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where to buy DB/SPL meters


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chris305 
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Posted: October 19, 2005 at 2:36 AM / IP Logged  
hey does anyone know where i could buy DB/SPL meters at?  any websites or store i could view i tried to search but i found nothing, looking to spend 150 shipped any advice
Hornshockey 
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Joined: January 31, 2005
Location: Texas, United States
Posted: October 19, 2005 at 2:49 AM / IP Logged  
radio shack has a couple; but I think they only go up to 120 or 130 dB
Life moves pretty fast; if you don't stop and look around once in a while; you could miss it.
SoundAudio 
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Posted: October 19, 2005 at 2:01 PM / IP Logged  

You won't find one capable of what you want it to do for 150.  The best and most cpable ones are made by Audiocontrol but they are in the thousands.  I haven't heard anything good about the radio shack ones.  I think partsexpress might carry a couple but I can't remember.

Good Luck!
-Thad
DYohn 
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Joined: April 22, 2003
Location: Arizona, United States
Posted: October 19, 2005 at 2:10 PM / IP Logged  
Rat Shack SPL meters are terrible if you need accuracy.  They are useful, though, if all you want to do is set relative loudness levels between speakers or something like that.  If you're trying to meter a comp car forget it.  I agree with the above, you're not going to find a good, accurate meter for $150 unless you find a used one on eBay.  Good meters start around $500... Parts Express does have a cheap one for $50.  No idea if it's any more useful than rat shack crap.
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veovius 
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Posted: October 19, 2005 at 3:25 PM / IP Logged  
What about that audio control Epicenter/DB meter thing?
jstruckman 
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Joined: May 03, 2004
Posted: October 19, 2005 at 3:53 PM / IP Logged  
http://www.splmeter.com/ I have never used one, but might be useful for comparing one system from another.
Jazzy
DYohn 
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Joined: April 22, 2003
Location: Arizona, United States
Posted: October 19, 2005 at 4:14 PM / IP Logged  

veovius wrote:
What about that audio control Epicenter/DB meter thing?

I don't know about anything like that, but the Audio Control SA-3055 is a very fine meter.  It runs around $1500.

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veovius 
Member - Posts: 26
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Joined: October 03, 2005
Location: Canada
Posted: October 20, 2005 at 1:53 AM / IP Logged  
:|  That's pricey....The one I'm thinking of has a 150dB meter in it, and goes in dash.  The model number name is oddly, something-150 :)
haemphyst 
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Joined: January 19, 2003
Location: Michigan, Bouvet Island
Posted: October 20, 2005 at 2:31 PM / IP Logged  
DYohn wrote:
Rat Shack SPL meters are terrible if you need accuracy.  They are useful, though, if all you want to do is set relative loudness levels between speakers or something like that.  If you're trying to meter a comp car forget it.  I agree with the above, you're not going to find a good, accurate meter for $150 unless you find a used one on eBay.  Good meters start around $500... Parts Express does have a cheap one for $50.  No idea if it's any more useful than rat shack crap.
Dude... (and please don't take anything I am about to say as a personal attack - it isn't) Not that I am a HUGE fan of the rat shack stuff either, but WOW!!! Quite a blanket statement there... Stereophile uses this very same meter for nearly all of their tests. I believe the words they use (almost invariably) to describe it are: "Radio Shack sells quite a good one for around $30." I have one in my test gear as well, and it has always served well. Every time I have tried to debunk or calibrate it, it has turned out to be a STELLAR performer - especially for thirty bucks!
Here is a search I did at the site for mention of the item... 19 mentions of a thirty dollar SPL meter from a highly respected mag like Stereophile is good enough for me. They use it for testing 100K speaker systems. I don't have THAT much in mine, but still... Shows a LOT of faith in a thiry buck tool.
While it WON'T be very good for measuring maximum SPL in a car system - it only goes to 136dB - a nice budget piece of pretty darned accurate test gear, and I'll still recommend it.
Just my $.02
It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."
DYohn 
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Joined: April 22, 2003
Location: Arizona, United States
Posted: October 20, 2005 at 2:43 PM / IP Logged  
Sorry man, I've just never found the Radio Shack SPL meters to be accurate.  Good for comparison tests or for basic system setup, but not for measurements where the numbers need to have meaning.  Maybe Ive just always gotten bad ones, or maybe my expectations are too high!  :)
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