Playback volume?

45 on CD 50 on vinyl.

With wich amp?

...JAvi

25. nap 200.

With many power amp manufacturers the gain of many of their amps is the same, just the maximum that they are capable of delivering (or maximum below a certain distortion level). That means that for a given signal from the preamp and with the same speakers and room the sound level will be the same. But you can wind the more powerful one up more without the signal deteriorating, and/or it will cope better with transient peaks. I believe this  is true for most Naim power amps, although IIRC there's an odd one out that is 1dB different.

When I first started with hifi it used to be different, with power generally quoted for a fixed reference voltage input, with gain also increasing as max power increased. This might still be true in some cases (maybe professional circles?), 

Little deviation on tópic but i now do more importance to the nuance of gain in low volumes, in contraste of higher volumes. ( do i make myself clear?!) 

in others words: daytime (have a UQ2 also)  normally use a 25/30 playback for normal listening. In "attack mode" 40/50. (20sqm) . At nigh 5/15 max. And its here that i appreciate some kinds os amps: the ability to give a larger range of small gain in volume in the lower end. 

Ah - the joy of having no near neighbours - 60+ when I'm in the mood (in a circa 5m square room), 30-50 most of the time. Superuniti into N-sats + sub.

The last dem I did, the dealer reckoned it was the loudest ever.

Pardon?

15-20% on the 552. Oh for a full range volume control as found on the MuSo! 

There was a time in the 80s when Naim did a full range volume control (or so I've been told) but the fashion was for non linear performance to give a false impression of power. Then along came CD with it's higher input sensitivity to compress the range of movement further still.

Bloody stupid.

Harry posted:

Oh for a full range volume control as found on the MuSo! 

For times when full range is not enough, volume control on the mu-so goes to 11.

I tend to want to play at a volume similar to that of the original performance: I want an acoustic guitar to be as loud as someone actually playing a guitar in the living room. Anything electrified would be appreciably louder. Naturally, room acoustics, wife acceptance factor and the ability to maintain a conversation tend to push the knob counterclockwise.

In practice, my 52 rarely goes past 9 o'clock. 

My SN2 spends most of its time at 9 - 10 o'clock.  For an occasional blast it will hit 12 o'clock and only very rarely goes higher than that.  It's damned loud at anything about 12 o'clock

UQ2-Nap100: 15- 50 depending on time of the day, program, ambient temp, etc.

XS2-HcDR: rarely goes past 9 o'clock.

JRHardee posted:

I tend to want to play at a volume similar to that of the original performance: I want an acoustic guitar to be as loud as someone actually playing a guitar in the living room. Anything electrified would be appreciably louder. Naturally, room acoustics, wife acceptance factor and the ability to maintain a conversation tend to push the knob counterclockwise.

In practice, my 52 rarely goes past 9 o'clock. 

"wife acceptance..." My main dogma.

Good one Jan

JRHardee posted:

I tend to want to play at a volume similar to that of the original performance: I want an acoustic guitar to be as loud as someone actually playing a guitar in the living room. Anything electrified would be appreciably louder. Naturally, room acoustics, wife acceptance factor and the ability to maintain a conversation tend to push the knob counterclockwise.

In practice, my 52 rarely goes past 9 o'clock. 

Indeed, there's no standard level. I listen to classical music, and I don't want a piano or a string quartet to play at an unnatural level. There  seems to be an optimum level for each recording, beyond which the natural perspective is lost.

My average listening volume on the UQ1 is around 25 to 30, Sometimes, briefly 35 to 40 max. (I have a 24 square meter room)

When I listen to internetradio (background/late-nigh levels) then volume is set to appr. 11 to 15.

The power output of the amp is but one factor, but usually the acoustic sensitivity of the speakers is a more significant one.  Only the output power matters, the position of the volume control is just how you get a given output power!

Take for instance the 30W continuous output of the UQ2 into medium sensitivity speakers, say 87dB for 1W; then the peak sound level you can get 2m from the speakers is 98.7dB.  To put that in perspective, that's louder than the short term peak loudness of a London Underground train.  Or to put it another way, that's sufficiently loud to be likely to permanently damage your hearing at just 30 minutes exposure per day.

How quickly do you really want to damage your hearing?  

Output volume level deoends on the source. Some recirdings (mainly the more modern ones) are at such a high level that '7.30' on a 552/300 is the max tolerable. Older ones need 10 o'clock. For the average, to get realistic listening, I find 9 o'clock about right, but if swmbo is in the room it has to drop considerably

on Superuniti, level 50 is needed to get good exoerience via iotas.

surely the speakers have a big effect on the required volume setting though.

Optimal output volume is when she whose ears I trust - let's call her SWEIT - and I agree. Then we know, it's our music.

Case in point, the Largo in this work:

Gaetano Pugnani (1731-1798)
Sonata op. 6 no 1 in B flat major for violin and b.c.
16 Allegretto
17 Largo
18 Andantino: Variazioni 1, 2, 3

... just one of the pearls from Piemonte and a deeply moving ode to beauty as imagined by an eighteenth century Italian mind.

Depends on the recording, older recordings tend to seek the 10.5 - 11 range!

But Sara K's  Xrcd 24 Hell over high waters, @ 9 o'clock it's bloody loud! But sounds great at 9, now showing off with vocals, I still can shot for ten to get scary dynamics, but yet still clean!

The test for me, with good recording, is when it's cranking, but you don't realize it, until you try to converse with someone in the room!

Cdx2/282/HCDR/3 x 250.2/Briks!

The last Seminar I attended, David Wilson's Alex was on display. The 109K put on a stunning performance, even though the room was to small for the Speakers.

But what grabbed me was the low volume listening levels, very smooth, and loud enough, but when the recording called for the kick drum , or snair, the drum sticks slashing off the rims, Alex delivered, the same scary notes I got @ 10 when showing off at home.

I guess that's what speakers in that range should do!

Allante93!

Perceived output volume not only depends on source, and amp capability, but also on speaker sensitivity. Then we could get into cable resistance, listening position and ear sensitivity. As long as the amp/speakers are man enough to provide a smooth, clear and undistorted version of the recorded sound, all is well.

Frenchnaim posted:

JRHardee posted:

I tend to want to play at a volume similar to that of the original performance: I want an acoustic guitar to be as loud as someone actually playing a guitar in the living room. Anything electrified would be appreciably louder. Naturally, room acoustics, wife acceptance factor and the ability to maintain a conversation tend to push the knob counterclockwise.

In practice, my 52 rarely goes past 9 o'clock. 

Indeed, there's no standard level. I listen to classical music, and I don't want a piano or a string quartet to play at an unnatural level.There  seems to be an optimum level for each recording, beyond which the natural perspective is lost.

That is also what Peter Walker used to say!

In my large room now (open area floor plan), 10 o'clock on an analog dial to near 12 for the loudest I'll go, and 50 minimum on digital, going to low 70s max when really cranking. My SPL meter registers mid to upper 80s dB from the listening position at its loudest.

Both of these measures are largely recording dependent...some are recorded really "hot" these days, and some older ones really need a push. Type of music also affects it, as does listening position. (My head is over 12 feet from the speakers, with nothing behind my sitting position for another 16 feet or so.)

But in a smaller but even still adequately sized room that would drop some.

I agree with all of you that of couse it depends on the recording. Yesterday I was alone at home and played Lucia's and Co "Friday Night in San Francisco" at 45. It was Ok... well loud ;-) and after that Dream Theater's "Metropolis" and I only could reach to 35 at a conft. volume.

The PMCs GB1i are not the most sensitives speakers ot there (87 dB) so I need to turn the volume up. Anyone know the gain of Unitiqute2 amp section? I see that all of you use lower volumes that me (in terms of volume knob position).

Thanks for all your replys... Javi

I avoid going beyond 80dB from the listening position, so I check it every now and then.

I notice as some of you that all Naim amps have the same gain, so I will expect same or similar "volume dial" levels for everyone.

Many of you roughtly lisen to your music at about 20% (9-10 o'clock). I was surprised that I have to increase my "volume" up to 40% (or even more). Reading through the specs of some models I notice that Naim preams output voltage is about 2.1V while DACs/stremers, like UQ, NAC 172,... has an output of 775 mv. That agrees that  I require more "volume" for same dB.

...Javi