I'm curious. What is your "normal" listening volume?

Temporary insanity = when my wife gets Disco Fever.😜

Room volume. Which, of course, varies from room to room and user to user. Decibel readings are irrelevant. IMO...

Casual listening 65-70, serious listening 75-85 depending on music. 

Some music demands 85 to be realistic. 

Peaks of 80-88 dB if my wife is in the shower, or not home.

C weighted.

 Fast response.

Measured at the listening seat, 8' from plane of speakers.

One time, listening briefly at really loud levels (about 94), I got curious.

Got up and measured the SPL a couple of inches from the speakers. It was peaks of 116 dB. A few seconds later the volume got back to comfortable levels.

depending on recording  but I tend to listen to between 55 and 85 db. mostly it seam like 65-76 db is a sweet spot where albums sound the best ,

I shoot for 70db, 75db max. Listening chair 9 ft from speakers.

@dogberry 

I hear ya (no pun intended). Probably headed there myself!

I am using the Decibel X app weighted in A.  They offer other weightings, including C, but you need to purchase the premium version. I am only using it to verify sound levels when comparing components with different output voltages so the free version is good enough for me.

The last time I measured I was hitting peaks at 119 dbc at slightly under 9' away. Most of my records are not excessively compressed so I will guess that the average continuous level is closer to 110 to 112 dbc.

My meter reads dBA.  I cranked the volume up and 75 to 80 is pretty loud. I don't care to go much louder except for certain rock songs. My ears would bleed at 100+ dBA. 

@audiorusty

The last time I measured I was hitting peaks at 119 dbc at slightly under 9’ away.

I don’t believe that for a sewcond. That’s ear bleed, ear damaging volume. Surely there is a problem with how you measure. 120 dB marks the limit from which sounds become painful and very dangerous to the human ear.

I start with loud enough to overcome the psychoacoustic masking of  my LOUD (easily at the perceived level of background conversation) tinnitus in the left brain. Insert LOL/ tears emoji.  After that:  music, mood are all in play.  Some music Must be played loud and deep to convey its meant experience imo.  

As to blowing back your hair

Posting pic a is always weird sorry

Yes 120 db can only stand for less that a minute then damage to the hair cells in the cochlea begins to happen.i do this to hear the base but have ear muffs on .osha states 80 db for 8 hours is the safe limit.i have several kw mono amps and some prominent crown 12000 that push the wattage.enjoy the music and the search.jays audio review of the magico q7 don't wake up until 80 pluss db and they are power hungry.

75-85 db

Up enough that one can't stay in the space without muffs ...🤦‍♂️👍

Sounds better at levels that make for sense and sanity. ;)

Everything all at once is doable here.

Enough that I get concerned about how warm wires are being wrought.
Anything that amplifies has thermal shut-downs, so good there.

No neighbors at night to annoy.

Sweet.

@mark200mph Wrote:

Yes 120 db can only stand for less that a minute then damage to the hair cells in the cochlea begins to happen.

See here last page caution.

Mike

I just bought a meter.  I tried 2 different meters and a couple of apps.  The meters were more consistent.  50-70 dBA depending on the music.  Some peaks into the low 70s.  That’s from my listening chair.  I sit about 3 meters away from my speakers.  

...enjoy the music and the search.jays audio review of the magico q7 don't wake up until 80 pluss db 

Yet Robert Harley says these driven with the Lamm 18 watt set's "was nothing short of magical in its reproduction of timbre, space, low-level detail, and other qualities that greatly contributed to the overall sense of realism"

I can guarantee I will never be in the market for 750 lb speakers. And if I want to feel my house shake when I listen to music I will just buy a house near the train tracks. 

120dB was said to be the sound pressure level of the loudest concert ever in 1976 (The Who, at Charlton Athletic Grounds, using 76,000 watts), a record that stood for ten years. You can ask Peter Townsend whether he regrets that...

I do play the soundtrack with the dopler effect of the train comming closer and pitch change and leaving with pitch change.the advantage is I can play it when I want and the train doesn't wake me up at night.normal listening 50 to 80 db.i did go see the who in the 70's it was loud. I guess that's why we have a volumn know we can listen at the level we're in the mood for.enjoy the music and the search. 

@guscreek 

"Some music Must be played loud and deep to convey its meant experience imo. "

IMO too!

In the mornings when the house is sleeping around 65db, my noise floor in the AM is 25db. 

In the afternoons, around 80db, noise floor around 30db. Between 80-90db is my critical listening volume. Also kind of my happy place. 

When getting into it, dance party mode, around 100db. Usually not in my listing spot for that. Every once in a while, want the house to shake, do 80% volume around 106db, have hit over 110db a couple of times. But it's painful to be in the listening room. But it sounds great outside.

...as a rule, I try to avoid going to 11 on the volume....
Getting blown away makes the Maxwell Guy look like it’s just a mild breeze....

(...another jpg argument in posting...)

60-75

Hello Brokenrecord,

My average listening volume level for stereo music as measured on a calibrated DB meter is 68 to 80 db depending on the passages. I do crank it up for my surround sound/cinema rig ranging from 78 to 90 db. The higher range is usually explosion, engines, gun shots, etc.  This is subjective but I do limit the 90 db listening to brief period to keep my ears happy.   Btw all measurements are taken at the sweet spot listening positions. 
Ps. Sometimes when we are just chilling we find 50 to 65 db to be just right.

Enjoy the music. 

Most common listening volume level for me is around 80 - 85db at my seated position, which is the center of a triangle with both speakers about 10 feet in front of me, and 6 feet to either side of me (angled slightly towards my position, of course). My ears at the seated position are also probably about six inches higher off the floor than the top of the speakers.

I find that this volume level equates to about 1 watt of output (based on the reading from my in-line analog Power Meter)... doing the traditional "1 kHz tone at 1 meter from the speaker face" on my Sansui SP-5500 speakers I get a reading of about 92 db on the db meter (official sensitivity rating of the SP-5500 is 98db; I have done some modifications to the speakers however, which may have affected that number)... I'm assuming the "at seated position" db level is lower due to the distance from the speakers and the fact that my listening room is fairly large (18 ft X 32 ft) and perhaps some sound absorbtion by the furniture in the room..?

Day time - 65-70 dBA

Night time - 45-55 dBA

My ambience noise is around 25 dBA w/o AC

Max volume is 70-72 db   That’s typical on orchestral climaxes. Sound level probably mostly between 55-65db for most part. Total range is about 35db to 72db. Speakers are 8.5’ from me and almost 7’ apart and at least 5’ from any side walls The room is carpeted. 

Depends on the kind of music & my mood. Acoustic, bluegrass, folk about 80 - upper 80’s db at 10’ from speakers. Rolling Stones “Can’t You Hear Knocking” on their Sticky Fingers album, 100+ db as it was meant to be heard! I have a pretty powerful tube amp & high efficiency horns so the system is loafing along at any listenable volume in a pretty big room and sounds great. 

@jonwolfpell

"Rolling Stones “Can’t You Hear Knocking” on their Sticky Fingers album, 100+ db as it was meant to be heard!"

Word!

between 90 and 95 decibels. I like it to have the same frequency balance as live music, which only happens when you crank it.

For me depends on the dynamic range and compression level of of what I'm listening to.

- Classical with many peaks...peaks over 90, average 50 - 60.

- Wall of sound rock / metal (Devin Townsend)...60 max.

- Small acoustic setting...60 - 70.

More during the day, less in the evening. 8 - 9 ft away from ML Ethos.

85 db usually for active listening. It’s enough to achieve a full soundstage and I admit my Magnepan .7s aren’t at their best at low volumes.

Great question. I measure this from my listening position. In a normal size room (12x15) I listen at 75dB. I used to listen at 10dB louder but that was a single-family home; now I'm in an apartment.

75-85dB in large open great room. 

Typically less than 90 dB and always less than 85 when the dogs are with me.

My understanding is that this will not lead to hearing damage if exposed for only a few hours a day.

I do not think my system needs more work. It's all personal preference and the music to which one listens. Eva Cassidy at 90 is not my cup of tea but nor is Captain Beyond at 70. 

@nonamesleft4me 

"I like it to have the same frequency balance as live music, which only happens when you crank it"

Bingo! Give that man the giant stuffed Pokemon!

I find it amazing how my listening level of DB-C at 10 feet back in an open 16x22 room is 40-60’s depending on genre and a track’s recording quality.  Approaching 70 DB-C and it starts getting uncomfortable and less enjoyable.  I cannot fathom listening in the 80-90’s. I would have a mutiny in my household as well. 

60-70dB with family around doing their things.

78-85dB with an empty house, measured at the listening position. This feels loud, or at least authoritative, without being uncomfortable.

Typically 70-80 dBC fast @9’ from speakers. Occasionally boost up to 85-90 dBC, but not often.

I’m usually around 90 db. Sometimes louder if it fits the recording. This is measured with an analog Radio Shack meter, C weighted.

Typically from mid 70's to mid 80's but have seen peaks to 96db. Depends on what I'm listening to. I do like it fairly loud. 

85-90 db C weighted at the listening position is a normal level. Depending on the song, it can go over 100 db (only for a song or so at a time).

Easy listening evening 75-80db, Rock out 90dbs to 100 db peaks 

80-90 - in the 70’s late at night - I have 10.5 foot ceilings 

...from the dawn of sample & hold....dust off the subs.....👍😎

+1 on the premise that every piece of music has an appropriate (optimum) presentation level.  Many responses are in the 80-90 or 70-80 ranges, so many of us play at the level that the song demands.  I wouldn't want to listen to James Taylor at 95db, but I'll blast Talking Heads Burning Down the House at 95!

Having spent some time at Masterdisk in the mastering room Scott Hull listens/mixes most music at just over 90db.  Pretty loud.

Personally I'm all over the map, my dedicated listening room is double walled/green glued/rock wool insulated/Quiet rock dry walled and has a noise floor of 29db.  This makes quiet listening easy. 

I'd be interested to know the noise floor of your listening environments.

Regards,

barts