Neighbor is complaining about bass (need advice)

[ObsceneJesster]

I live in a end of group townhouse with my home theater in the basement which is surounded by concrete, insulation and drywall. I just hooked up and watched a movie with my new X-Ref 12 and my neighbor is already complaining. I went into his house while my system was playing loud and you can hear when the bass hits hard but its not bad at all. Its hardly noticeable.

Is there any steps I can take or things I can do that would help with deadening the little bit of noise my neighbor is hearing? Would puting my sub on a isolation pad work? Would covering the wall on on that side with studio foam help? Would hanging some bass traps on that wall help? Lastly, there is a 3 foot space between my basement ceiling and first floor. Is there anything like thick insulation I can put in that space to help dampen the noise before spreading to the adjoining wall?

Besides turning the volume down, is there anything else I can do?

 

[Alex2507]

The isolation pad is step one. Step two is buying your neighbor a bottle of JD and some ear plugs.

Your basement/home theater goes under his first floor? What kind of ceiling do you have? Drywall? Tee-bar? Can you access the 3' space? Some pic's would really help here.

To reduce the transmission of low frequencies, additional mass works best.
Extra layers of 5/8" drywall is how it's usually done.

I live in a condo and run a couple of 10" pee-pee subs but they are plugged into a switched outlet. After 8 or 9 PM I switch them off and before 8 or 9 PM I'm careful with the volume. While watching movies I keep it turned up enough so that dialog is ... I can't think of the word ... understandable? Even then if there's a chase scene with crashes I'm likely to reduce the volume on the fly for that portion.

 

[walter duque]

Or you can do what I did. I play my music so loud that all my neighbors moved out, at least for now till someone else moves in. For now I am in sonic heaven.

 

[96cobra10101]

Reason #76 on why I would never live in an apartment or townhouse.

I know around here quiet hours are between 11 pm and 9 am. Atleast ones enforced by the cops.

 

[jinjuku]

Besides turning the volume down, is there anything else I can do?

That's why when we went house hunting we were only going to look at standalone houses

 

[Alex2507]

Or you can do what I did. I play my music so loud that all my neighbors moved out, at least for now till someone else moves in. For now I am in sonic heaven.

If you were my neighbor you'd be in heaven alright.

 

[Adam]

If you were my neighbor you'd be in heaven alright.

Not everyone views that box the same way that you do. Especially the people in it.

 

[tattoo_Dan]

I live in a end of group townhouse with my home theater in the basement which is surounded by concrete, insulation and drywall. I just hooked up and watched a movie with my new X-Ref 12 and my neighbor is already complaining. I went into his house while my system was playing loud and you can hear when the bass hits hard but its not bad at all. Its hardly noticeable.

Is there any steps I can take or things I can do that would help with deadening the little bit of noise my neighbor is hearing? Would puting my sub on a isolation pad work? Would covering the wall on on that side with studio foam help? Would hanging some bass traps on that wall help? Lastly, there is a 3 foot space between my basement ceiling and first floor. Is there anything like thick insulation I can put in that space to help dampen the noise before spreading to the adjoining wall?

Besides turning the volume down, is there anything else I can do?

I know you said the idea about the isolation pads already,
but see if you can buy a http://www.auralex.com/sound_isolation_gramma/sound_isolation_gramma.asp locally from a store with a good return policy and try it out.
here in nor cal I know guitar center sells them as well as a couple local music shops.

 

[Alex2507]

Not everyone views that box the same way that you do. Especially the people in it.

I know the box you speak of but I'm immediately thinking of coffins.

Is the shallow grave a thing of the past? Dirt nap. nite nite

... I write this in the midst of rediscovering Beethoven's Fifth at not ridiculous levels but I think the beginning of the 4th movement does have a rather dynamic part. Oh yeah, it's the beginning of the fourth movement ... but it's daytime and I figure it's mostly masked and besides ... it's Beethoven.

 

[Adam]

I know the box you speak of but I'm immediately thinking of coffins.

Yeah, that's how I read it the first time, but then I went another way. NTTAWWT.

 

[FirstReflection]

Yup, you should at least try an Auralex GRAMMA/SubDude or other isolation riser/decoupling device. It's entirely likely that you are getting some structure-borne sound transmission to your neighbor, which the decoupling device will help reduce.

If decoupling doesn't work though, then you're in a bit of a bind. Even doing some fairly extensive sound-proofing - with green glue or quietrock - might not work as those methods are effective down to about 50Hz or so, but they don't really do all that much below that frequency.

Building an entire "room within a room" is the most effective way to soundproof. But that's a major expense, it cuts down your square footage quite a bit and even that won't always stop ALL sound transmission as any tiny hole or any hard contact with the outer wall will still allow sound to pass to the adjacent rooms.

It's tough! But certainly start by decoupling. That's a very easy and inexpensive - and often very effective - way of reducing bass "bleeding" into other rooms or apartements/townhomes

 

[sholling]

Start with an isolation pad that fits your subwoofer. Auralex offers 3 different sizes that retail $50-80 the SubDude, Gramma and Great Gramma. If you want to tackle modifying the room you might want to look at the DIY and how-to areas at Soundproofing.org. I've done a little bit of business with them and have no complaints.

 

[walter duque]

If you were my neighbor you'd be in heaven alright.

It's not like I play it that loud.

 

[Alex2507]

It's not like I play it that loud.

The forum won't let me put anymore eyerolls into one post but that doesn't begin to express just how far my eyes rolled back. They rolled back in time.

"that loud" can be measured. I know you crank out in excess of 110 db regular like.

 

[markw]

It's not like I play it that loud.

Yeah, and the sun rises in the west.

 

[Rickster71]

It's not like I play it that loud.

The words, "Walter" and "Loud" used in the same sentence...I just can't believe it!

 

[ObsceneJesster]

The isolation pad is step one. Step two is buying your neighbor a bottle of JD and some ear plugs.

Your basement/home theater goes under his first floor? What kind of ceiling do you have? Drywall? Tee-bar? Can you access the 3' space? Some pic's would really help here.

To reduce the transmission of low frequencies, additional mass works best.
Extra layers of 5/8" drywall is how it's usually done.

I live in a condo and run a couple of 10" pee-pee subs but they are plugged into a switched outlet. After 8 or 9 PM I switch them off and before 8 or 9 PM I'm careful with the volume. While watching movies I keep it turned up enough so that dialog is ... I can't think of the word ... understandable? Even then if there's a chase scene with crashes I'm likely to reduce the volume on the fly for that portion.

My ceiling is drywall. I can access the space between the ceiling from the unfinished side of the basement. There is a 3 foot space between the basement drywall ceiling and the first floor.

 

[Jeff R.]

My ceiling is drywall. I can access the space between the ceiling from the unfinished side of the basement. There is a 3 foot space between the basement drywall ceiling and the first floor.

It can not hurt to put insulation between the basement and 1st floor and it will not cost to much money....

 

[Ricci]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet but if you still want to enjoy the bass and the placement is possible you can move the sub as close to your primary listening position as possible. that way the direct sound from it is louder to you but not the neighbors. Might be worth a shot.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Yeah, and the sun rises in the west.

You been to our parallel world?