Include the chair your wife sits on in the EQ / room correction.
Your AVR should have a "night mode" or DRC (dynamic range compression) mode. That allows you to use a lower volume and still clearly hear the dialog. You can turn that off and listen louder when you're watching/listening alone...
Not one for romance?
Your options are slim to none. Newsflash: Slim left town!Thanks all!! Keep these great ideas coming. The head cone is genius
Thanks for this. The LCR are KEF R7s with an anthem receiver so i wouldn’t think this is the problem, but interesting ideaMight be a long shot but what kind of speakers are you using, what is the listening distance, and what is the MV level you are listening at? The reason I ask is that I find that women seem to be far more sensitive to distortion and compression than men(maybe a stretch?). When I switched to higher sensitivity, higher power handling horn loaded compression driver speakers with pro audio woofers, we were both able to very comfortably watch movies at a much higher MV level than with typical low sensitivity hi-fi speakers, which tend to distort and compress FAR sooner than most folks realize, especially once 3-6+ dB of eq have been applied from room correction.
I've listened to systems powered by an AVR with 86 dB bookshelf speakers that would run you out of the room by -15 or -10 MV, and have listened comfortably with ZERO excess loudness at -5 to 0 MV in a full JTR home theater. By the same token, an old 5 watt am radio will run you out of the room covering your ears when you turn it up full blast even though actual SPL is rather low.
Another option might be to install tactile transducers on your seating such as Crowsons….these can add tremendous tactile feedback on the low end, and will literally feel and sound like you have massive subs shaking the room without the high level SPL required to do so.
I have a home theatre and wife and I constantly fight on sound level. I spent a lot of time and money in there and I really want to feel it. I should add that I actually don’t want to listen to it super loud or anything. I’m probably below average even!
5db is making all the difference. It’s perfect for her but too quiet for me, and 5db more is perfect for me but too loud for her.
How can we reduce it by 5db just for her? I was thinking high end ear plugs but they tend to reduce sound by like 15db.
Any ideas?
The OP originally suggested it.I don't see hearing plugs for the wife being an acceptable solution.
Your AVR should have a "night mode" or DRC (dynamic range compression) mode. That allows you to use a lower volume and still clearly hear the dialog. You can turn that off and listen louder when you're watching/listening alone...
5db is making all the difference.
Or get a girlfriend who will appreciate the time and effort put into the room.Ban her from the home theatre room.