rfg@hound.UUCP (08/17/83)
Estimates involving human perception are difficult to make and difficult to defend. In an earlier item I estimated the "effective dynamic range of home type ('average acoustic suspension'type) loudspeakers as "around 70db." Actually, the numbers I used could have been added as high as 76db (+3 for 200 watt peaks and +3 for two loudspeakers in stereo). Let's not be so conservative. My AR-9's will probably handle 2kw instantaneous peaks (add 10db). Human's can sort signals out of noise by a variety of signal processing techniques such as the "cocktail party effect" etc. (add 10db). My house is in the middle of a desert on a windless day and I have turned off all appliances, hold absolutely still, etc. (add 20db). Result 116db. Reasonable? ...Why doesn't someone (I forget who started this) ask what is the dynamic range of human hearing? -Dick Grantges HO