When discussing average listening levels, one needs to specify where the reading is being taken. For sake of consistency, placing the meter where your head would normally be and having it set up with the mic facing straight forward between the center of the speakers seems the most acceptable way to do this to me. Some folks take measurments 3 ft / 1 meter from the speakers, which is not nearly the same as what one hears at their seated listening position.
Having said that, some music sounds best at low to moderate levels while other music sounds best at a roar. A good system should be able to perform well at either extreme and be coasting somewhere in the middle. This doesn't mean that you'll always listen to "loud" music loudly, etc... It just means that each recording will have a specific spl range that it seems to work best at. After all, wailing electric guitars weren't meant to be listened to at 80 dB's and a chamber music wasn't meant to be listened to at 110+ dB's. On top of that, we all know that volume varies with our mood and recordings, so how do you tell what an "average" really is? Sean
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Having said that, some music sounds best at low to moderate levels while other music sounds best at a roar. A good system should be able to perform well at either extreme and be coasting somewhere in the middle. This doesn't mean that you'll always listen to "loud" music loudly, etc... It just means that each recording will have a specific spl range that it seems to work best at. After all, wailing electric guitars weren't meant to be listened to at 80 dB's and a chamber music wasn't meant to be listened to at 110+ dB's. On top of that, we all know that volume varies with our mood and recordings, so how do you tell what an "average" really is? Sean
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