Sone - 187 -

At , the linear scale ceases to be academic and becomes visceral.

187 sones converts to approximately 120 decibels —the threshold of human pain. But the sone value tells a more terrifying story: it is nearly five times louder than that shouting match. It is the roar of a jet engine from 50 meters, the blast of a rock concert’s subwoofer stack, the sound of a .357 Magnum fired in a concrete stairwell. sone - 187

In the lexicon of psychoacoustics, the sone is a deceptively simple creature. Unlike the decibel—a relative measure of pressure—the sone is linear. One sone is defined as the loudness of a quiet, 1 kHz tone at 40 dB SPL. Two sones sound twice as loud. Forty sones sound forty times as loud. At , the linear scale ceases to be