Vacuum Cleaner Noise Annoyance: An Investigation of Psychoacoustic Parameters, Effect of Test Methodology, and Interaction Effect between Loudness and Sharpness

The first aim of this paper was to determine the variability in signal characteristics and psychoacoustic data canister-type vacuum cleaners. Fifteen cleaners with different sound power levels, provided by manufacturers, were selected as test units calculate their acoustic parameters. selection devices based on an even distribution reported levels. investigated parameters discussed derive common cleaner noise. derived compared those available literature noise generation mechanisms Based these characteristics, prototypical defined. second understand annoyance perception Annoyance assessments obtained from two sets listening experiments. experiment conducted find correlates evaluations. Loudness, sharpness tonal components at lower higher frequencies found be dominant estimations. In experiment, a possible interaction between loudness methods. values for consistent observed ranges part. No significant observed, although each separately correlated significantly positively annoyance.