Decibel Readings. How does my meter compare to the standard?

[badstang123 10+ year member]

I have a Extech Instruments 407738 Sound level meter. It's not something I purchased for car audio it is for use in relation to my profession. But since I have it laying around, I decided to toy with it. My question is how does this type of meter compare to what is used for competitions and such? With the system in my Mustang I hit high 120 decibel readings with this meter. In my new Avalanche the max I hit was 108. Just curious since it is my only real means of measuring things. A link and picture to the meter is below:

http://www.extech.com/instruments/product.asp?catid=18&prodid=232

Click to read more...

 

[lambo37 10+ year member]

uh i think ipod headphones are louder than 108 db so i think its way off, but it depends on your system i spose...do you have like a 1938 jbl 4" speaker?

 

[Lakota 5,000+ posts]

My engine will do a 108 when the meter is sitting in the truck. That meter isn't going to get you anywhere.

 

[badstang123 10+ year member]

My engine will do a 108 when the meter is sitting in the truck. That meter isn't going to get you anywhere.

Now that I know that, can you answer this. Given that the System is in a 2009 Avalanche with the setup in sig and the subs in a sealed enclosure, do you have any idea what kind of decibel levels this system should produce? Obviously there is no way to know without actually testing since there are many variables. I'm just curious for a ballpark type figure. I know it's nothing amazing...but what can you do with the limited space behind and under a backseat like that //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif