at what volume levels do you guys watch movies ( thx relative )

[forestelder]

Myself around -20 / -15

[todzilla]

I usually watch at around -24, although I don't have a THX receiver. I may go a little louder or softer depending on the movie, or time of night. -24 seems to bring out all the effects and LFE that I want.

[Islander]

I set the volume so the dialogue is at a realistic level, which makes the special effects loud enough, but not too loud. Depending on the movie, the volume is set between -22dB and -27dB.

[jacksonbart]

mine goes to 11

[cornfedksboy]

Mine varies widely based on source material.

[Heritage_Head]

Most movies -17. Could easily go as

high as -10 without the sound changing but my room is too small to go that

loud.

[forestelder]

I see some guys have it on -40 -30 at that level the sound is very soft with my setup. How come i have too crank it up between -20 and -15 ( for movies ), is it because the volume for each speaker is set at -9.5 in my receiver ( onkyo 3008 )?

When i use dynamic EQ + dynamic volume i can listen at - 30 and the sound is much louder. Must be the dynamic range or something.

[Groomlakearea51]

Islander's method - dialogue is clear, not too loud, and the rest pretty much falls into place. Loud? Volume level? Around 40-45 on the living room HT Onkyo's dial. As in not very loud. My ears are sensitive....

[H]

[forestelder]

mine goes to 11

is that +11 or -11 hehe

[Youthman]

Maybe I'm wrong but I would think someone's -20db would be different than my -20db. With room acoustics, Audessey settings and manufacturer differences, I don't see how they could be the same. I would think a more appropriate setting is what dB on a Multimeter do you typically listen to.

[forestelder]

Islander's method - dialogue is clear, not too loud, and the rest pretty much falls into place. Loud? Volume level? Around 40-45 on the living room HT Onkyo's dial. As in not very loud. My ears are sensitive....

Problem is with that method if you hear the dialogue loud the special effects ( explosives ) will be 10 times louder! Thats why dynamic volume is so handy for me.

[forestelder]

Yea i used a digital db meter. Mostly i listen around 80- 85 db with peaks of 100 db.

[Islander]

Islander's method - dialogue is clear, not too loud, and the rest pretty much falls into place. Loud? Volume level? Around 40-45 on the living room HT Onkyo's dial. As in not very loud. My ears are sensitive....

Problem is with that method if you hear the dialogue loud the special effects ( explosives ) will be 10 times louder! Thats why dynamic volume is so handy for me.

By "dynamic volume", do you mean "limited dynamic range", such as some pre-amps/receivers provide, sometimes called Night setting? It reduces the loudest sounds for listening late at night, without lowering softer sounds, like conversations. That's very helpful at times, especially with some viewers who just don't like loud sounds, realistic or not.

[Marvel]

I only listen to movies in two channel, and that's through a Heresy pair. I would be tempted to put my stereo comp/limiter in the mix, so I could do that. I did have it hooked up to my system hanging off the computer, but it's been dismantled for a while.

[BigCliff]

Movies between -19db and -27db.

Music concerts preceeded by several beers and more consumed during +3db to -9! How about it Matt?

[StephenM]

About -25 to -20.

[Vital]

I listen at reference level, 85db with peaks that hit 100-105db. If you run a THX certified receiver with no amp that should be volume level set to 0 if I'm not mistaken.

[forestelder]

Reference level is too loud for me! If i watch saving private ryan at that level, when the movie is finished i'll will be deaf lol. Maybe you have a really big room. I have a small livingroom.

[psg]

Chick movies with the family at 17 to 22 dB below reference, action movies at 7 to 10 dB below reference, and my 5-minute Tron Legacy demo at full reference level (the LFE is awesome at scence 4). Reference occurs at -13 dB on my dial, but I have no headroom left on the sub at full reference because of very aggresive EQ. I guess I need bass traps and the like to aliviate some of that.

[cornfedksboy]

I was just thinking about this question. When most of us run audessy or similar set-ups, the program sets the speakers to -10 or so. THX is designed to run at reference levels, so most likely THX reference is around -15 to -25 assuming a 0 db setting on each channel.