Noise floors


I'd like to address an issue that every single audiophile experiences, that being inherent/ambient steady state noise floors. Here we spend so much effort and money on our equipment in order to lower noise floor and increase resolution, transparency, only to lose some percentage of it on relatively high ambient noise floors. By this I mean the noise generated internally by home, hvac systems and so much more, add to that external, outside the home generated noise. Measuring over many years, over large variables, lowest readings of mid 20db to highest mid 50db in my dedicated listening room, these are steady state readings, any particular system in house may activate and or outdoor generated noises, which are even more variable, may kick in raising if from here.

And so, while we can address both these internal and external generated noise floors to some extent, we can't rid ourselves entirely of them. I presume there are widely varying levels of these noise floors for each of us, and it should be accounted for in reviews or evaluations of equipment. And could be reason for trusting only long term reviews, with varying noise floor levels within one's listening room, short term listening could have taken place during time of best or worse case room noise floor.

But mostly what bothers me is, here all this effort and money spent on equipment in attempt to lower noise floor, and so much of that lost by relatively ridiculous levels of steady state and/or ambient noise. Makes one think about getting closed back headphones, or moving out to extremely remote area to home with minimal internally generated noise. To think how much better  the very system I presently have would sound in that environment!


sns
So true, just this morning measured my room. Steady state near 40db, with noises from active outdoor environment, into 60's. And I live in relatively quiet suburban area. Busy roads, tires on pavement, amazingly loud, can't imagine living close to that kind of noise disaster. Loud vehicles are so popular today as well, some of these measure well over 100db near vehicle.

Quietest time for me, winter, late at night, as long as wind isn't blowing, furnace off, snow really blunts outdoor noise. A nice snow storm, no vehicles moving, audio bliss.
Modern double/triple vinyl windows are surprisingly effective at keeping out external noise.
We recently replaced our gas furnace (located in an interior room) with a 98% efficient model with a 2 speed fan. I knew it’d be quieter than our retired 24 year old unit but happy to find that we seldom hear it running. Same with the central air.
These are expensive home upgrades that will cut into an audio budget but they are money savers in the long term of energy efficiency with the side benefit of a quieter living space and increased property value.
Of course it helps if you live in a relatively quiet area to begin with.

Over the next few decades as electric vehicles are replaced by internal combustion should make a big difference. The real question is when will internal combustion get outlawed so the fast and furious idiots get off the freeway. We live a half mile from the freeway and those idiots produce so much noice it is unbelievable.

i suspect this transition will occur faster than anyone thought… well has to.
The neighborhood had a power outage two days ago. The silence was deafening. 

Frank