Vladi Posted October 30, 2002 Share Posted October 30, 2002 Trying to figure out what will disturb the neighbors less: 1) Front speakers and sub against a common wall -- or -- 2) Front speakers and sub against the oposite wall of a common wall. My dry walls presumambly have sound proofing insulation in them I'll try to draw it (1 or 2 on the drawing): --------------------------------------- / / / / / Neighbor Apartment / / / / --------------------------------------- / Common Dry Wall --------------------------------------- / 1 / / / / My Apartment / / / / 2 --------------------------------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zandern Posted October 30, 2002 Share Posted October 30, 2002 I would definately say against the oposite wall of a common wall. Both will shake but having it against the common wall will make it shake even more. At least thats my experience with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynnm Posted October 30, 2002 Share Posted October 30, 2002 What is the basic construction ? Are you in a concrete apartment building with concrete floors , A wooden structure , a house converted into flats ? If the answer that you are in a concrete building with concrete floors then the farther your main speakers and sub are placed from the common wall the better. On the other hand if you are in a wood frame building then the answer above still applies but there will be so much sound transmitted via floors , studs , joists etc. that moving the speakers will only slightly reduce the sound transmission. Bear in mind also that there will likely be little - or most probably - no insulation within the common wall as it is an interior wall. Insulation is typically added to reduce heat flow and in any event is essentially useless for reducing vibrational energy. In fact insulation is used in speakers to increase the effective air volume of an enclosure and improve the bass response. As a practical matter there is little that you can do prevent the sound from your stereo reaching your neighbours apartment. Several months ago I had an embarrassing incident. My wife was away visiting family and I got up at 5:00 A.M. and decided to listen to Will The Circle Be Unbroken II while I prepared to go to work. Remember this was during cold weather so all the windows and doors were closed. Admittedly I had " Loving on the Side" cranked pretty high but none of my neighbours had raised hell before. In any event Paulette Carlson was in full flight when my phone rang. It was my next door neighbour calling to request that I turn my stereo down as the windows in their bedroom were literally rattling and they couldn't sleep. Oops! I made profuse apologies and cranked it down immediately of course. I swear I had no idea that the sound was travelling through my walls and windows and their's having already traversed the 25' separating the houses. The point of the story above is that wood frame construction makes the reduction of sound transmission problematic to say the least ! In effect I believe that at high power levels not only do the joists etc. transmit vibration but also that walls and floors behave as passive radiators. At high volume the floors and walls in effect become speakers . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prodj101 Posted October 30, 2002 Share Posted October 30, 2002 why are you worried anyway? I just found out what the legal limit was, and stayed under it. which is easy here because it is like 70 db at the persons window, and that equates to very loud in my living room. oops, I just realized you have an apartment, not a house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vladi Posted October 31, 2002 Author Share Posted October 31, 2002 Thanks for your comments, especially to lynnm. I live in San Francisco Bay Area, so everything here is wooden frame and drywall/sheetrock. I see what you are saying lynnm, indeed the walls turn into speakers, my whole bedroom was one big resonator box. I used to live in an apartment complex built in the 50s, didn't have any sound insulation. Didn't have any weather insulation either, in the winter (and you know how mild the winter is in California) it was colder inside than outside, had to leave gas heater on all the time. Anyway, I could hear distinctly the neighbors talking - they used to come home late at night, around 1-2am, and I got woken up by the noise. Couldn't really complain, because it was just talk, not shouting even. Things changed when I got my Klipsch speakers, they started complaining big time. If I could hear their normal talk, I can only imagine how they heard my music. So I moved a month ago to an apartment complex that was advertised having "sound proof" insulation in the walls. No, I don't hear my neighbors any more, and they haven't complained. Yet. So because of bitter experience, I want to try and keep the sound to myself, and that is really hard with the Klipsch. And sad, cause I want to listen louder, but most likely will not happen until I move to a house, which will not be soon. How can I find out what are the sound and noise restrictions in my area, so at least I have something for backup when time comes -- I think I am gonna have trouble really soon, because my birthday is on November 3rd, and I am planning a party ... My first party with Klipsch, can't wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynnm Posted October 31, 2002 Share Posted October 31, 2002 Asuming your Klipsch's haven't yet PO'd the neighbours perhaps you could talk to them and ask if you could try an experiment. If they are agreeable turn your Klipsch's up to a relatively loud level and then go into their apartment to check out how much sound is getting into their place. This might have the side benefit of encouraging them to be a little more tolerant than they might otherwise on those occasions that you get a little loud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyKlipschFan Posted October 31, 2002 Share Posted October 31, 2002 I say make a great Italian dinner...Some great wine...Invite the woman over...and enjoy a Movie experience to make her ...ummm.....ok Excited. If she is married, strike that last statement..LOL Either way, your gonna sometimes (I am sure) have it up too loud. Better just let them come over and enjoy it too, sometime early as your demoing showing it off...so they might be more inclined to put up with it other times. Enjoy, and wish/ ask sometimes when they leave for the night or weekend, they let you know.... So you can really cank it up and experirence an action thriller movie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.