Volume

My experiences with fellow forum members and other assorted audiophiles tells me I do tend to listen VERY LOUDLY. But for certain types of music you need "realistic" volume levels, and that's one of the reasons I've got a system that can deliver when necessary.

My view is that there is an 'optimum'  sound level for listening to music content.. If you look at typical Loudness Recruitment (the ability to resolve relative loudness) function of a person with healthy hearing, the SPL at the ears for optimum musical information transfer would appear to be from around 40dB to 100dB. 100dB is typically considered loud (110dB very loud and 120dB too loud).. above 100dB the ear itself starts to distort loudness and go into compression. Therefore musical information conveyed is limited or lost at this level.  I would say thete is no point having a system playing above this level, unless it is some sort of percussive staccato sound type transient and best to have the system loudness set to provide realistic musical levels between 40dB and 100dB. 

I am interested in other views.

My view is that the thresholds you noted for a person with healthy hearing likely decrease with age, perhaps paradoxically because as hearing deteriorates with age the tendency can be to play louder to compensate, when actually lower volume listening provides less cluttering of room sonics and better clarity. Louder listening in the long term would also tend to exacerbate any nerve-damage related hearing loss. Pure speculation on my part, but not without some first hand experience, and does seem to have some basis in logic. 

I'd also add that lower level volume can extend the duration of the listening session before fatigue becomes a factor. That said, it's always fun to crank it up for fun on a favorite track or two - no harm done.

tonym posted:

My experiences with fellow forum members and other assorted audiophiles tells me I do tend to listen VERY LOUDLY. But for certain types of music you need "realistic" volume levels, and that's one of the reasons I've got a system that can deliver when necessary.

I think that sounds like me, though it varies according to mood, and what I'nm doing (actively listening or just playing while I do something else). But when playing rock music at what I consider to be truly realistic levels I tend to only do for an album or two at a time out of respect for ears. 

As for volume control position, it is pretty meaningless without info on speaker sensitivity, which can vary hugely e.g compared to one of pf 90dB sensitivity, another of 84 dB will will require 4x  the power for the same sound level in the same room, while compared to one of 94dB sensitivity the 84dB one will require 10x the power - clearly equivalent to quite large variations in vol control position. Room size, furnishing and speaker/listening positions also have effect. And of course different sources can have different output levels.

Innocent Bystander posted:

tonym posted:

My experiences with fellow forum members and other assorted audiophiles tells me I do tend to listen VERY LOUDLY. But for certain types of music you need "realistic" volume levels, and that's one of the reasons I've got a system that can deliver when necessary.

I think that sounds like me, though it varies according to mood, and what I'nm doing (actively listening or just playing while I do something else). But when playing rock music at what I consider to be truly realistic levels I tend to only do for an album or two at a time out of respect for ears. ........

A system that can deliver when necessary, as it pertains to Music and Mood!

*Crank up the Volume.

I would imagine, a vast majority can relate to both of you gents. I guess that's why we dump thousands into this hobby of ours.

 As far as the position of my volume, 90% of the time I'm hovering around 9 o'clock, which is fairly loud. As Innocent has suggested, there's casual and active listening. The latter is the fun part, and it is not restricted to middle of the road systems.

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to attend two Hi End Audio Seminars, David Wilson & Naim.

The 109K Alex, combined with D' Agostino, and Vivid's 40K GT3s/Statement. Both Systems were hovering around the quarter million mark, and sounded like it!

What I appreciate about Systems of this magnitude, is the ability to excite, at moderate listening levels.

 The owner of the Dealership, David Michael, decided to push the G3s, not that it was necessary, but why not, 740 Watts into 8 ohms!

Wow!

That's the 10%, usually trying to impress, while entertaining, I've been known to max out @11 o'clock!

It is these brief moments, that reminds me of Hi End Audio Seminars!

As tonym put it, to deliver when necessary!

Getting excited, Out.

Allante93!