What is the best DB level to

I guess that we should take note of this and remember it. Obviously, some of us have VERY different ideas of what is "loud" and what isn't. When i want to rock, things get cranked. It looks like most of you would be holding your ears and shuddering in the corners at some of the levels that i "jam" at.

Then again, i must admit that i've had similar "shuddering in the corner" experiences. If you have speakers that can't take high power and tend to compress when pushed being driven by amplifiers that get "nasty", "gritty" and lack "cohesiveness" when driven hard, it does sound like crap. In most cases, this is about 90% of all high end systems that i've heard. One might not believe how "smooth" and "unfatiguing" yet roaringly loud you can listen to music when the system is really dialed in.

Most of what most people consider "loud" is actually "distortion". That's why it hurts your ears and doesn't sound good. Remove the grain, glare and dynamic constriction and you're home free. High listening levels still sound as airy and effortless, only difference is that you are now experiencing chest compression on deep bass notes.

One of the biggest keys to cleaning up the "muck" coming out of the speakers and the power sucking that causes the amps to be pushed hard is to get rid of the passive crossover networks. Actively bi or tri-amping makes a PHENOMENAL difference. Not only are the drivers exposed to MUCH less signal out of their operating range ( allowing them to play louder within their usable frequency range ), the amplifier efficiency is DRASTICALLY improved also. This means less strain or congestion on the amps and less power being WASTED at the speaker. Both efficiency ( spl ) and sound quality is greatly increased.

Unless one had the desire to play loudly ( evidently VERY loudly ) on a regular basis and took the time to research such things, one would never find this out. Luckily, i've had a lot of gear to play around ( all at one time ) and past professional experience to find this out first hand. Vance Dickason also makes mention of these findings in his "Loudspeaker Design Cookbook".

While simply having "BIG watts" and "big speakers" doesn't make for "clean high volume listening", it is at least a partial step in the right direction. EVERYTHING in the system must have "dynamic headroom" as compression starts sounding VERY nasty VERY rapidly. This is why you are always best off with speakers that are high efficiency ( 93+ db's ) to start off with. That is, if you can find models that offer that type of sensitivity that sound good and do what you want them to do at a price that you can afford. Otherwise, you'll have to build your own. This is NOT as difficult as it may seem, especially when you consider that you don't have to worry about fine tuning the passive crossover. Sean
>

Would you listen to a recording of violin's at the same level that you would a "jammin" rock band ? I think not. Each recording works best as an individual piece and at an individual level. My experience is that it would be impossible to "pigeon-hole" an entire genre of music to one volume let alone all recordings of various types. Sean
>

Stehno, my post was not meant as a challenge to your statements in the least. My comments were based on what one would hear at a live event. Since i've never heard violins roaring at 110 dB's, it would normally come across as "un-natural" to say the least. Then again, i know of very few "jammin" rock bands that play at 80 dB's, so that too would be "un-natural". This is not to say that either would not be enjoyable at those volumes, only that listening levels are TYPICALLY dictated by the style of music and your mood.

I also agree that dynamic range and dynamic compression play a great deal as to what sounds "right". If a system goes into dynamic compression relatively quickly, you would have to listen with the gain advanced higher to achieve the same peak levels. This would obviously increase the average listening level at the same time. Sean
>

What ??? Could you please repeat that... : )

I don't listen to "roaring" music near as often as i used to. Both my perspective on life and musical tastes have somewhat changed since my "yout" ( courtesy of "My cousin Vinny" ). None the less, i do exercise the volume control once in a while and "unleash the beast" ( courtesy of metal band "Saxon" ). Needless to say, the cats disappear and so does my girlfriend. Being all alone, i typically break out the air guitar and practice my stage antics and stunt moves at that point in time. It's good to pretend to be young once in a while and loud rock can usually help do that : ) Sean
>