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How Do I Keep My Apartment Neighbor From Hearing My Subwoofer?

Wes

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1. support the sub on ropes or cables so it no longer touches the floor

2. nothing will work perfectly, so buy your neighbor a nice all expenses paid trip to a far away vacation destination resort
 

Balle Clorin

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no way, I just spent 5k in new speakers. It must exist a solution
No.Do not play load music if you live in an apartment. Bass will transfer no matter what you do.
I live in an apartment from 1899 with extra special soundproofing insulation between floors. Sound still travel , but at reasonable level is ok , but I never play loud late at night. Neighbours luckily enjoy it when my wife plays piano. But we do not do it late at night”
 
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Wes

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no way to block structure-borne low frequencies leakage. maybe some thick layers of lead with spacers in between.

Not true. You would have to modify the structure however, and apt. dwellers don't own.
 

SMc

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Not true. You would have to modify the structure however, and apt. dwellers don't own.
It's unlikely the OP could get permission to "float" a room for his stereo. It's more typical for sound studios for the purpose of keeping sound out.
 

DDF

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What can I do to try to isolate the bass from the floor?

Place the sub close to your listening chair so you can reduce its volume. Some fit under a couch or coffee table.

You'll need to have local power, run wire under a rug or use wireless, maybe add delay for blend, or more low pass filtering so it's not localizable.

Use PEQ to tame peaks at your listening chair. Good for you and your neighbour

My office sub is 3' from me, works perfectly. Beats headphones.
 

raindance

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1. Move your speakers away from the walls/corners. Sell your subwoofer.
2. Create a floating room within a room that is insulated from the structure.
3. Move :D
 

Chrispy

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Moving into a non-apartment living situation is the long term solution :) Maybe nearfield and dialed down some.
 

Midwest Blade

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We have had our condo for over 20 years, loud music and soundtracks are long gone from our repertoire. Even with concrete construction bass frequencies travel easily between floors and ceilings. Luckily our Board and Management are pretty firm on these disturbances so everyone manages to keep sound levels appropriate and reasonable. My subwoofer sits in storage and I always make sure my listening levels are in line, part of living in a multi unit building unfortunately.
 

Kal Rubinson

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I have been in this same apartment for 30 years and I chose it because, as soon as I walked into it, it was strikingly quieter and more isolated from the neighboring apartments than any of the others in my search. That is not to say that I do not hear my side neighbors from my side rooms but my system is in a central room. Sounds from above and below are rarely obtrusive (recently from a new pet) and the building association requires carpeting in all rooms (except kitchen and bathrooms). In general, we try to be good neighbors.

That said, I have enjoyed my music/audio without significant constraint and, with only two exceptions, I have had no complaints. Both complaints were justified and from the same individual down the hall who has long since moved away. I do not play music loud early in the morning nor late in the evening but, otherwise, I play it as loud as I care. So far, so good.

The pianist apologized and said he had no idea—no had complained in years he'd lived in the building.

To which the guy said: "The deaf lady next door died. I live there now."
Ha. When I moved in the couple downstairs was deaf but they moved out.
 
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EB1000

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I have the same problem but not with a neighbor, with my wife and daughter. My wife don't care for music, and my 9yo daughter thinks that if it's not Ariana Grande or Justin Bieber, it ain't music... My system is located in a separate room (my wife's WAF's bare saturates at a sound projector). I'm considering sound proofing my work room.
 

paulraphael

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A New York story: a part-time pianist and music teacher lived for years in a rent-stabilized apartment on the upper east side. He practiced whenever he wanted, assuming the building's thick walls kept the sound in. Then in the middle of one practice session, a neighbor came pounding on the door screaming bloody murder.

The pianist apologized and said he had no idea—no had complained in years he'd lived in the building.

To which the guy said: "The deaf lady next door died. I live there now."
 

SKBubba

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Not sure if this helps, but recent Denon AVRs have a "low frequency containment" setting that is supposed to "dynamically target and lower the particular frequency range that can pass through walls."

I have enabled this, but The Mrs. still hollers at me from the bedroom late at night to "turn that s*** down," so it might be snake oil.

I feel your pain, though. In our younger days the cops showed up one time at 2AM and told us to "turn that s*** down." The complaint came from a neighbor in an adjacent house (not an apartment).

I was actually proud of our Original Large Advents. And also surprised that the cloud of, uh, smoke that rolled out when I answered the loud knock at the door didn't result in any legal problems. I should also note that I don't recall The Mrs. hollering at me to turn anything down.
 

MrPeabody

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A reversed polarity speaker in a stereo pair is just audibly hideous. I've lost count of the number of shops where ceiling speakers or other speakers are out of polarity and as you approach the store or walk through it, I can identify which are screwed up and which aren't. Plenty of friends houses where even HT setups had screwed up surrounds. Outside patio speakers etc. It drives me nuts.

I can't agree with this suggestion, it's headache inducing.

I too have had this experience on various occasions and have wondered why the people who listened to it regularly never noticed it. What this says to me is that I am sensitive to something that the greater majority of people aren't bothered by. Therefore, it seems like something that was worth suggesting. It isn't as though it would be a huge waste of time and energy if OP doesn't like it, right? You say you can't agree with the suggestion because it is "headache inducing", but how do you know that it will give the OP a headache that same as it does you? Why would you disagree with the suggestion when you don't know this, and especially since it such a trivial thing to try?
 

MrPeabody

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I have been in this same apartment for 30 years and I chose it because, as soon as I walked into it, it was strikingly quieter and more isolated from the neighboring apartments than any of the others in my search. That is not to say that I do not hear my side neighbors from my side rooms but my system is in a central room. Sounds from above and below are rarely obtrusive (recently from a new pet) and the building association requires carpeting in all rooms (except kitchen and bathrooms). In general, we try to be good neighbors.

That said, I have enjoyed my music/audio without significant constraint and, with only two exceptions, I have had no complaints. Both complaints were justified and from the same individual down the hall who has long since moved away. I do not play music loud early in the morning nor late in the evening but, otherwise, I play it as loud as I care. So far, so good.

For you to be this fortunate in an apartment setting and for this long, with the other individual moving out, tells me that the man upstairs is looking out for you.
 

Kal Rubinson

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The pianist apologized and said he had no idea—no had complained in years he'd lived in the building.

To which the guy said: "The deaf lady next door died. I live there now."
For you to be this fortunate in an apartment setting and for this long, with the other individual moving out, tells me that the man upstairs is looking out for you.
I do not know the man upstairs. :rolleyes:
 
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