Hey guys,
Have just done a sound test on my sound system, and it is well over the legal limit in nsw, and have already been defected before coz I have a stereo that is capable of going well over 100db.
Is there any device I can use that will limit the level of my system when im not at sound competitions??

I didn't realise that it was illegal to have a loud sound system.

You could just not turn it up on the streets?

You can be fined for nosie pollution really
But mainly if you play loud music around house at any time and only if you get complaints lol
Didnt know it was defectable really, if was about your exhaust then yea you can

That is the sstupidest thing i have heard in a while. My plate has LOUDZ1 written on and i have never been defected. EVER. My advice is a remote gain control for when the pigs go looking

Yes, in NSW you can get fined and possible defect (I think) for noise pollution

There was even talk of noise detecting devices that would take a photo of your car as you passed them, like speed cameras for cars with subs haha

Yeah it sucks, when i had my civic, i got defected coz my system was able to go over 100db, they are able to test ur system up to its maximum capable level, regardless of whether u ever have it up at its maximum. And i know the system in my magna is more than capable of going well over that, when we tested it, it was putting out 135db at 10 meters away.

I mean, 5 meters away, which is the distance the cops test at

Really whats in it?

i read this article that applies to SA

http://www.legislation.sa.gov.au/LZ/C/A/CRIMINAL%20LAW%20%28CLAMPING%20IMPOUNDING%20AND%20 FORFEITURE%20OF%20VEHICLES%29%20ACT%202007.aspx

basicly under their hoon laws, if a old lady calls and says your car stereo is disturbing her and police believe that this is a possibility even if we they arrive at your house the car stereo is off they can still impound your car under the hoon laws, could find anything about nsw laws but i never really crack my stereos loud anough around town to pull notice

Really whats in it?

Its in an 88 magna sedan, everything about the stereo is custom, all the way from the audio leads, thru to the head unit, and speakers

basicly under their hoon laws, if a old lady calls and says your car stereo is disturbing her and police believe that this is a possibility even if we they arrive at your house the car stereo is off they can still impound your car under the hoon laws

Its the same up here, under the hoon laws in nsw, although they can only impound if it goes about 170db, otherwise you just get a defect notice

Its in an 88 magna sedan, everything about the stereo is custom, all the way from the audio leads, thru to the head unit, and speakers

So whats in it? brands? scores? power?

Sony xplod head unit, 2 x clarion tweeters, 4 x clarion 6" midrange speakers, 2 x alpine mono block amps pumping out 600w to 2 clarion 12" subs, 1 alpine four channel amp powering 4 pioneer 6x9 speakers

Total power as an estimation of around 3000w at peak

Haven't taken it to a sound off yet, but my own sound tests I can clearly get it up to 175db inside the car

Oh god im not even going to respond. .

Nope im responding. .

Do you have any idea how much 175db is?? I cant remember off the top of my head but i dont even think there is a car in australia capable of doing that yet! And there are some stupidly loud cars here! You would be lucky to be doing 132db with that equipment!

The loudest car at the moment from australia is at 168.6

Haven't taken it to a sound off yet, but my own sound tests I can clearly get it up to 175db inside the car

Bring it along so when you score a 128 i can laugh at your facial expression. It doesnt matter what peak power is, its about the continuous power (RMS), and even then that is nothing. Its about the acoustics of the car, quality of sealing components and installtion of the gear.

I've seen someone score a 138 of a Single Jaycar 8inch paper cone, only because he knew what he was doing when he built a horn loaded enclosure for it.

As for the laws for volume, over here in SA (and im pretty sure its the same as every other state) you can be fine for noise pollution at any officers discretion, meaning if he thinks its too loud and disturbing the peace you will be fined. I have had a good chat to a Sargent from the Christies Beach station about this, and if he looks in your car and sees any part of installation is unsafe, he can defect you for it while hes at it.

Well like I said, it was tested with just a basic cheap sound tester, wouldn't surprise me if it's lower. But I have had plenty of help from a mates dad that use to do pro sound installations, and my staging is apparently as good as u can get in the magnas. Still have a few things to change on it before I take it to a sound off

Il be interested in the results but you are in for a big shock!

Hear that pea?? lol he has better staging then you! From clarion! We should sell our high end gear in that case as that is the way to go to win comps!

Yeah will be interesting, and as it's going to be my first time out, I'm not expecting to win anything I'll be there just to see how I go. The only thing that would disappoint me would be a reading of below 90db, which I doubt

Alright a few things you should know:

If they are doing proper testing then the meter they use is called a term lab. It CANNOT read below 120db so if its under that there is something wrong with your install. 120db is not loud at all so i think you are looking around the 130 mark.

Coming on to a forum and saying my car will do 175db without a problem is asking for abuse anywhere you go. It simply isnt possible with anything you have lol

I cant see you winning but it will give you a reality check and help you to understand how it all works. Then from there id say you would be working on getting louder

Peaandham and myself both compete and WIN sound competitions so we do have a fair bit of experience in this field

ok cheers man, will let ya know how i go, not sure when the next sound off is up here in nsw, but will let you all know

back to fines and what not, fought my way out of a fine a few years back in my feroza :)

basicly had twin 6x9 sonys with two 6" sony fronts and a JVC average HU. Pull into a carpark with my music up, cops were on lunch, fine me.

Walked over the road to queensland transport and got out of it on the spot. Reason? The cops wrote down a db reading, without testing it, and the reading was something like 140db... something clearly not reachable with my system/car combo :P

ok cheers man, will let ya know how i go, not sure when the next sound off is up here in nsw, but will let you all know

First of all like Mr SPL has states undermost freq's are term lab (the real deal with measuring), will not register a reading as low as 119db let alone 90db. Where did your Dad do pro installations? If it was anywhere but FHRX in Caringbah, New South Wales, I ask you to research more before you come onto a forum with claims of "staging is apparently as good as u can get in the magnas" especially since "apparently" does not equal bragging rights.

For a comp you will need to venture down to Vic as NSW does not have a current competition calender up but it'll be worth IMO the reality check.

With the Sound Quality side of things i really find it hard with your gear that you have gotten the staging as good as you can in a magna. What have you got Time Alignment, Fiberglass A Pillars, Custom door cards, a top of the line processor? I would really like to see your install as i dont know why i have spent what i have on Focal, RE, Alpine, and Morel gear when a few 6" Clarion speakers could best them.

For the SPL side of things, i dont think you understand how loud 175db is, do you think because you can rattle your review mirror that you are loud? Sure going from 120db, to mid 130's is easy with a decent install but people pushing 150 spend thousands trying to get it there, they run multiple batteries, 8+kw (8000w RMS, not PEAK) and yet some of them cant even break 150.

Edit: Also MR SPL has already told you what the loudest car in Aus is, and you know what, he has tek screws and sikaflex sealing his windscreen and multiple clamps that help seal the doors, he also has a podium (which is a portable headunit) because he cant sit in the car when he's burping it, ITS THAT LOUD.

I don't get it anyway, how the hell are they meant to test this?

I bet with a crap meter the standard Ralliart system would do over '100dB'. What Frequency? What Song? What meter? Where will you put the meter? Car running/off? Where? Will the police pay for the speakers when they crank it not knowing i have the gain turned all the way up?

And how can you get fined for having the ability to turn it that loud? My car has the ability to do 240kph on public streets too, am i gonna get fined for that?

This defect for car stereo crap is some of the stupidest stuff i have ever read. If you blast a standard stereo system in most cars at full volume with the windows down, you're already an idiot and will get a noise pollution fine. Having louder speakers won't change that, apart from maybe pissing off slightly more people.

I don't get it anyway, how the hell are they meant to test this?

If you blast a standard stereo system in most cars at full volume with the windows down, you're already an idiot and will get a noise pollution fine.

Thats it, they cant test it.

If its too loud for their liking they WILL fine you, because like i said before it all comes down to the cops discretion.

Found some info that might interest you. Its DB ratings pair with devices that you may or may not use every day.

Weakest sound heard 0dB
Whisper Quiet Library 30dB
Normal conversation (3-5') 60-70dB
Telephone dial tone 80dB
City Traffic (inside car) 85dB
Train whistle at 500', Truck Traffic 90dB
Subway train at 200' 95dB
Level at which sustained exposure may result in hearing loss 90 - 95dB
Power mower at 3' 107dB
Snowmobile, Motorcycle 100dB
Power saw at 3' 110dB
Sandblasting, Loud Rock Concert 115dB
Pain begins 125dB
Pneumatic riveter at 4' 125dB
Even short term exposure can cause permanent damage - Loudest recommended exposure WITH hearing protection 140dB
Jet engine at 100', Gun Blast 140dB
Death of hearing tissue 180dB
Loudest sound possible 194dB

References.
http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/loudness.html

http://www.controlnoise.com/decibel-chart/

Now do you really think your 5db away from ruining your hearing permanently?

Guys ease up a bit. This bloke has obviously been misinformed and wouldn't know better than to disagree with what he has been told. He seems quite keen to learn better and is far from up himself about what he has been told. Show him the light, give him a fair go, the audio industry would be so much bigger if it weren't for people being intimidated.

And FYI, a pillar install for best possible sound stage? Hardly.

And FYI, a pillar install for best possible sound stage? Hardly.

That statement would be based on the general conception that its the best way to achieve a higher stage or more width.

Surely it depends on the car, but you will find majority of the SQ competitors i know use the A Pillar as the first permanent mounting platform hence why i used that as a generalization.

Guys ease up a bit. This bloke has obviously been misinformed and wouldn't know better than to disagree with what he has been told. He seems quite keen to learn better and is far from up himself about what he has been told. Show him the light, give him a fair go, the audio industry would be so much bigger if it weren't for people being intimidated.

And FYI, a pillar install for best possible sound stage? Hardly.

Just having a laugh but yeah i have tried to inform the OP a few things so no doubt im sure the OP is keen to learn more now!

Just having a laugh but yeah i have tried to inform the OP a few things so no doubt im sure the OP is keen to learn more now!

Am always wanting to learn more, and from my experience, not sure if its accurate, mr spl maybe u can help out here, but a and b pillar mountings can be quite effective if you are fibreglassing the tweeters into the pillars, and angle them so sound is going on a slight angle inwards

but a and b pillar mountings can be quite effective if you are fibreglassing the tweeters into the pillars, and angle them so sound is going on a slight angle inwards

B Pillar molds?????

As for A Pillar molds every tweeter is different, you can face them on axis, off axis and in the off axis side of things there are still a hundred angles you can use in the a pillar. You need to find what sounds best for your tweeter.

Yea cheers peaandham, now as my first question said, is there any device that will limit the sound of my system?

As with my first answer. The remote gain control is your best bet

ctchme, you don't need a device to lower the volume of your stereo. As pointed out earlier, you won't be fined for having a potentially loud stereo, you'll be fined for actually using it at an excessive volume.

My advice would be to ensure that your system is barely audible from a couple of metres away. Park your car somewhere, stand near it, and turn down the volume on the headunit until it's not really heard. Remember the volume you reach, and keep that in mind when you're driving on the street.

I'd also like to emphasize this post as much as I can:

Guys ease up a bit. This bloke has obviously been misinformed and wouldn't know better than to disagree with what he has been told. He seems quite keen to learn better and is far from up himself about what he has been told. Show him the light, give him a fair go, the audio industry would be so much bigger if it weren't for people being intimidated.
Kudos to the majority of people who have responded positively to this thread instead of ragging on someone simply because of their inexperience.

Another possible alternative is to grab some more dynamat or similar if you haven't done so already, which should help to reduce the volume outside the car if placed correctly - with the added bonus of improving sound inside.