kenratboy Posted December 27, 2001 Share Posted December 27, 2001 Hello, Now that I have gotten my humble Sony STR-DE675 receiver working, I have started to enjoy it and playing with it. I have a pair of 20-year-old Fisher speakers (15 woofers (new, Radio Shack), 2, 5 cone mid-ranges, and a 3 circular horn tweeter.) and I hooked them up to my Sony to see how loud I could get them WITHOUT DISTORTION. Well I put my Radio Shack SPL meter on a tripod, at speaker level, one meter away from the speakers and put on my lovely Rammstein CD (Live Aus Berlin) and played track one (Spiel Mit Mir) and started turning up the volume. At about 2/3 of the way up, I was peaking at over 110dB, probably 115dB max. My house has a very open floor plan, and there is probably over 15,000 cubic feet of unobstructed air where I was listening, I wasnt doing the test in a walk in closet. I know this is really high, but what levels have some of you reached with your systems? By the way, I dont think I could make a habit out of listening to music at that level for more than one song per session, the neighbors might call the cops and I would probably be making my way to the doctor for a pair of hearing aids. Kenneth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynnm Posted December 27, 2001 Share Posted December 27, 2001 My wife is typing this for me because I cranked up my 30watt/channel tube amp to full volume whilst playing "Rule Brittania" and just at the point that the Tympani kicked in I realised that my KLF 30's had never sounded so so real and so powerful and also I had gone blind. Hopefully the surgeons will be able to reverse some of the damage. ------------------ It is meet to recall that the Great Green Heron rarely flies upside down in the moonlight - (Foo Ling ca. 1304 BCE) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P Ward Posted December 30, 2001 Share Posted December 30, 2001 While watching Pearl Harbor I cranked it up and had peakes of 117 at the listening postion. I had to turn down the quentets and sub though. The cornwalls and heresy sounded great. Thats at -7 on my denon. For you that are not familary it goes from -number to 0 and then to +number. ------------------ Paul Ward my home theater www.brookesbakersurveyors.com/klipschht.htm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Warren Posted December 30, 2001 Share Posted December 30, 2001 ratboy-you certainly have a large room! 15K cubic ft is a room 50' x 30' x 10' high!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenratboy Posted December 30, 2001 Author Share Posted December 30, 2001 No, I don't have a 15,000 cubic foot room, however, the hallway where the bedrooms are connected by a 4X9 foot opening to the livingroom/dining room , which has 11' ceilings and is probably 25X30 feet, and my kitchen/breakfast area/den is connected to that by a six foot opening. No doors, so bass SPL's are hard to come buy, I think I need a dozen SVS's to crank with bass...He, he, he! Kenneth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted December 30, 2001 Share Posted December 30, 2001 What range and weighting did you use on the meter? A or C weighting, on what range? Curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundog Posted December 30, 2001 Share Posted December 30, 2001 I don't know - there is no way I can turn it up all the way. ------------------ Soundog's HT Systems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenratboy Posted December 31, 2001 Author Share Posted December 31, 2001 To get 110dB. average, I used BOTH A and C, on the slow mode. Could somebody explain to us eager little learners what the difference between average and center weighted is? Slow and fast is self-explanatory. I cant find the SPL meter manual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M6 Driver Posted December 31, 2001 Share Posted December 31, 2001 Mine goes to Eleven! ------------------ "FULLY LOADED" J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted December 31, 2001 Share Posted December 31, 2001 LOL TheEAR is almost impressed near 110dB from a Fischer boom box. My small HT room is only 10*14 and 6.5' high!And I pack four Sunfire subs,the largest R series Klipsches(RF-7's,RC-7 and RF-5's)and over two kilowatts worth of amplifier muscle(from ATI and Celeste). On any day I can surpass 120dB(I dont want to test the limit,my ears beg for help)at listening position from the RF-7's and I clock 116dB at 25HZ with the Sunfire subs belting out the sub bass. TheEAR(s) Now theears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted December 31, 2001 Share Posted December 31, 2001 The Rat shack SPL meter manual says, that the weighting is for measuring a particular frequency range. 'A' weighting measures frequencies in the 500 to 10,000 hertz range. The C weighting measures uniformly over the ranges from 32 to 10,000 hertz, giving an indication of the overall sound level. There is no center and average, A and C are for different frequency scales of measurment. A is for more real world measurements, dealing with the frequencies most sensitive to the human ear. C is for more uniform measurments. I use C on measuring SPL on tunes, the meter can get down to 32 hertz. Notice that the Radio Shack SPL meter 33-2050 can only measure down to 32Hz, and only up to 10,000Hz. There is mods to fix this though. The other night I measured 96 or 98 Db's from about eight feet from the speakers in the listening position. 12'x 14' room with a 7' ceiling. Yamaha amp and pre turned up to about 9 o'clock on the volume, with a pair of Chorus II's. I could crank it way more, buy why? Ear, don't deny the power of old school speakers. Those Fisher's are probably pretty good speaks! I have a couple pair of ancient Sansui's. They sound pretty damn good for old school. THANX! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenratboy Posted December 31, 2001 Author Share Posted December 31, 2001 THANK YOU mike stehr. As for my Fisher boombox, Find a large movie theater than doesn't have 15" or 18" woofers in it. They might not be as clean as 6", or 8", but they hit hard and deep, and can suck up a whole hell of a lot of power and turn it into bass. The midranges and tweeters are of very good quality and NEVER distort, they have large magnets and all. THEear your nice and well appreciated on this forum, but dont talk trash about my speakers until you hear them. Klipsch References sound better, no doubt in the world (I would trade them in for some RB-5IIs if I could), but these speakers blow the crap out of most anything you could buy for a reasonable price, and they are also good for putting stuff on, like lamps and novelty holiday decorations, so what can I say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klipsch-daddy Posted December 31, 2001 Share Posted December 31, 2001 LOUD!!!! I personally dont know because I dont have a " rat meter". How much are those things? ------------------ Home Theater: Yamaha RX-V1000 Klipsch RF-3's Klipsch KSC-C1(LOOKING FOR A RC-3 OR RC-3II) Klipsch Subwoofer KSW-12 Television: TOSHIBA THEATER VIEW 50" DVD Player SONY S-360 CD Changer CDC 509 5 Disc Yamaha comming soon. monster cable interconnects/12 gauge speaker wire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted December 31, 2001 Share Posted December 31, 2001 Around 35,40 bucks. Get the analog one, you can get a tighter reading with the meter over the digital one. I need a test tone cd to get any other use besides measuring SPL. TV mentioned one, Autosound 2000 or sumthin'. THANX! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lone Palm Posted January 1, 2002 Share Posted January 1, 2002 LOUDER than my ears can stand. When watching DVD concerts I let the applause be a reference. I turn it up loud enough so my yells and applause blends with the audience. Imho I beleive this is the most realistic way to listen at home to a live perfomance.Never measured it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted January 1, 2002 Share Posted January 1, 2002 Mike, Old school speakers are boomy,colored and built like a drum.I wanted these when I was 10 years old,after I discovered the truth about these.Build a BIG speaker(large and high)insert a 12 or better 15" woofa(yes WOOF-A)on a steel stapled basked with a minuscule magnet for its size,add a nice 5 or 6 inch midrange(often not even in a separate section! LOL)and then finish the speaker with a cone or SUPERTWEETER piezo electric device.Voila and slap a nice fake FREQUECY RESPONSE GRAPH on the front! LOL Poor imaging,poor soundstaging and holes in the response.Bass on the graph shows 20Hz! in reality it does not even touch 30!LOL BOOMY BOOMY These speakers are not serious and should not be taken seriously.Since this forum is about Klipsch speakers I will take a stab at boom box speakers and Bo$e speakers at every turn. Now who can make jokes about Dynaudio Contour speakers,please stand up and take a stab. You better have Wilson or Avalon or maybe JMLab Sorry for being so direct and irritating,I did not wake up well today.A bit under the influence of a magic substance called ...!BURP! Happy New Year(even to non Klipschers who own Fisher and Sansui boomboxes ) I feel like TheEAR(s) Now theears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted January 1, 2002 Share Posted January 1, 2002 Well, how about a greasy pork chop? What I don't understand, is when Klipsch started making Dynaudio contours. Everytime somebody posts about other brands of speakers or Klipsch, you retorte with the Dynaudios. I assume you have the 3.0's. A 3-way(3-way?) floor stander with more than likely Scan-speak drivers. $5000 a pair? I hope you did not pay this, I'm certain there are kits for the contours, and would be into it for around $1500 to $2000. Why aren't they Di-appolito MTM? I understand you get some serious imaging from this arrangment.(MTM.) If you ever looked at the crossovers on those contours, you'd understand why you need a kilowatt SS amp just to push the damn things. Then you write that 30 year old general brands of speakers are not serious on the Klipsch forum, and the forum is about about Klipsch's. I know you have Klipsch speakers, but you wouldn't think so, with the big raves about the Dynaudio's. I didn't pay anything for my old relic Sansui's, And I bet Ratboy didn't pay much of sh*t for his Fishers. Hell of buy over a pair of 5000 dollar contours, and of course they will sound bad, like a 30 old general brand loudspeaker should. (When compared to a Dynaudio contour.) What about the classic JBL's, Altecs, and all the esoteric loudspeakers of yesteryear. Why did all the Japanese snag these, because they are boomy and uncoloured? If you like the sound of the Dynaudio contours, then you will never like the old school Klipsch, and more than likely new school Klipsch. (You just use Klipsch for Home theater, right?) There are Forum members that do not have that much money, and if somebody did have overpriced Wilson audio speakers, would they be on a speaker forum for a company that makes high efficiency loudspeakers? This is another point, quite obviously your a SS guy, and you are on a BB for a company that makes high efficiency loudspeakers. And uh, High sensitivity and valves go hand in hand. If you have read farther up the thread, you would have noticed I own a pair of CHORUS II's!!!! Solid state is fine, if it stays in class A at lower to moderate levels. (Hell, I can't afford tubes, I'm on the SS side, but there is a lot to had with Solid State, anyway.) Sorry Ear, but you ASKED for it. HAPPY NEW YEAR! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLUngurait Posted January 1, 2002 Share Posted January 1, 2002 Hmmmn.... That avatar...6.5' ceilings...perhaps someone on this BB is really a leprechaun? Possibly this would explain the (mythical?) pot of gold he has invested in his gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted January 1, 2002 Share Posted January 1, 2002 OOPS! Sorry Ear! I geuss I didn't mention I had a pair of Chorus II's! Still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted January 1, 2002 Share Posted January 1, 2002 Mikey, I see your blood is boiling HAPPY NEW YEAR HA HA HA Well no I have the Contour 3.3 as mains,Contour Center(err as center)and Contour 1.1's for sourrounds.Yes they need alot of power and a real good amp(no wussy recievers here ). Why I rave about Dynes?Ha simple the upper range is so uncolored and pure most real cometitors cost way more.Uncolored is the word,and the imaging is incredible. Yes I have Klipsch(RF-7's as mains)very good speakers for the price.These shine as HT speakers and speakers used recreate live concerts. Old school Klipsch are not to be compared to mass market junk.Klipsch,JBL,Altecs classic speakers are very good,even the fridge sized classic Altecs designed for theaters sounds great as a home speaker. Heck I like some large Cerwins when I want to listen to a live event at LIVE SPL. Yes I am all for SS(not the SS ...the solid state amps LOL ).Solid state does not add colorations as do tubes(the sugar coating many love and call musicality).I like this too,but a great solid state is still the most practical solution. Ok I see why you posted all this,I was bashing some regular gear(well yes I was).Sorry if I hurt some I dont have any hate towards mass market gear(BTW Klipsch is not what I consider mass market). DLU, "Possibly this would explain the (mythical?) pot of gold he has invested in his gear" Mythical! LOL if you say so Pot of gold! Not when you buy mostly second hand and know where to look for deals and know how to deal. TheEAR(s) Now theears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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