However, before you can benefit from a lower noise floor in your gear, you will need to lower the background noise in the listening environment. I just measured mine at about 35 dB on a Sunday afternoon, and that is low. When the house was designed we did a lot to achieve this. At that stage it is quite easy and cheap, unlike afterwards:
1 a quiet location, in so far as such a thing exists in a densely populated country like mine, and in a (sub)urban environment.
2 special window glass
3 muffled ventilation openings
4 quiet floor heating system.
5 quiet mechanical ventilation system that is only turned on when needed.
6 quiet water pipe layout.
7 quiet kitchen machinery like refrigerator and dishwasher.
It all makes a difference, but even then it is not concert hall quiet, and since maximum sound levels cannot be as high as in a concert hall, the dynamic range is inevitably smaller than in that concert hall.
1 a quiet location, in so far as such a thing exists in a densely populated country like mine, and in a (sub)urban environment.
2 special window glass
3 muffled ventilation openings
4 quiet floor heating system.
5 quiet mechanical ventilation system that is only turned on when needed.
6 quiet water pipe layout.
7 quiet kitchen machinery like refrigerator and dishwasher.
It all makes a difference, but even then it is not concert hall quiet, and since maximum sound levels cannot be as high as in a concert hall, the dynamic range is inevitably smaller than in that concert hall.
