Ever been curious how loud your hi-fi system and portable speakers are? Honestly, the worry about bothering neighbours is real! To help you work out what you need for the best loudspeaker listening experience, in this article we’re going to look at:
- The best quality and loudest portable speakers for your home
- When does your home audio become too loud?
- Common home audio set up mistakes and solutions
Let’s work out how to get immersed in music, without disturbing anyone else…
Music is one of the most inspiring, long-lasting and loved forms of entertainment in the world. The likes of Plato, Albert Einstein and even Jane Austen all had nothing but wonderful things to say about it. And as Maya Angelou says, “Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances”, but we don’t all dance to the same tune.
The genre of music and audio you prefer may not be the favourite of those around you. So, choosing the right loudspeaker, and the right volume, for your home needs some serious thought.
The best quality and loudest portable speakers for your home
When you’re at a concert or show with the audio is booming and you can physically feel the vibrations, it’s easy to want a similar feeling in your home audio set up. But it’s important to remember that these events use high-powered equipment at a much higher decibel (dB) level to spread the noise further and combat the naturally high ambient noise. As a result, the sound quality can suffer somewhat:
“At a show, a system is often forced to work well outside its comfort zone and the extra loudness comes at the cost of added distortion and non-linearity.”
If you don’t mind that and you want these professional-level speakers and hi-fi systems for your own home, you need to choose carefully. Look at the wattage and dB levels of the system – there should be a good balance of both to get the best quality audio possible. There’s a great breakdown of why that combination matters here.
If you want to be more mobile, take a look at Bluetooth speakers and soundbars – they’re much more straightforward. Although, while they typically have loads of benefits such as no wires, a compact design and mobility, even the best Bluetooth speakers are limited in terms of power and volume. Most top out around 100dB, which is nice and loud, but it’s certainly not concert level. The loudest Bluetooth speaker we’ve found reaches up to 126dB and if you want to blast it outdoors, it may be a good option for you.
When does your home audio become too loud?
126dBs does sound good and loud, but you should be careful when playing high-volume audio for an extended time. Prolonged playing can stress the audio system, but more importantly, it can harm you too.
The NHS says that any sound over 85dB can be harmful, especially if you're exposed to it for a long time. And the more you’re exposed to those levels of audio, the more sensitive your ears become. Musicians and percussionists, in particular, have a lot of hearing loss and inner ear problems.
It’s recommended that you keep your indoor home audio levels no higher than 70-85 dBs. Anything louder than this for a long time can damage your hearing. Sounds over 120dB can even cause immediate harm. As an example, outdoor concerts are played at around this level to increase the spread of sound, and those near the speakers always end up with ringing ears. Here are a few more examples:
| dB Range | Everyday Sound |
| 0 dB | Threshold of Hearing |
| 15-25 dB | A Whisper |
| 40-60 dB | Home or Office Background Noise |
| 65-70 dB | Normal Speaking Voice |
| 85 dB | Idling Bulldozer |
| 105 dB | Orchestral Climax |
| 120+ dB | Rock Concert |
| 130 dB | Pain Threshold |
| 140-180 dB | Jet Aircraft |
Common home audio set up mistakes and solutions
Here you’ll find our top tips, common mistakes and quick fixes for your home hi-fi system setup:
- Get a sound level meter: If you’re not sure what dB level you’re playing at, we suggest downloading a smartphone app which measures dB levels for you.
- Remember: some noises are louder than they sound: “How loud something sounds to you is not the same as the actual intensity of that sound.” Loudness is how your ears hear the sound or how sensitive your hearing is. Sound intensity is the power of the sound wave over distance. Therefore, what sounds loud to you, may not to someone with less sensitive hearing. But the intensity and dB level will remain the same no matter what.
- Sound decreases in intensity over distance: If you’re worried about your neighbours and the dB level of your audio, remember that when you’re outside, the further away from the audio, the less intense it is. So, if your neighbours are 20m away outside, it’ll sound roughly 20db quieter. Inside is more difficult to estimate due to the sound absorbency of the walls, floors and ceilings.
- Don’t go for loudness over sound quality:
Volume should be the players personal choice, so go for a speaker that emphasises sound quality:
- Look for speakers that have a Total Harmonic Distortion of less than 0.1% - you’ll get cleaner, less distorted audio.
- See if there’s a headroom figure. A large one will allow faster, shorter bursts of audio more effectively.
- Make sure it has a good frequency range – 40-25kHz +/- 2db minimum
- Test the speaker if you can: Try before you buy is a big one – you could check all the above and still not like the way it sounds or looks.
Hopefully, this has taught you a bit about hi-fi systems, the loudest Bluetooth speakers and how they’re affected by dB levels and more. But if all else fails, pop into a music or electrics store, or get chatting online to find the best home audio set up for you.