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RE: Preventive measures...

Hi, Todd,
I've dealt with tinnitus for years and I'm experiencing age-related hearing decline so I try to better protect my hearing nowadays. I use a SPL meter to monitor how loudly I'm playing the stereo. I try to keep vocals in the 60dB to 70dB range with up to 75dB peaks for louder vocal passages. If I pay attention to the vocals the rest of the music seems to stay below 80dB to 85dB, though I try to avoid having peaks above 80dB if I can help it. This is sitting ~9'-10' feet from the speakers.

I was using an Extech SPL monitor for years and really liked it because it had an AC power adapter and included an analog style display bar that made it easy to see what the levels were at a glance. But it recently died so I bought a Reed SPL meter (link below) that can run on a rechargeable 9v battery. It has a low range setting (30dB to 90dB) that nicely displays SPL levels on an analog style bar graph. I use the FAST, C-weighted setting with max level hold. It's not cheap but my hearing has become more precious to me as I get older and I'm wanting to be able to listen to the stereo for a few more years. :-)

Tom


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