How do i know that the sound coming from my HT is overpowering my HT room?.

[Oscar Antonio M]

Help here, please.

[MurDiddlyUrdler]

What are you asking? What do you mean by overpowering your room?

[Iguana Man]

Overpowering ? Has it forced the furniture out into the hall ? Have you noticed cracks in the drywall ?

I'm not sure what you mean by this Oscar. Are you refering to sound pressure ? Volume ? Can you be a little more specific ?

[Oscar Antonio M]

Yes, i am referring to sound pressure and also in watts and khz´s as in reference to something that chogan said on my "Loud" thread.

[SidcupMartin]

Surely, if something is too loud you would hear it and simply turn the volume down to a comfortable level

[Tyler Durden]

What an odd thread. I think you are well aware Oscar that unless you have access to military technology you will not be able to "overpower" a room with sound i.e. crack walls and so on with a domestic set up. You mention watts and khz's? What do you want to know about them?

This is a silly thread - if what you are listening to sounds too loud then it probably is. This is just common sense - not rocket science. You will damage your speakers or blow a fuse long before you can cause any structural damage to your home with your HT set up.

So, in answer to your question. It is not possible to overpower your room with the sound coming from your HT. Your ears are another matter but please don't ask how you know whether you are overpowering your ears with your HT set up!

[Oscar Antonio M]

This is pretty much what i meant:
"For HT, too loud is when it becomes hard to make out distinct sounds. You can overpower a room with sound. If you are blasting 100+ watts per channel through decent speakers in a bedroom, its too loud".

[Morticia]

At the risk of...many things, I'm thinking that perhaps you just answered your own question?

[SeanL]

Originally posted by Oscar Antonio M
This is pretty much what i meant:
"For HT, too loud is when it becomes hard to make out distinct sounds. You can overpower a room with sound. If you are blasting 100+ watts per channel through decent speakers in a bedroom, its too loud".

Wouldn't you have just answered your own question there Oscar?
If you can't make out distinct sounds, just turn down the volume some. As Tyler said, it ain't rocket science.

[Morticia]

SeanL, is there an echo in here?

[Wirehed]

...but what if I'm deaf? I could have the volume level too high and not even know it.




and actually I have a friend that cracked the foundation of his house with his subwoofer set up. Although this equipment is a bit out of the price range of most of us here.

[Oscar Antonio M]

Maybe i answered my own question, but how can i tell that im overpowering my room?.
Sometimes people are blowing up their ears without even knowing it, for example people that listen to music at mid-level with headphones could be damaging their hearing.

[tomdkat]

Oscar, if the volume is TOO loud, either turn DOWN the master volume or re-calibrate your speakers at a LOWER "reference" volume.

So, if you calibrated your audio system at 75db and you find that is just way TOO loud at your "normal" listening level or you find distortion in the speakers, etc., then re-calibrate your system at 70db or even 65db and the overall volume will then be reduced, even at your "normal" listening level.

Statements like "overpowering your room" are really hard to quantify since each HT room and setup will be different enough to introduce many variables which could impact the sound you hear.

Peace......

[Morticia]

Well, people who damage their ears with too-high sound levels actually do know it, they just don't realize it until later. For instance, say you're at a rock concert. You don't think it's too loud but afterwards your ears are ringing. Yep, that's a sign of damage. You didn't realize it at the time but you sure know it now.

Ergo, if your ears ring, it's too loud. Turn it down next time. Your ears will tell you long before your equipment will (blown fuse, speakers, etc).

[Wirehed]

Actually that's not entirely true Tish.

With headphones your ears can actually "adjust" to the sound, so if you keep turning it up you will damage your ears without ever hearing the ringing or even notice that the sound is too loud.

The best advice is to set the volume level and then don't ever turn it up louder as you listen.


But this is only true for headphones, and not what oscar is asking about.

What he is asking about I have no idea. I would think, if you have to ask, it's probably too loud. I would also guess that on any lower/mid priced equipment you'll have a ton of distortion long before it's loud enough to damage your ears. So if you speakers are distorting turn it down.

[Morticia]

Thanks for the clarification, Seamonkey. My example was a non-headphone example, even tho Oscar's example was a headphone one. My bad for apples to oranges.

[Iguana Man]

Originally posted by Oscar Antonio M
Yes, i am referring to sound pressure

If you're refering to sound pressure, I can relate (a bit anyway). My ears popped (like in an airplane) from having both the volume and my sub cranked up too much. It was cool, but stupid on my part..........I'm sorry, did you say something?......No ? Oh, ok. Unless you've got a killer sub and large drivers in your speakers and crank the volume to ridiculous levels, I doubt your going to overpower your room.....What did say ? speak up please....Oh, well I think you get my point.

Take care of them ears buddy.

[SeanL]

Originally posted by Morticia
SeanL, is there an echo in here?

oops

We posted at the same time.