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SPL meter results relative to Magnepan's (supposed?) craving for power/current

Hi all...
My thoughts are; if my ambient/background level is about 40dB and readings of "music" at my typical SPL from my listening position show about 75dB, that means that what I'm actually hearing is mostly noise and not my Maggies? Surely yes... Right? 

Even though my Maggies are in a very big room, do I need to rethink my amps power output of 400 WPC if I prefer a lower listening level? Overkill? I understand the benefits of "headroom" and amp/speaker "synergy".

At which SPL do your Maggies wake up and sing?
Thoughts? Comments?

Thanks!
mkh1099

Showing 2 responses by tomic601

tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,164 posts
 
so the amp is loafing at 75db 9’ away at listening position. You should try to improve the noise in room IF possible. I have a 20 db fan outlet that is clearly audible. You should also try to demo a lower power amp, consult to Maggie crowd..

@bdp24 will have excellent advice, he can hear and knows tge value of an spl meter..
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,164 posts
 
Let’s sort it out with real help.

40 db of background noise in the room, at what frequency?

chances are it’s not broadband noise, so your real music signal to background noise is probably better than 35 db, which is not awesome. At this listening level, you are probably overpowered….but

How far away from the maggie are you taking the SPL measure ?
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