Spl confusion

[DallasBass91]

I’ve never competed or metered any builds, with that being said I have a question. When I was testing out my build to see how loud it sounded (by ear) it seemed that my test tones don’t sound as loud as my decaf music. Is this common or are my ears playing tricks on me? Would my decaf music get a higher score than just test tones? I’m not sure how it works honestly. I feel like my build should be able to meter at least a 150 but after just playing a test time I’m not so sure.

[nauc]

the test tones you used might not be 0 db tones.  they might be -3 db tones, or -6 db tones, etc, so theyll sound quieter.  gotta use 0 db.  and fwiw, theres no +3db tones etc.  0 db is the loudest

 

theres two 0 db tones at the bottom of this page (50hz and 1khz)

 

https://jlaudio.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/204374120-Amplifier-Level-Setting-Guide