The results are in: 2024 Silencer Summit Sound Test

[TheM1DoesMyTalking]

The 2024 Silencer Summit Sound Test Results have been posted! TBAC hosted the event last week and they have already published the data:

https://thunderbeastarms.com/sound/summit2024/

There are many new cans this year and they also added 22LR as a new category, something that I asked TBAC and AAC about after the first summit last year. Great to see that responsiveness to market interest.

I really wish SilencerCo had participated and tested the Scythe. What other manufacturers/suppressors do you want to see in the comparison next year?

I know I'm going to be combing through this and deciding what can to order next. It's great to be able to sort by dB, weight, length, etc. Now I'm leaning towards a 6mm can for use on .223/.243 rifles.

The 2023 data led me to choose a DD Enticer S-Ti and I've been really impressed with it so far, for the amount of suppression it provides while weighing only 8.6 oz.

 

[JohnJohnson]

I feel pretty damn good right now about steering my friend towards an OCL Hydrogen-L 6.5 can since TBAC was out of stock everywhere a couple weeks ago. I was basing that off the 2023 Summit results but seems like it aged well.

 

[wesfromky]

I feel pretty damn good right now about steering my friend towards an OCL Hydrogen-L 6.5 can since TBAC was out of stock everywhere a couple weeks ago. I was basing that off the 2023 Summit results but seems like it aged well.

I have two Hydrogens, with a 3rd in jail. Great cans, cool company.

 

[wind gypsy]

No Scythe? what gives!

 

[5811]

First data I've seen on the Nomad XC line, looks pretty good.

 

[JohnJohnson]

No Scythe? what gives!

I think it's voluntary participation from companies. I guess Silencerco may have not thought it was worth sending some cans over. Or maybe (unlike the other manufacturers) they objected to the methodology.

 

[wind gypsy]

I think it's voluntary participation from companies. I guess Silencerco may have not thought it was worth sending some cans over. Or maybe (unlike the other manufacturers) they objected to the methodology.

there was an omega with brake in the comparison.

 

[5811]

Jay from pewscience.com poked some pretty big holes in the methodology after last year, but he is on another level. I think it has some value as a comparison tool, but I can also understand where there might be some hesitancy.

 

[JohnJohnson]

there was an omega with brake in the comparison.

My best guess is someone had one lying around. Probably Ray from TBAC from his past comparisons on Youtube. If Silencerco wanted to send some more to the test I have a very hard time believing TBAC wouldn't let them. Heck, there's a Q suppressor on there. If someone's been more of a prick to TBAC than KB has, I'm not aware of it.

 

[SloppyJ]

AB was on there last year, no data from them this year. But the wolfhunter did as I expected. Also surprised there was no Scythe on the list.

 

[SloppyJ]

Jay from pewscience.com poked some pretty big holes in the methodology after last year, but he is on another level. I think it has some value as a comparison tool, but I can also understand where there might be some hesitancy.

I have some hesitancy with Jay.

 

[JohnJohnson]

I have some hesitancy with Jay.

His stuff is certainly advanced but he's also selling subscriptions to his site to view his in depth testing results, isn't he? At the end of the day, he's selling a competing product (his testing). TBAC are a suppressor company that are also selling a product but at the very least they got some input/agreement from other manufacturers on their testing protocol. And they're not selling the testing itself.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I'd have been cool if the tested some of those cans on a bolt action 556 host. IE you look at the wolfman and its louder at the shooters ear than others while being quitter on the muzzle, which to me says its louder in an AR platform shooter ear but I assume not on a bolt action?

 

[TheM1DoesMyTalking]

I feel pretty damn good right now about steering my friend towards an OCL Hydrogen-L 6.5 can since TBAC was out of stock everywhere a couple weeks ago. I was basing that off the 2023 Summit results but seems like it aged well.

The Hydrogen-L does look like a good recommendation!

 

[TheM1DoesMyTalking]

Jay from pewscience.com poked some pretty big holes in the methodology after last year, but he is on another level. I think it has some value as a comparison tool, but I can also understand where there might be some hesitancy.

I haven't seen that. Do you have a link or was it in one of Jay's podcasts? What were Jay's claims regarding the methodology? I can appreciate how agreeing with free comparison testing does seem like a conflict of interest for his business model...

 

[5811]

I haven't seen that. Do you have a link or was it in one of Jay's podcasts? What were Jay's claims regarding the methodology? I can appreciate how agreeing with free comparison testing does seem like a conflict of interest for his business model...

I think it might have been on reddit? Comments on a post about the 2023 Summit?

I hope I'm not out of whack here, but in my recollection it was mainly targeting the way they adjusted the readings to make up for shooting in a tin shed. And something about how he (Jay) uses proprietary algorithms to get to his sound rating vs raw dB data so that manufacturers can't game the test with lower peak readings but still causing equivalent harm by extending the duration.

Again, don't quote me on any of this. The gist was that those readings at the Summit do not equate directly to risk of hearing loss mitigation and are only part of the picture.

 

[JohnJohnson]

I think it might have been on reddit? Comments on a post about the 2023 Summit?

I hope I'm not out of whack here, but in my recollection it was mainly targeting the way they adjusted the readings to make up for shooting in a tin shed. And something about how he (Jay) uses proprietary algorithms to get to his sound rating vs raw dB data so that manufacturers can't game the test with lower peak readings but still causing equivalent harm by extending the duration.

Again, don't quote me on any of this. The gist was that those readings at the Summit do not equate directly to risk of hearing loss mitigation and are only part of the picture.

I guess if we want the rest of the picture we'll have to cough up the money to buy a subscription to his website to view his testing results. The Summit comparisons are good enough for me not to do that but can see why he'd dislike someone doing large scale comparison testing for free.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

so what's currently the best 22 silencer?

 

[5811]

I guess if we want the rest of the picture we'll have to cough up the money to buy a subscription to his website to view his testing results. The Summit comparisons are good enough for me not to do that but can see why he'd dislike someone doing large scale comparison testing for free.

I don't think it was that he disliked it being out there. All these companies have their own ratings, these are not groundbreaking. It was more about some numbers that disagreed with his, and he was explaining why. The Summit is not a competitor to his products.

 

[omicron1792]

so what's currently the best 22 silencer?

The banish 22 got the best results. The banish 30 gold also did well. Those suppressors seem to get a lot of flack on here, but mainly for their marketing strategies.