Neighbor hates me (1 Viewer)

[Brad A]

Ok!...I'm now raising my hand in answer to "Who had the goofiest question of the day?" But here goes...I live in an apartment... The neighbors beside me have no problem with me turning my HT system up a bit (cause I usual invite them over to watch ) BUT...the neighbor below me says my sub (Sony SA-WM40) shakes her walls...Besides the obvious (turning it down)..can anyone suggest something? Some kind of insulation between the sub and the floor that wouldn't alter the sound drastically? Ok...I'm going to go hang my head in embarassment and hope for an answer from all you knowlegeable people...thanks

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Have you tried placing the sub on a rubber mat to see if some of the sound gets stopped from passing through the floor?

Also, you didn't mention which receiver you are using. Does it have a "night mode" feature on it. If so, you could use "night mode" and drop the volume a bit without sacrificing the sound.

Finally, have you considered mouting some "butt kicker" devices to your couch or chair? If you could, then the sub volume could be reduced even more, but you would retain a lot of the effects.

These are just a few suggestions - I'm sure others have additional input also.

 

[Albert M]

Bass shakers.

 

[Brad A]

I have an Onkyo TX-SR600...It does have a mode called "late night" I'll look at it ...thanks...Butt kicker??? Bass shakers?? I haven't tried any rubber under it..but I thought about trying a real dense foam pad

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Here's some information on ButtKickers / Bass Shakers:
Buttkicker Site

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Bass is non directional and the only way you can stop the
low frequencies from making it through the sub floor into
her apartment would be to lay down a sound dampening material
on the floor (under the carpet and padding) I would imagine
a material like V-Blok would do the trick but would easily
cost a thousand or more dollars to do.
As others have noted, perhaps turning the bass down and
supplementing it with a good transducer would do the trick.
Transducers just generate motion rather than sound, you could
Isolate a couch and chair from the floor on platforms and
add ButtKickers and get the "Feeling" without the actual
sound output..
Other than those options, you could always move, or give her
a pair of ear plugs

 

[CaseyLS]

I just got my SVS and the guy that lives below me in my dorm(whm I am friends with) said I was shaking his room. All I can say is, COOL

 

[MikeAlletto]

Such is life living in an apartment. I can't wait to buy a house next year so this noise thing won't be a problem.

 

[Dan Joy]

MOVE OUT!

 

[Edward J M]

Suspend the sub in sturdy fish netting and hang it from a stud in the ceiling. It will keep floor and wall transmitted vibes to an absolute minimum.
Ed

 

[Walt N]

Try moving the sub right behind or beside your listening spot. This way you won't need as much overall sub volume to get the level you need when you're in your chair. The tradeoff is that the sub won't be well calibrated for every listening position in the room, but for the sweet spot the results should be good and this will help keep your neighbor happy.

 

[Salvador]

Suspend the sub in sturdy fish netting and hang it from a stud in the ceiling. It will keep floor and wall transmitted vibes to an absolute minimum.

Are you serious? Does that really reduce the vibrations that go to the adjacent wall/flooring?

 

[Aaron Smithski]

Living in an apartment is like living in HELL if you want to enjoy a movie with your audio equipment!
Sadly, the only real solution is to move into a house!
While we were building our house, my wife, our two boys, and I lived in an apartment for about 8 months. It was absolutely terrible! I swear every time I even LOOKED at my system the lady below us would call the manager!
Good luck with the problem,
Aaron

 

[DavidY]

Subs and apartments don't mix well. Prior to my last move, my dual Mission 700AS subs got me into trouble with the neighbours too. Right now, I am down to one Mission sub (other is in storage). Of course, I am always looking to upgrade my HT system including a better sub.
Dave

 

[BenK]

I swear every time I even LOOKED at my system the lady below us would call the manager!

Haha, thats great. It helps to live on the first floor.

 

[Ted Kim]

You could place a slab of granite or marble under the sub and use spikes to couple to the bottom of the slab. Every bit of isolation from the floor will help reduce transmission below.

The other thing would be to turn down the volume of the subwoofer. IMHO, most people have the sub volume turned way too high. Especially with music, the sub should supplement the low bass and not overpower the rest of the music.

 

[Brad A]

Think a very dense foam rubber layer under it would help? If she wasn't so old...I bet she would enjoy the vibration

 

[John Garcia]

Putting foam between the sub and floor will cause the sub to become "muddy" and will not really help. Your two answers were already pretty clearly hit upon a number of times: turn it down or move. I am not a fan of x-ducers, but even I may have to resort to them in my new place (ugh). I have always used spikes, but in the old place it wasn't a huge issue. In the new place I will probably have to try a marble slab to see how it does before resorting to x-ducers.

 

[John A. Casler]

As John says there is absolutley "nothing" you can do since the bass is not transfered altogether by the mechanical interaction of the cabinet vibrating as much as the actual physical force of the wave form pressure itself on all the room surfaces (walls floors celings)

I suggest you do what I did. Go to Radio Shack and for around $20 you get a (RF) remote controlled switch. Plug the switch into the wall, plug a lamp into the switch and place it on (or close to) your TV.

Go downstairs and give your neighbor the remote control of the switch. Tell her you want to enjoy your HT, but want to be a good neighbor at the same time. Tell her to press the remote, "anytime" she is bothered by your system. Explain that she should not hesitate to do so, but unless you see the light come on you will assume either she isn't home, or it doesn't bother her.

Then if the light comes on TURN IT DOWN.

Try to play it the loudest when you know she isn't there and enjoy the fact that now you can crank it and she isn't going to get PO'd and call the Super or the cops.

And you are now the good guy for being so sensitive.

All for $20. It is the best improvement you can make to your HT.

I think all SUB manufacturers should offer this as an option with their SUBs and pay me a royalty each time someone elects to exercise that option.

Enjoy,

John

 

[John Garcia]

WOW, what a considerate neighbor, and a very good idea. We'll see how my neighbors react for now.