Help Sub Accoustic Question

[EdwardGein]

After 6 months of living on my second floor apartment, my neighbor below is starting to get upset about vibrations/sound eminating from my subs. I haven't increased the volume or done anything different that I had done previously. Both of my subs (living room & bedroom) have a heavy duty isolation pad underneath18�x 18�x ¾� thick with a 45 PSI rating. Anyway, I have now cut up parts of the pads that weren't occupied & now the sub in my living room which already had 1" legs is now over another 3/4" inch pad at the corners, so it now is 1 3/4" over the isolation pad & 2 3/4" over the carpeted floor. The sub in my bedroom that didn't have legs, I doubled the corner pieces underneath & it is now 1 1/2" over the isolation pad & 2" over the carpeted floor.

My questions for anyone, feel free to speculate, is, will this cause any noticable difference in my sub sound, will it sound more boomier for example, because it is elevated a few inches over the carpet? Will the vibrations/sounds from it eminating below, be less noticeable?

Lastly, what happens if you put a sub say a few feet above the ground- is that totally defeating its purpose?

Any advice appreciated other then moving for the time being.

[N. Abstentia]

The problem is, low frequencies carry. You could have it hovering in mid air with a force field around it but the fact is if you can hear it, your neighbor can hear it at what seems to be twice as loud. You're in the room with all the mids & treble so you crank up the sub to match that level...problem is your neighbor can't hear the mids & treble, he just hears your subwoofer.

The only way to kill the sound is to add mass between the floors. You're currently seperated by a sheet of drywall and a thin sheet of plywood....you need about 6" of concrete instead.

[thekid]

The problem is, low frequencies carry. You could have it hovering in mid air with a force field around it but the fact is if you can hear it, your neighbor can hear it at what seems to be twice as loud. You're in the room with all the mids & treble so you crank up the sub to match that level...problem is your neighbor can't hear the mids & treble, he just hears your subwoofer.

The only way to kill the sound is to add mass between the floors. You're currently seperated by a sheet of drywall and a thin sheet of plywood....you need about 6" of concrete instead.

Ed-

N.Abstenia is dead on with his comments. How many times have you been in traffic and heard the "boom-boom" coming from car trunk subwoofer 4-5 cars in front/back of you but you hear nothing else. Volume is not the issue and like the subwoofer in the car trunk you can not surround the sub with enough "padding" to isolate the sound to a specific area.

I would try two things. First talk to your neighbor and see if they have a schedule that you could work your viewing/listening habits around making both parties happy. The other would be to change your crossover to minimize the bass going to the sub. i know this takes away from the HT experience but unless you move to a gound floor apartment I think your options are limited.

[L.J.]

I would try two things. First talk to your neighbor and see if they have a schedule that you could work your viewing/listening habits around making both parties happy. The other would be to change your crossover to minimize the bass going to the sub. i know this takes away from the HT experience but unless you move to a gound floor apartment I think your options are limited.

Man I remember those days. 12" sub and tiny apartment just don't mix. I'm sure my old neighbors had a parade the day I moved.

[EdwardGein]

Man I remember those days. 12" sub and tiny apartment just don't mix. I'm sure my old neighbors had a parade the day I moved.

When my lease is up, I'm going to try to move back to a first floor apartment where the sub never caused me any problems. I'm still trying to figure out how record studios minimize their sound outside the recording area.

[kexodusc]

When my lease is up, I'm going to try to move back to a first floor apartment where the sub never caused me any problems. I'm still trying to figure out how record studios minimize their sound outside the recording area.

First floor apartments won't be much better than other floors - the ceiling is still the weak point. Your sub turns the whole room into a big speaker box. My wife complains aboutthe sub in my basement all the time.

Studio's soundproof when necessary, quite an expensive proposition for a home theater in an apartment.

[markw]

I'm still trying to figure out how record studios minimize their sound outside the recording area.

They don't bother with keeping sounds within the recording area in the recording area. They worry about keeping outside sounds from getting in there.

Didn't you ask this same question several months ago?

[N. Abstentia]

When my lease is up, I'm going to try to move back to a first floor apartment where the sub never caused me any problems. I'm still trying to figure out how record studios minimize their sound outside the recording area.

That will definitely fix the problem with pi$$ing off your downstairs neighbor. Only problem is..you'll now be pi$$ing off your upstairs neighbor! It might even be worse on the ground floor....since the soundwaves won't go through the ground, they'll have to go somewhere...like up to the apartment above you.

[L.J.]

They're right. I've had a upstairs and downstairs apartment and got complaints at both.

[EdwardGein]

Since I've had my 200 watt sub & system, for some reason I haven't had complaints from the
neighbor above me on the third floor (I'm on the second) & when I lived in my first floor apartment, again I didn't have problems with my upstairs neighbor. Not saying you guys are wrong, but that hasn't happened to me yet.

[kexodusc]

Since I've had my 200 watt sub & system, for some reason I haven't had complaints from the
neighbor above me on the third floor (I'm on the second) & when I lived in my first floor apartment, again I didn't have problems with my upstairs neighbor. Not saying you guys are wrong, but that hasn't happened to me yet.

Nice neighbors. Sound doesn't abide by the laws of gravity.

[thekid]

Nice neighbors. Sound doesn't abide by the laws of gravity.

Ed
Kex is right and I did not mean to imply in my previous answer that moving downstairs would solve the problem. It will reduce the effect somewhat depending on location of the sub, construction material of the walls etc but it just is not possible to eliminate the problem.

[markw]

Since I've had my 200 watt sub & system, for some reason I haven't had complaints from the
neighbor above me on the third floor (I'm on the second) & when I lived in my first floor apartment, again I didn't have problems with my upstairs neighbor. Not saying you guys are wrong, but that hasn't happened to me yet.

some people are more tolerant than others. It's all in the luck of the draw.

[L.J.]

some people are more tolerant than others. It's all in the luck of the draw.

You're right, because my first set of neighbors(first floor) complained immediately and pretty much everytime I turned my system up.

My second set of neighbors(second floor) waited about a year before they started. But man did they throw a hissy fit when they decided to complain.

[N. Abstentia]

Get a big loud pit bull, then they will quit complaining about your speakers

[paul_pci]

Get a big loud pit bull, then they will quit complaining about your speakers

As always: sage advice.

[Eric Z]

that's the exact reason why i hated living in apartments or townhomes. i was on the other end though- before i got involved in home theater. i had to wake up really early and my neighbor would listen to music, watch movies, and play video games with tons of bass late at night- sometimes it was the middle of the day. i politely asked him to turn the music down and even tried to work out a time where he could listen and play his games when i wasn't at home. after numerous visits, my last option was calling the cops and getting them involved. the cops were able to here the bass outside the whole apartment complex and we were on the 3rd floor! the noise continued to happen so i called the cops again- needless to say, the noise stopped after he was fined $100 a couple times.

at first i felt bad, but that went away when i was sleeping peacefully!

eg- try talking to your neighbor to work things out so things are bearable until your lease is up. even play your music/movies at your normal level and walk to their apartment to see how it sounds.

many people think there are only laws out there after 10pm or before 6am and things like that. remember, disturbing the peace is disturbing the peace at any hour. one of the citations my neighbor got was at 1pm.

good luck!