What is the sound level of Your Listening Room?

Such a great question! My basement listening level when the house is quiet is about 38 db. I'm in Denver but not in the city, but pretty dense. We have a small place in the mountains and I did an SPL (above ground) there just to see what it was -- 18 db! There may have been snow on the ground, I'm not sure, but what a striking difference.

+1 @ghdprentice

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.

Exactly. The proper comparison is:

A. Properly researched and matched equipment and well designed room with inexpensive equipment

vs.

B. Properly researched and matched equipment and well designed room with expensive equipment

When the variables are changed to make the inexpensive equipment win, it’s not really a fair theoretical comparison.

If one can only afford inexpensive equipment, then the question is:

C. Well designed room with inexpensive equipment

vs.

D. Haphazard room with inexpensive equipment

Here, D clearly wins.

Final thought: Does price correlate with quality? Surely it does, assuming one does a little research. Is it *worth* the money? That's an empirical and subjective question based on values and bank account.