The Loudest Sound System in Europe Can Actually KILL You

February 1, 2014 Alan Cross 0 Comments

Think that kid down the block with the Urban Thump Machine installed in his Civic is loud? That’s nothing.

Deep in a building in The Netherlands, The European Space Agency has an acoustic horn that’s more than 16 metres tall and 11 metres wide. Turn on full–it’s powered by 400,000 watts of amplification–this thing can produce 154 dB, which is the equivalent to standing next to several jet planes all taking off at once. It’s almost as loud as a space shuttle launch right at the base of the tower.

Pain begins at 120 dB. Humans start to die at 145 dB.

As cool as it would be to test this thing out with music, its job is to bombard satellite equipment to see if it handle the noise of a rocket launch.

The whole story can be found at The Daily Mail.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

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