Apartment Complex's and Speakers

[giacona]

I am moving to an apartment complex soon. I will have neighbors above me and beside me unless I get an end unit. Anyhow I have an idea of the TV I plan to get, so I want to do this right with a decent 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound.

I spoke to a friend of mine who told me to look into the new pansonic home theatre in a box 5.1 system. It comes with a blue ray player/receiver, and wireless rear speakers as well. He told me i'd be wasiting my money if I bought anything else since I probally wont be able to get the full effect since i'd be living in a complex.

On the other hand, I really like dev tech, martin logan, and other brands. I don't want to waste money on these good speakers if I can't get the full experince. The good thing is I have a nice size living room, but I don't know how good the sound insulation is. Plus i'm not sure which direction sound travels.

 

[pzaur]

Find some nice bookshelf speakers, a sub, and a decent lower cost receiver. Ignore your buddy's advice.

View speakers as a long term purchase. You're probably not going to be living in that apartment for a great deal of time. The speakers should last you well past this apartment and anything beyond. The only thing you'll end up doing is buying another set of speakers in the future if you get a HTiB type setup.

Your buddy is wrong that you won't be able "to get the full effect" in your apartment. Clear and accurate sound reproduction don't care about volume. True, you might not be able to crank it because of the shared wall situation, but, so what. I'd rather have decent sound at lower volumes than crappy sound at lower volumes.

Panasonic 5.1 system = waste of your money.

-pat

 

[Seth=L]

The thing that's amazing is that good speakers sound good at virtually level of output, where as bad speakers sound bad at virtually any level of output, but can appear to sound good at loud volumes (just because it's loud). I've lived in an apartment for the past 3 years and I've had some pretty outrageous stuff and I can tell you it absolutely makes a difference. In my opinion that Panasonic system is a waste of money. You could spend $500 and get a system that sounds better and has more flexibility.

The most important part is, what's the budget? It sounds like you'd like to have some pretty nice speakers since you mentioned Martin Logan and Definitive Technology speakers. Also, what kind of apartment (duplex, townhome, single level in a 2 story or more building)?

 

[sholling]

As always Seth gives great advice. I lived in apartments for a lot of years before buying a home and in my experience there are a few ways that you can approach this. My advice is to start with a the best 2.0 or 2.1 system that you can afford and then add other pieces as you can afford them. I'd also invest in a really good set of headphones for those nights that you just have to crank up the volume.

If you're on a tight budget you could get by with a pair of the well thought of Behringer B2030P bookshelf studio monitors ($140/pr shipped) and apply the WmAx DIY mods (easy). Add a small front firing sub like the entry priced Dayton SUB-120 ($155 + S&H). I like front firing front ported or front firing sealed subs in an apartment because it doesn't hammer the walls and floors so hard. Then just add more pairs of B2030Ps as money allows. The downside is the Behringers are very industrial looking.

You could do the same thing as above with MartinLogans, or Usher Audios or whatever flavor of speaker that you like and money allows. Or you you could just go with a pair of near full range towers and do without a sub for now. The usual recommendation for budget towers is the Infinity Primus P362 (~$200ea), especially if you apply WmAx's DIY mods. Or a pair of the EMP Impression E5Ti ($500/pr shipped) towers. But speakers are very subjective and only you know your taste.

 

[giacona]

It's an apartment complex that has 153 units. They are 2 story buildings. Some are on the top which you need to go up one flight of stairs, to get to. The others are on the bottom. I'm not sure if I will be upstairs or downstairs yet.

I think I am going to do this the right way and get some decent bookshelf speakers like you said. I found a decent dev tech 5.1 set for 799 at best buy, but I also plan to consider other brands. I just have to be careful not to put it up too much. I will be using this mostly for music and movies.

If I wanted to add 2 more speakers and get a 7.1, would there be a remarkable difference? The thing that concerns me here is the side walls where the other two wpould be mounted are about 15 feet apart. So maybe I should just stick with a 5.1 since it's an apartment?


I don't think it's going to be worth it to do anything custom cause when I leave I will have to repair it.

 

[sholling]

It's an apartment complex that has 153 units. They are 2 story buildings. Some are on the top which you need to go up one flight of stairs, to get to. The others are on the bottom. I'm not sure if I will be upstairs or downstairs yet.

I think I am going to do this the right way and get some decent bookshelf speakers like you said. I found a decent dev tech 5.1 set for 799 at best buy, but I also plan to consider other brands. I just have to be careful not to put it up too much. I will be using this mostly for music and movies.

If I wanted to add 2 more speakers and get a 7.1, would there be a remarkable difference? The thing that concerns me here is the side walls where the other two wpould be mounted are about 15 feet apart. So maybe I should just stick with a 5.1 since it's an apartment?

You'll find there just isn't much need for 7.1. Buy a quality 2.x or 3.1 system to start with.

 

[dkane360]

My only advice on top of everything that has been suggested is to get an auralex gramma pad for underneath your subwoofer (if you get one). I live in an apartment and it has probably saved me from a few noise violations

http://www.amazon.com/Auralex-Subwoofer-Isolation-15x15x2-inch-Charcoal/dp/B001140OZ0

 

[DLeague]

I am moving to an apartment complex soon. I will have neighbors above me and beside me unless I get an end unit. Anyhow I have an idea of the TV I plan to get, so I want to do this right with a decent 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound.

I spoke to a friend of mine who told me to look into the new pansonic home theatre in a box 5.1 system. It comes with a blue ray player/receiver, and wireless rear speakers as well. He told me i'd be wasiting my money if I bought anything else since I probally wont be able to get the full effect since i'd be living in a complex.

On the other hand, I really like dev tech, martin logan, and other brands. I don't want to waste money on these good speakers if I can't get the full experince. The good thing is I have a nice size living room, but I don't know how good the sound insulation is. Plus i'm not sure which direction sound travels.

I agree with what your friends said if he/she was buying speakers for them self. However, you are the one making the decision, and quality speakers give you much more than surround sound noise. If you like music, you won't get the detail and sound stage, or quality tone with a theater in a box. Think about what you want, and leave what others say out of the equation. By the way, add Jamo and Swans to your list, as they have some quality upscale speakers that give you enough bass that you won't need a sub woofer. That's important if you live in an apartment.

 

[Faustblix]

I went as far as sound proofing my old apartment. If you have the funds for Martin Logans, figure you might be able to make out with a really solid 5.1 setup of another good make's bookshelf speakers, and put the remainder of the funds in minor sound proofing. Removing as much vibration out of the sub without completely screwing it, and focusing almost everything on hall door entrance were what I went for. I wasn't and still am not nearly as knowledgeable as any of the folks here, but with a polk bookshelf set, and an HK354, it didn't go half bad.

The only complaints that I'd regularly gotten were from people across the hall which meant going to a coffee shop, getting a bunch of drink trays, painting them, sticking them to the door, and draping a type of curtain over top so it wasn't such an eyesore, and adding foam around the cracks of the door. ...Then I couldn't hear them complain anymore!

 

[Haaspac]

This is my apartment setup

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59404

It is simply fantastic. I can't blast it all the time either, but I spent a couple G's on my HT because I was thinking long term, plus I enjoy having nice things. I can however give it some juice right after I get off work and on the weekends during the day. I wont live in an apartment forever so when I move out I will already have a very nice setup. If you have the cash don't waste it on anything from a big box store. One thing I haven't done yet is get a subdude hd for my sub, but I plan on doing that soon. That little sub I have already shakes everything in my apartment when Rambo is shooting the .50cal