Great post!

You and I ahve been through this before while I value a quiet bow, I don't consider it my top priority. Accuracy first and foremost, and within reason a flat trajectory are my top two.

I still believe as far as my experience goes (both southern and northeastern whitetails) that animal attitude is far more important re: string jumping than how quiet your bow is...in a general sense.

ALOT of big bucks have been killed with some loud designs..Darton and Oneida in particular.

On a similar note: I had the exact same bow you do...Panther Mag..29" module, 70 pounds peak..paid the exact same amount you did too! Great shooting short bow, but IMO was noticeably above average regarding noise even when the cam was timed properly and set to peak weight. I had it decked out in all simms gear (leeches, limbsavers), a loop,Sorbotek stabilizer, solid rest and sight, only thing was nothing in the limb pocket. I was also shooting full length 2413's with vanes and 125 grain heads out of it (500 grains plus). It still had a failry obvious "plock" sound...which is typical of Martins.

Now as I said the bow SHOT fantastic, but my MM which was 25-30 FPS faster was not any louder when set-up exactly the same. I'm using the MM as an example as it has the closest specs (axle to axle, brace height, etc). Other Bows I've owned in the same class: Hoyt HavocTec, PSE Enforcer, MQ32, Pearson D-back, etc have been much quieter than both the Martin and the Mighty Mite. IN fact the D-back is probably the quietest bow I've shot..ever.

Please understand my purpose here is NOT to rag on your set-up, simply to say that there can be, and ARE quiet and fast set-ups out there. My Patriot and BKII though both 60 LB models were quieter than the Panther yet they still produced more speed and energy than the 70LB Martin (in fact My local Hoyt & Mathews dealer had to shoot em both because he could not believe how quiet they were for the speed and arrow weight)..I had them both set-up SOLID(Solid accessories are VERY important) Look at the Mathews line..The Legacy in particular. The new Hoyts, etc.

Quiet IS a very important trait for hunting bow, but sacrificing performance and accuracy for quietness is not needed with many bows designs out out there today, IMHO.

JeffB