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whats your idea of loud music.

ok here' what got me thinking about all of this.

i was in a dealers show room a while back checking out his ar monoblocks(sweet)& he put some smooth jazz on for me,the maggies sounded fantastic & i asked him to turn it up to a loud volume so i could see how the maggies responded.

after he gave me a stupid look he turned it up a notch & then stepped away & covered his ears like they might rupture or something & were talking about the volume being at the point where i could of heard him fart from 5 feet away,i asked him why he wouldnt turn it up loud & he told me that he wasnt sure what i thought loud was but the volume he had was more than enough for anybody.

i also see threads where guys reccomend these low power amps that i have owned with speakers i have owned & they say that the amp speaker combination can obtain listening levels that are not only louder than anybody would care to listen but unsafe levels to boot & when i had the same gear i thought the combination was way under powered & no where near being loud.

i consider loud to be when you can feel as well as hear the music & not from sitting right in front of the rig,i also consider loud to be when things on the walls move & my coffee cup has a little ripple on top of the coffee or when the dog runs for cover,i also consider it to be not loud if somebody in the same room can talk to you from 5 feet away & be heard.

im not looking for a right or wrong answer im just curious as to what other guys consider loud to be defined as.

mike.
128x128bigjoe
nilthepill
842 posts
 
Elizabeth, Readster is correct. Not every 'Jerk' looses hearing by listening to loud music for extended time. I use to listen my car stereo at 105-110 db and my hearing is still perfect, but then again am not that 'old' and never been called 'Jerk'. So I am an exception. But you do sound like my wife....She always keeps telling me lower the volume...
jndean
119 posts
 
I'm a physician-internal medicine for 25 years.Most people in the field (ENT, Audiology)agree that sound levels over 85 dB for prolonged periods adversely effect hearing. That data also comes with many spl meters. Lots of people in their 60's and 70's require hearing aids. Some of it is genetic... but Elizabeth may be right.
John Dean
wwwrecords
172 posts
 
I read an audiophile audiologist say that if you can't hear your thumb and middle finger rub together next to your ear, you are running the risk of hearing loss. I usually follow that suggestion. I used to listen at fairly loud levels and didn't think it was causing any problems. I am now 52 and have noticed hearing loss. From age or loud music, I don't know, but I dont want to lose anymore of my hearing so I try to be conservative. It takes a little adjustment, but music is still very enjoyable within these guidelines.

The frequency that I seem to have lost is exactly the Hz of my wifes voice. ;)

Elizabeth, you aren't married are you? I didn't think so.
rackon
295 posts
 
Go Elizabeth!

Actually, at many demos I've been surprised at how loud manufacturers and/or dealers like to play music through their equipment. All music, rock or classical or whatever.

I know Harry Pearson liked to turn up the volume.

I suspect that some dealers don't like to turn up the volume because they're spinning smooth jazz - who'd wanna hear that loud? (Shudder.)

I'm a former choral singer. I've sung in symphonic choirs with orchestras and that produce...well, a LOT of sound. Much more than what you hear out front in tha hall. (It was a trip being in behind the tympani for some pieces, I can tell you.) So I do like to listen to music at "realistic", even visceral levels. But I don't listen that way all the time.

Speaking of loud...

I'll never forget the time at a Pink Floyd concert in the 70s seeing a road manager check (an apparent) faulty speaker. Well, actually, it was a phalanx of speakers, stacks and stacks of 'em, the monsters piled high and wide at the left and right front corners of the stage. The volume was LOUD. During the concert, this guy crawls out across the front of them, from speaker to speaker, making a painfully slow progress whilst the band is in full tilt. After many minutes, he finally arrives at the one he thinks is a problem...balances on his toes and leans the entire upper part of his body into the horn to check it further - blew his hair back! He was in platforms and tight pants too. Wonder what his hearing is like today?
bigjoe's avatar
bigjoe OP
680 posts
 
PEHARE, you might be right about loud pipes causing some hearing loss especially since my helmet dont cover my ears,in my youth i used to ride bikes with open headers that would rattle my teeth but since ive gotten older i prefer to run a baffel to quiet it down a bit,ear plugs are out of the question for me,drivers scare me too much.

there's about 30 of us who ride together & we generally make the younger guys with the louder bikes ride in the back on the right & every once in a while i drop back just to see how loud it is,jesus! these kids on the jesse james type hard tails will be completely deaf by the time their 30.

i have an old hard tail shovel head with open headers in storage that i plan to give to my oldest son when he's ready & every so often i'll fire it up & go for a spin,i cant believe i rode that thing for so many years with it being so loud,one of these days im gonna get around to measuring the sound level from my bikes just to see.

i dont listen to super loud music very often unless im half in the bag usually i listen at lower volumes but every so often i like to blast it out real good ,i was just curious as to what every body else considered to be loud.

god do i feel bad for the guy who put his whole head inside the horn at a pink floyd show,what was he thinking,i laughed my ass off when i read that & i can visualize his hair blowin back too.

mike.
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