Abstract
The preferred volume levels of 16 television programs were investigated in psychoacoustic experiments with younger and older adults. The results revealed the following four points: (1) Older adults really tend to set the television volume louder than younger adults. (2) There is no significant difference in preferred volume levels between male and female subjects. (3) The preferred volume levels differ among television programs. This difference is not related to the contents of the programs, but rather their relative sound pressure levels when broadcast; Loud programs tended to be set to higher volume levels. (4) The preferred volume levels correlate significantly with the hearing levels of subjects. As the average hearing levels of seven frequencies from 125Hz to 8000Hz increase by 10dB, the preferred volume levels become higher by 3.4dB. These results might well serve as basic data to make indoor sound environments more comfortable for both young adults and senior citizens.
