A Test. How much Voltage (power) do your speakers need?

[Lavcat]

Originally Posted by weltersys

Originally Posted by weltersys
Seems odd you have NEVER been near a stage with rock music, or a horn section, or a disco, where peak listening levels are frequently above what a 90 dB speaker with 200 watts can achieve .

You said, in post #495
"No not unusual, what's unusual though is his listening level as it is significantly above what this thread shows is probably the norm. I certainly NEVER listen, regardless of the music, at that level."
The thread is titled: “A Test. How much Voltage (power) do your speakers need?”

"People make an awful lot of fuss nowdays, don't they, about the quality of the sound they listen to, have you noticed? They spend all that time trying to get the exact effect of an orchestra actually playing in their sitting room. Personally I can't think of anything I should hate more than to have an orchestra actually playing in my sitting room." -- Michael Flanders.

[revboden]

Originally Posted by a.wayne

Then it's hard to tell how resistive your room is , but your speakers may have an anechoic rating or 86db/1w/1m ... well if the numbers you gave me were correct..



@ Pano: I'm assuming 8 ohm nominal speakers .....

Hey a.wayne,

I just measured one of the speakers isolated and got 90db at 2.83v into 8ohms (1w). Which suprisingly is spot on for their spec

How were you calculating 86db/1w/1m? Just curious.

[5th element]

Originally Posted by Lavcat

"People make an awful lot of fuss nowdays, don't they, about the quality of the sound they listen to, have you noticed? They spend all that time trying to get the exact effect of an orchestra actually playing in their sitting room. Personally I can't think of anything I should hate more than to have an orchestra actually playing in my sitting room." -- Michael Flanders.

And we still then only end up with the stereophonic effect in the bottom of a cupboard

[a.wayne]

Originally Posted by revboden

Hey a.wayne,

I just measured one of the speakers isolated and got 90db at 2.83v into 8ohms (1w). Which suprisingly is spot on for their spec

How were you calculating 86db/1w/1m? Just curious.

Hello Rev,
I would have to go back and review, but it was based on the numbers you had posted up , as to db, distance and power being used...
If your speakers are 90db/1w/1m that is pretty sensitive..... so with a typical listening distance of 3M you would produce 81db with that same 2.83v..

[phivates]

Is headroom really so far off topic? It's on the short list of amplifier characteristics, as we actually use them, and has been for decades. And thanks for this test. A perfect starting point for those of us who are ready to move past our ears, and thus our beliefs, to data. I wanna be a meter reader!

[Pano]

Not sure what you mean by the above, but a number of people posting here have assumed that the -12dB of the test tone has something to do with headroom or dynamic range. It does not. It's simply a tone that is easy to measure and then maybe calculate your head room. That's all. Just want to be sure that is clear to everyone.

[mr_push_pull]

this is the exact opposite of this thread, but thought I'd mention it. I measured the minimum audible level on my system. I chose a 3kHz sine (that's where the ear is most sensitive according to Fletcher-Munson curves) amplitude-modulated with a triangular envelope of a few Hz (similar to the tone used in medical hearing tests) and got 0.13mV. that corresponds to 4nW (!) into 4 ohm. deriving SPL from there I got about -8dB SPL which seems to be the absolute minimum in the F-M curves.
obviously I could not directly measure that voltage but with my rather twisted method I trust the result to be pretty accurate.

[phivates]

That's what I'm talking about

[Pano]

Hmmm... Minimum. I'll have to try that. Thanks for the idea.

[a.wayne]

Push,

What's the amp distortion spectrum at 4nW.... ? I have never seen one tested that low before ...