Help with my neighbors?

[Resident Loser]

Hello all-

I was wondering if anyone here had any advice I could pass on to my neighbors. We live in condos, and they are directly below me. They have a home theater. I don't know what kind- but it definately has a massive subwoofer.

A good chunk of the problem is that they play their music and TV very, very loud, which the bass cranked up high-once so high the art on my walls started to rattle. That you all can't help me with.

However, I am looking for suggestions on how they can set up their speakers/subwoofer in a way that still gives them surround sound without bothering me or their next door neighbor. I've already found the article on audioholics.com.

I am going to the HO association board meeting tomorrow to file a formal complaint. I'm trying to be as polite as possible, and want to present solutions in addition to the complaints. (I'm a librarian, providing information is in my nature.) I have no idea if the downstairs neighbors will take the suggestions-the last time I asked them to turn it down they slammed the door in my face.

Thank you for any advice you can give!

...there may be several, but short of building a room-within-a-room, none of them will be completely effective...and they really have to start at the source IMO...unfortunately given your experience with them, I'll hazard a guess any suggestions will likely fall on deaf ears...no pun intended.

Carpeting and other sound absorbent panels will ameliorate high frequency sounds to some degree, but lower freqs are structure-bourne...hence the room-in-a-room mentioned earlier...One man's ceiling may very well be another man's floor, but that also includes: walls, hallways, elevator shafts, ductwork, etc. Anything in common, will transfer some of the lower frequencies...It will probably require qualified acousticians to analyze and help in the situation, but even so they won't be able to perform miracles...The building most likely predates mega-watt idiocy and was built for people to live in relative harmony in a day when consideration for your neighbor may have actually been an accepted norm...and we know where that is at nowadays...and actually subwoofers aren't absolutely required for surround sound, usually they only enhance the LFEs (Low Frequency Effects) resplendent in movies featuring laser-toting mechanical lizards and such...strictly the WOW! factor...There is a chance they don't have their system set up correctly and it may be overemphasizing the offending frequencies...most folks (generally those unfamiliar with audio and hi-fi) equate quality with quantity, loudness with accuracy...most folks are wrong. Additionally, the fact they now know they are annoying other people can, to some, just be icing on the proverbial cake.

You are probably better off hoping the owners association can enforce whatever by-laws that may be applicable, I'm sure there must be something they can do...Then of course, even if the matter is resolved in your favor, you will in all likelyhood have a group of mindless dolts who will hold you in less than the highest regard for spoiling their fun! And as we have already seen, it's all about them...isn't it?

jimHJJ(...what ever were you thinking?...)