
S A F E T Y I N F O R M A T I O N
3
13.
YOUR EARS
– Distortion and compression are what make ordinary
speakers seem loud when the volume goes up, but electrostatic speakers do
not do this.
Because your zA2.1’s are capable of producing high sound pressure levels
(SPL) without distortion or compression, it is easy to exceed safe loudness
without noticing. As a general rule, if you can feel the bass in your belly, or if
you have to shout to be heard by a person sitting next to you, it might be too
loud.
A pair of zA2.1 speakers can produce a peak SPL of over 108 dB, even in a
fairly large room, 114 dB in a small room, and with some kinds of music, a
steady level
over 100 dB
is possible.
This can damage your ears
permanently, and fairly quickly
.
If you hear ringing in your ears soon after or within a day or so of listening to
loud music, you have damaged your ears, perhaps slightly, but permanently. It
is also possible to damage your ears even without hearing ringing.
It is important to know --
No one notices the usual bits of hearing loss right away after each
overexposure. It adds up over time.
If you don't avoid exposure to loud
sound, then at a relatively young age, music will sound dull, or certain notes
will be missing, or you will hear constant noise in your ears, and you will have
trouble understanding what people are saying, first in noisy places like
restaurants, and then everywhere. If you think you may already have hearing
loss, it’s never too late to stop making it worse.
15 minutes
is the NIOSH and CDC 2002 recommended
maximum
exposure time to a steady SPL of 100 dB
. The time limit is 4 hours at 85
dB. This 4 hour time limit is cut in half for each additional 3 dB in loudness: 2
hours at 88 dB, 1 hour at 91 dB, and so on.
SO PLEASE BE CAREFUL and you will not hurt
your ears and thus
your future enjoyment of music.
You can measure loudness with a simple sound level meter. If you wish to
check your exposure, JansZen can supply a good quality sound level meter
such as we use ourselves at modest cost. Radio Shack also offers one. There
are also apps for smart phones that work as sound level meters and spectrum
analyzers, although they will probably miss the high frequency extremes due
to microphone quality. Follow the instructions for the device or app to make
sure your readings are valid.