What is the sound level of Your Listening Room?


I am curious about what the sound level is at your listening position with your system turned off. I have checked mine and during the day it is about 43 dB and at 1:00 a.m. it can be as low as 28. I can improve the daytime level to 35 dB by turning off the refrigerators and air conditioner. What have you done to improve the sound level of your room?

I am considering adding a listening room to the back of my garage (wife is on board because she needs more storage space) and if you have made improvements that have reduced your ambient noise, please share them.
baclagg

Showing 3 responses by ghdprentice

I have to completely disagree with you guys on price not being a good indicator of sound quality. In general, price is a  good indicator at the component level and at the system level,  given an equal time and effort invested in system component selection and integration. 

To get the maximum out of every component requires a lot of work and great care in selecting compatible and complementary components. So if your own time is worth nothing and you are willing to spend hundreds of hours researching and testing to assemble a system with the objective of putting together an inexpensive system with spectacular sound… you can do it. But if you put that same amount of effort into putting together a system without the cost constraints it is going to sound much better (assuming the same skill level). So the reason you are professing this specious  conclusion is because you are comparing an incredibly well thought out inexpensive system with a sloppily thrown together expensive system. I was young without money once… I spent hundreds of hours on research, comparing components, identifying new companies with exceptional product that were trying to enter the market by entering cheap, tweaking what I had… etc. I achieved great levels of performance per dollar invested. But had my budget not been restricted I would have a hugely better system for the same amount of time invested. 
You may not like this, but in general, if you are an informed consumer  you get what you pay for. 
@wolfie62

Incorrect if you have a good system. The noise floor is critical in hearing nuances in most music.

Mine is 23… but I have to hold my breath. A breath takes it into the thirties. I would imagine late Sunday night at midnight I could find a bit lower… my favorite time to listen.

One of my favorite experiences at the symphony and listening at home is the slow trailing off of the orchestra when a piece intentionally drops off into the silence… there are the moments of near absolute silence as the harmonics decay into silence. It can be incredibly moving.
Mine is in the low 20’s. I’ll have to give it a try at night. The most important component to my system is my listening room. While in close proximity to a city, three sides are underground with no local traffic. I make sure the air conditioner / heater does not come on… it is controlled by my iPhone… so if it comes on I can turn it off without getting up.
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The listening area is large and irregular making it an incredibly good room. My audio guy says it is one of the two best he has ever heard… and in over thirty years he has heard a lot… many very expensive custom made for high end audio… better to be lucky than good… I sure was.

In answer to your question… for quiet… underground. For acoustic, large and irregular (mine is about 32 x 42.. two offset rectangles).