Quote:
Originally Posted by polizzio 
Just recognize that even brief peaks of over 115db can and will damage your hearing long term. If your ears ever ring after watching a movie or demo then damage is being done, albeit long term, chronic. See, my concern lies with enthusiasts exposing their family members or friends to damaging levels, especially younger adults or children. The younger one is, the more sensitive their ears are.
A rifle or gunshot is but maybe a half second blip. But enough of them collectively will clearly damage your hearing. So even brief, transient peaks can do damage long term.
And I'm not trying to be the sound level police here......we're all adults here who make their own choices. I just want people to make educated, responsible choices, and know the long term consequences.
And once your hearing is damaged, its a done deal. Just ask someone who suffers from tinnitus. I made some really poor choices in my younger days relating to my hearing. Now I wear ear plugs to mow the yard, or when using a circular saw, definitely shooting any firearm, and sometimes even extended vacuuming with my shop vac.
PS..... I do have and use a quality sound meter periodically in my listening room.
Just recognize that even brief peaks of over 115db can and will damage your hearing long term. If your ears ever ring after watching a movie or demo then damage is being done, albeit long term, chronic. See, my concern lies with enthusiasts exposing their family members or friends to damaging levels, especially younger adults or children. The younger one is, the more sensitive their ears are.
A rifle or gunshot is but maybe a half second blip. But enough of them collectively will clearly damage your hearing. So even brief, transient peaks can do damage long term.
And I'm not trying to be the sound level police here......we're all adults here who make their own choices. I just want people to make educated, responsible choices, and know the long term consequences.
And once your hearing is damaged, its a done deal. Just ask someone who suffers from tinnitus. I made some really poor choices in my younger days relating to my hearing. Now I wear ear plugs to mow the yard, or when using a circular saw, definitely shooting any firearm, and sometimes even extended vacuuming with my shop vac.
PS..... I do have and use a quality sound meter periodically in my listening room.
Shotguns and firearms are much louder than a cinema. The only time I reach peaks of 115-120dBs are from the subs only and all the guidelines are for A-weighting which are higher in frequency. If you watch reference level movies you should hardly ever get peaks over 105 dBs from just your speaker(the range most sensitive in our hearing). The subs if calibrated flat will has never reached over 120 dBs with the loudest and baddest movies on the 5 star list. These peaks are low bass and not within the range that is commonly damaged.
but I would be 'a wuss' and take earplugs next time, as I would to a concert of any kind. You can still feel the bass in your chest, it just means it's not so damaging to your ears! 
