I haven't heard silence in so long I forgot what it's like. I live in a house where four different radios are tuned to four different stations at all times, and my husband and son are into full volume. Fortunately, I have great capacity to tune things out, to the point where noise that drives other people crazy is unnoticed by me. Dogs barking, kids yelling... unless there's a loud crash and a scream, it's just part of the atmosphere.But rather than compete with the other three for use of the sound system, I keep most of my tapes in my car, and most of my CD's in my workshop, where I can have total control without interference or arguement. Fortunately, my son and daughter and I do have similar taste in music. The downside is that they're always swiping my tapes.