Bass problems

[furrycute]

I have floor standing towers, 8inch woofer on each speaker. But I live in an apartment. My downstairs neighbors are complaining of the bass from my speakers. Because of the bass, I can't play as loud as I like. Is there anyway to turn down the bass on these floorstanders?

I am even thinking about purchasing bookshelfs to replace them.

 

[Az B]

How about the tone control on the reciever?

If there's no other way, bookshelves with a seperate sub would be a great way to control exactly how much bass you want to create.

 

[furrycute]

That's just the thing, I have no tone controls at the moment. I'm linking my CD player directly to the amp.

Is there anyway I can play around with speaker placement, like putting a rug under the speakers, elevate the speakers, etc., to reduce bass transmission downstairs?

 

[mtrycrafts]

That's just the thing, I have no tone controls at the moment. I'm linking my CD player directly to the amp.

Is there anyway I can play around with speaker placement, like putting a rug under the speakers, elevate the speakers, etc., to reduce bass transmission downstairs?

Sorry. Bass is the most difficult to tame from tresspassing to other locations.
Speaker locations will not help, rugs vill not help. You must lower the volume in the lows or find other accommodations.

 

[Yamahaluver]

As a stop gap method, you can try stuffing the ports of your speakers with some old socks, most speaker designs feature ported bass type so I am assuming that your speakers have those ports too, by stuffing the ports, you will limit the lower spectrum of the frequency, see if this makes your neighbor happy.

 

[BIG FISH]

Just turn it up some more and you won't hear them complain

 

[annunaki]

Yamahaluver,

I would not suggest plugging ports on a subwoofer. The compliance of enclosure may be too low potentially causing damage to the woofer. Most woofers, whether recommended for sealed or ported enclosures, typically require a 25%-50% larger enclosure when ported vs. sealed. If a woofer's recommended sealed enclosure is 1.25 cu.ft., chances are its ported recommendation will be around 2.0 cu.ft or so. With the box being very large after plugging a port, the power needed to reach xmax may be cut in half. Output will be reduced as well, usually by 3db or possibly more, which is what we are after. However, the potential of damaging the woofer due to over excursion or over powering just doubled as well. There are a few risks involed. I would not recommend this solution for most people, as most people do not know limits until they are well surpassed (no offense intended towards any here ).


My assumption in this case is that there was little insulation/sound damping measures taken during the construction phase of your apartment. I would say that this was done as a cost saving measure from the owner's/builder's perspective, thus limiting your ability to enjoy your system. Mtrycrafts is correct, the only way to really fix the problem is lowering the bass output level or finding a new residence.

 

[furrycute]

There is absolutely now sound dampening ANYWHERE to be found in my apartment building. The construction is atrocious! Is it too much to ask for cement floors. No the floor is cardboard with a layer of wood tiles on top. My downstairs neighbor even complain of my walking in my own apartment at night.

What's up with these new apartments nowadays?

 

[mtrycrafts]

There is absolutely now sound dampening ANYWHERE to be found in my apartment building. The construction is atrocious! Is it too much to ask for cement floors. No the floor is cardboard with a layer of wood tiles on top. My downstairs neighbor even complain of my walking in my own apartment at night.

What's up with these new apartments nowadays?

Well, money rules. In building apartments, the less it costs the better. Concrete is very heavy, 150 lbs/cu ft. That requires floor joists of monster size. ( Hope Monster Cable will not come after me for using their trademaked name ) But, that would not solve your problems as the lows will go through the walls down to the neighbors and sides and above.

 

[Yamahaluver]

Yamahaluver,

I would not suggest plugging ports on a subwoofer. The compliance of enclosure may be too low potentially causing damage to the woofer. Most woofers, whether recommended for sealed or ported enclosures, typically require a 25%-50% larger enclosure when ported vs. sealed. If a woofer's recommended sealed enclosure is 1.25 cu.ft., chances are its ported recommendation will be around 2.0 cu.ft or so. With the box being very large after plugging a port, the power needed to reach xmax may be cut in half. Output will be reduced as well, usually by 3db or possibly more, which is what we are after. However, the potential of damaging the woofer due to over excursion or over powering just doubled as well. There are a few risks involed. I would not recommend this solution for most people, as most people do not know limits until they are well surpassed (no offense intended towards any here ).


My assumption in this case is that there was little insulation/sound damping measures taken during the construction phase of your apartment. I would say that this was done as a cost saving measure from the owner's/builder's perspective, thus limiting your ability to enjoy your system. Mtrycrafts is correct, the only way to really fix the problem is lowering the bass output level or finding a new residence.

Annunaki,

I am fully aware of the implication of sealing the port and damage to the woofer scenario, however I only mentioned this method as a stop gap solution, not a permanent one. Would rather take this risk than the one where my neighbor would get the law involved and worse, it ends up in costly litigation. Have seen that happen quite a few times while I was living in NY.

 

[nova]

Well,... how about adjusting the crossover in your receiver to remove some of the bass, set sub to yes, and leave the sub turned off.
Maybe you could let us know a little more about your set-up,...perhaps someone will have some better ideas.

 

[annunaki]

Yamahaluver,

Your point made in your last post is well taken, and a viable interim solution. Good day.