How to at least lessen the noise from above? (1 Viewer)

[PapaDeuce]

My family likes movies, but we're not so into it that we can justify spending a ton on room design. Our contractor is scheduled to start work on our 3rd floor in January - turning it into a HT room / Family Game room. I measured the room.... almost 700 SF, of which most of it sits above our MBR. I don't see me up there often late at night when the wife is trying to sleep, but it could happen maybe 8 - 10x a year. So, without spending a fortune, is there anyway to at least lessen the noise from a sub? The sub is really the issue as my wife is very low frequency sensitive. My wife is not bothered by mids and highs.... can fall asleep easily with the TV on at high volume.

 

[Jason Charlton]

Hmm, that can be quite a challenge.


Mass is what is needed to stop bass, and it's kinda hard to add mass to a floor/ceiling.


Honestly, the first thing that popped into my mind was to consider adding tactile transducers (bass shakers) to your seating location(s) for late night sessions. These provide "rumble" without the "volume" - so for "stealth" movie watching, turn off the subwoofer and just rely on the bass shakers.


I don't have any direct experience with these (other members can offer their opinions on them) but any serious effort to try and contain the bass from a subwoofer is likely to cost some money and yield relatively poor results. When all is said and done, bass shakers may wind up being the most cost effective option.


Good luck with the project!

 

[PapaDeuce]

Thanks for the reply. I had never hear of that solution before.