EBME Forums Forums Maintenance Technical Assistance Sound Level Meters

Hi Guys

Does anyone out there have experience of the following Sound Level Meters? We are looking into replacing an elderly Bruel and Kjaer 2260 and so I wanted to get some feedback from people I trust! We are using the SLM to calibrate audiometers and other high-end acoustic gear, so we need a Class 1 device with a spectrum graphic display, or similar.

The B&K 2260 is still a current model, and there is now a 2250 and 2270 to consider. Our 2260 has a slight defect on the screen, and the cost of a repair is not really economical.

B&K claim the device needs calibration whenever it is repaired, and have in the past refused to return it uncalibrated. I know that the only "calibration" it needs is to read its performance as part of the audiometric calibration system with our other kit. As the last calibration report they gave us was nine pages of size 8 type where all the readings were "0.0", I think we were conned to the tune of £504!

I have trawled the internet, and automatically discarded suggestions of devices that claim to be Class 1 but have only basic display options and cost less than £1000. I suspect that such devices are not going to be adequate. The result is that there look to be only two other devices available for sale in the UK that might match or better the B&K machines. These are:

Svantek (Poland) model SVAN 979 distributed by ACSoft of Aylesbury at www.acsoft.co.uk. Also the Samurai 2.0.

Rion (Japan) model NA-28 distributed by ANV measurement Systems at www.noise-and-vibration.co.uk (no idea where they are except that the telephone number starts 01908).

I have to say that the brochure for the Rion shows a graph format that would potentially make NBN readings much easier (they tend to fluctuate quite fast, being a tuned white noise).

The Svantek looks a bit old-fashioned and clunky with a small colour screen, but as all these machines now allow for PC viewing of data collected, this should be less of a problem.

The Samurai looks as if it does some useful graphs, but I don't know whether it is possible to connect it up to the audiometry kit I have here. I would have to have a better brochure and more advice to decide that!

If you use such devices, especially the models mentioned above, I would be grateful if you could share any info you think was useful. If you have another device that you think is way better and I haven't found it yet, that would be great too.

Hello Clare

Jandre is probably the man to answer your post ...

... but (meanwhile), are you looking to sell your old B&K 2260?

Erm - we'll have to see if we get a quotation for a decent replacement first, plus the funding to buy the new kit, and then hopefully nobody reverses the decision to fund it before we have actually got our hot little paws on the new machine!

Only then will we be able to start thinking about whether we keep the old machine as cover while the other is being calibrated, or sell it. If you want to buy anything from our hospital you now have to either go via the Hilditch auction or our Supplies department and a colleague of mine. A local scrap merchant was seemingly helping himself from the wards, and so we have tried to tighten the procedures here.

We used an alternative disposal auction before, but did not seem to give value for money - there were too many members of a chain getting a cut of the money, leaving us with very little return. We have now found a route with a decent return on used batteries, the copper from old mains leads, and Hilditch for whole medical equipment devices.

I hope Jandre can advise - ICBW but I thought he was using his PC to check equipment before? In the high temps and humidities he experiences as he travels, that might have been a sensible alternative to the sensitive SLM equipment out there.

Fair enough.

But if you send it to Hilditch, it could go for a fiver.

So (when the time comes), we will be happy to offer a sensible amount (or meet your expectations, if they are not in the realms of fantasy). Hassle free. Done and dusted.

Clare,

Do you have the ability to purchase outside the UK? I can send you some really usefull info but I doubt there's an agent for the manufacturer in the UK...

I always hate when a manufacturer or distributer holds a customer for ransom on any maintenance related issue such as "we cannot send it back uncalibrated"

We now build a requirement of training and access to parts / tech documentation into all our PPQ's and if a supplier / maufacturer don't want to play ball we simply buy from someone else.....

Hi Jandre

Which equipment did you have in mind? Sometimes it is possible to make purchases from outside the UK if we make a sufficient case, and you might be surprised (as I was when I started looking!) at what can be bought from distributors here.

So far, the details I have received from enquiries about the models listed above has only yielded an answer from B&K.

I have posted the quotations here because I believe that all companies should publish price lists on their websites. I'm sick of having to fill in forms as if I'm making a purchase to get a quotation, then ending up on a mailing list...

For the 2250 single channel device basic model we were quoted £5992 ex VAT, but they charge extra for initial traceable calibration £458 ex VAT.

The 2260 we were quoted for is a basic model costing £9236 ex VAT, and an initial calibration at £430 ex VAT.

The 2270 costs £7857 ex VAT, and calibration costs £458 ex VAT.

There were options for extra software modules, including FFT at about £1500 ex VAT. I noticed that of the other models I was investigating, some came with this as standard.

Oh, and for each SLM on the order there was a quotation for the calibration sound generator, at a cost of £818 ex VAT for the device and £112 ex VAT for "initial calibration".

One wonders - why is a device fresh from the factory not already "calibrated"?

Neither device exactly needs hours of careful pot-twiddling to justify the cost. I would expect the devices to be checked against a known signal, and mostly these days that is done via a PC with minimal human effort required, even/especially for soak testing.

I won't be fooled over companies holding equipment to ransom in future. It amounts to theft in my book, holding onto equipment someone else owns. Wonder how they'd like to see the plod turn up?

I believe it is known as misappropriation.

However, PC Plod won't act unless a complaint is made (and often not even then) ... but why not give it a try?

"OK, it's a fair cop, Guv. I'll come quietly" ... or how about:- "Book him, Danno"!

Meanwhile (and unfortunately), I don't believe that gouging (of the type you have outlined) is actually against the *law! I'm not sure where the UK stands on monopolies, however (so-called "antitrust laws").

Again, I can't see why the might of the NHS doesn't get brought to bear on this sort of thing. Central purchasing, and good stuff like that. After all, if any company such as the one you mention lost its NHS business, it would dip out big-time, I would have thought.

* Remember, however, that there are other Laws available. Like the Law of Supply and Demand, for example! And the conventional wisdom (at least) about "the customer always being right" etc., etc.

I suppose we could have taken them to the small claims court? Though the kit is worth more than £300, the principle should surely have counted for something, and it should have scared the living nonsense out of the company...

The Medical Devices Directive while sometimes a bit confusing actually might have something in it that would help. I just need to read it through without falling asleep!

I have found another potential sound level meter to consider - the Casella CEL621C1 (USA) from www.keison.co.uk. Any more ideas guys?

Further options I found online, and an update on quotations I have received:

The Svantek 979 I listed above was quoted as costing about £3930 ex VAT, and comes with the microphone and preamp. That's pretty good going for a class 1 device.

The G.R.A.S. (Denmark) 90AB lab system, which includes some of the audiology test kit one might need to set up a new calibration service (artificial ear, with 1/2" and 1" microphones). ACSoft sell this, and I was quoted about £10,000 ex VAT. G.R.A.S. was founded by Gunnar Rasmussen (once of B&K) and so has a high reputation for quality.

I also found that the same system is available through Campbell Associates, at www.campbell-associates.co.uk , as is the Norsonic 140 class 1 sound level meter.

The Norsonic 140 (Norway) looks very similar to the meter shown as part of the G.R.A.S. system in their brochures, although G.R.A.S. seem to have "rebadged" it.

All in all, there is way more info out there than I thought! There are still two companies that I hope to hear from soon with quotations.

I hope this all proves helpful to anyone else out there either considering starting or renewing their test equipment. I would still like to hear from anyone who does audio calibration and uses any of these instruments.