With my recent install of audio components, I have found that before I get to a volume range where distortion occurs, it's already loud enough to hurt my ears. All I'm running right now is an Alpine CDA-7995 deck, Alpine MRV-F340 4 channel amp, Soundstream Reference 500S 2 channel amp, JBL 15" GTi sub, and Focal Access Component speakers. And before I even get into a range where distortion occurs, it's already hurting my ears.

I know many of you go bigger than I have, and I was just wondering, how often do you guys blast it, and have you guys noticed any hearing damage?

 

What did you say, I'm having a problem hearing you?

I don't crank it much, but i know it's there when i need it. hits around 142db. I listen in the 110 range probably 70% of the time. I think this is my last system, because I feel my ears hurt from time to time.

 

If your ears ring after you get out of the car I would be very careful. Eventually that ring will not go away...and it is annoying. My ears are shot because of it. That said, I love loud music and still listen to my stereos too loud. I find that I can't hear the ringing during loud music!

 

recently I've noticed that when I turn it up I start to get a headache so I'm starting to not turn it up as much as I used to, and people do say that I can't hear very well.

 

I get slight insensitivity in hearing for a couple minutes afterwards, which doesn't really scare me. What scares me is, lately, I've been feeling pain in my ears hours afterwards.

 

stop listening to the music so loud - if u wannna impress people - replace your trunk lid with a fiberglass one!

 

Genereally speaking, if it sounds loud it is distorted. So your gains are most likely too high. You should be able to turn it up all the way and still hear clean music.

 

i dont even have my system fully installed and i feel that my hearing is kind of ****ty at times.. i always have to re-ask what people say and i'm always told to turn **** down when i feel it is already down lol

 

The music still sounds nice and clean, it's just that it hurts my ears if I go up too loud.

 

Well, everyone's ears are different. But you may have something out of tune. For the most part, I can turn mine up all or most of the way with almost all music. It gets loud as $hit but doesn't hurt my ears unless I keep it up for a long time. But, where are your tweeters mounted? That plus the fact that I have smooth silk domes may make mine more tolerable at high volume.

 

I think what it was is, I've had my Maxima for about 8 months now, and I've only been listening to the stock non-Bose system up till recently. So now when I blast it, certain frequencies hurt my ears. The good/bad part is, the system doesn't seem to be hurting me nearly as much anymore, which either means I'm growing accustomed to it, or I'm getting more deaf.

My tweeters are mounted in the stock location, but are criss-cross oriented, in that the driver side one is aimed at the passenger, and the passenger side tweeter, at the driver. One example of sounds that hurt my ears are Milk Inc.'s Wide Awake. Right after the quiet part, there are these rising tones around 2:27 till about 2:44 in the original 3:42 version. Even before I get the system loud enough to get any kind of detectable distortion, the sounds are already hurting my ears. But like I said, the sounds that once hurt my ears, don't seem to be as hurtful anymore. Which like I said, is making me worried about hearing damage. Oh well. I like my music loud, and this is what I have to pay to get it the way I like it.

 

my hearing is thrased...i have a system in the car...but now i listen to it at really low levels...my hearing is mainly thrashed because i use to work at car-audio at best buy and the music would alwayz be blaring

 

If your ears ring after listening to anything some minor damage has already been done. Anything above 112 dB for prolonged periods of time causes permanent hearing damage that can't be fixed, you're high freq. ability will go first. It takes a lot more power to damage your low greq. hearing. If it's loud enough to hear outside the car chances are it's way too loud on the inside. Take care of your ears guys, you'll need them later.

 

Hearing damage is just one of the sacrifices made in car audio. Not a good trade-off in the long run, but the music sounds good now, doesn't it?

Heh...you could hear my bose system with all the windows up/etc from outside the car. I won't draw upon any scientifical factual information, but I'm sure plenty of music and even a fair amount of environmental noise causes hearing damage. The worst I ever had ringing was after listening to headphones loud. (Well, besides my friends SPL-ized Ranger).


Yea, I hear that (no pun intended), but you can live life making sure you take care of everything in your body and end up with cancer before everyone else. If you took the time to live life purely wholesome and healthily, chances are life would be pretty tedious & fairly unexciting. Then again, I'm a 21-year-old ruffian, so don't take my wreckless advice

 

quik question...this ringing...i remember reading this post when i was chilln in my room couple nights ago w/ no noises whatsoever and i could hear this ringing in my ear, but rite now, i cant hear it...i wanna say thats normal, but this post juss kinda scared me...so ive juss kinda tuned down the system since
atw

 

Very true ! This is why I havent quit smoking. I want to enjoy life for what I can. If I want to smoke I will !

Although with the price increases lately I may quit anywayz.


As far as the whole loudness thing, I have been doing car audio for about 14 years now, and Im sure Ive lost a great deal of my hearing already. Unless someone wants to hear my car, or I am just in the mood for a little while, I play it very low now. My wife constantly asks me if Im deaf, because the tv is so damn loud.

--Don

 

I saw this thread and it got me thinking....I like to listen to my system pretty damn loud. My passengers always tell me the stereo is too loud; even when I have it turned to what I think is a moderate level. If I turn up the volume to say 80% of max volume the stereo is almost painfully loud. However, if it is 80% of full volume and I have the windows down at 65MPH it sounds great! I love it because it is loud enough to overpower the road noise and it still sounds nice and clear. Is this any better for my hearing?

---Drew

 

All, that ringing sensation is called Tinnitus. It is the result of damage to the nerve endings in your ear. Nothing funny about it and
it will drive you mad eventually. If it is temporary and infrequent you likely don't have anything to worry about. However, if it's not temporary or is very frequent, you should get to your doctor to get treatment.
Tinnitus Information