep stuff < 25hz. Every hz of extension seems to add some serious cost to the project both in terms of money but also real estate.
So how far below 25hz is enough? Some say 20hz extension is fine. Some say 15hz extension is better. Others say 5hz extension is necessary. That's your choice and most likely dictated by your budget. Any system capable of meaningful SPLS (IE 110db @ 10hz) at low frequencies will have excess headroom above 25hz anyways, leading to a very low distortion sound (that may even be "dry" to your ears).
When your eyes get fuzzy and you can't read the display on the meter anymore, the last value that you read is loud.
I concur. This may be too loud for concert BluRay on a projector setup, as the picture will get fuzzy 10 dB before you lose focus on the meter. It is a great reference for audio only.lcaillo said:When your eyes get fuzzy and you can't read the display on the meter anymore, the last value that you read is loud.
Is this how we should be tuning our subs for accurate reproduction? Or is this filtering already implemented in the media and subs should be tuned flat as low as possible?revboden said:
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