What should I expect to pay for an SPL meter...I'm just wondering if it would be worth it to buy one instead of taking my car to get metered every time I change something with my system...Also, how accurate are the SPL meters that can be purchased?? I just want the cheapest one probably...
The #1 SPL meter right now is the Termlab. It is the one that most car audio organizations use for competitions(USACi, dBDrag, etc.) If i'm not mistaken, you can get a Termlab for roughly $600...but you also have to have a computer to hook it up to. This is a VERY accurate meter.
Also, you can get radioshack SPL meters...but they only read up to about 127dB....these are under $80.
Right now I am looking into buy a dBm-2 SPL meter. The company says that readings on this meter are roughly 2dB higher than the termlab, but i am not totally sure on this meters consistancy. It is $150.
I plan on buying one of the dBm-2 meters today, so i'll right up a review as soon as i get to use it. I now that I do ~145dB on the termlab, so i will compare the readings on the dBm-2 meter to the termlab.
you can get the epic-160 from audiocontrol...spl meter plus the epicenter built in...heard mixed stories about it's accuracy from .5 db from it to competition to way off so it's hard to tell