Seeking Input From Any Condo Dwellers

[Arky]

Good decision plus a home provides a more private environment & a larger resell market.

[Islander]

My experience in condo living is similar to that of mdeneen. Concrete high-rise condos can be pretty quiet. When I moved to Victoria, BC, I was warned away from wooden buildings, because they're like living in a wooden house in that you can hear your neighbours around you as if you were sharing a house with them.

In a concrete building, it's a different story. We've only had serous complaints about one owner in our 51-unit 9-storey building, because he blasts his music at 4:30am when his drunken friends are over. There's a band on the 5th floor, and one little old lady thought there was some banging in the pipes, but it turned out to be the drummer. No other complaints about them, though.

My unit has two apartments below it, but none above or to either side. Even so, I keep the volume moderate after 11pm, and usually save really loud volume (ZZ Top La Grange, for example) for mid-afternoon when it's not likely to disturb anyone.

More than music, I think it's the bass-heavy movie soundtracks that would be the most annoying to neighbours. During some movies, it feels like there's an earthquake going on. I've got all my subs (one in the livingroom, two in the bedroom) on inch-thick neoprene rubber pads, and hopefully that keeps the excess bass from travelling through the floor. I know all my neighbours, but don't ask if they can hear the music, in case I don't like what they might say. Over two years so far with no problems.

[garyrc]

Yeah.

You might pull it off with a concrete floor in a basement, but I doubt it. With good speakers, the some of the bass will always go through.

About 20 years ago, we built a room within a room in a house, out of concern for the neighbors. We used the principles in Jeff Cooper's Building a Recording Studio (still available, pretty good, and geared toward modifying private residences). We had a floating floor (two layers of 3/4 plywood going opposite directions, on 1 x 4 cheaters, in turn on (partially imbedded in) several layers of celotex, also going in opposite directions, all on top of the existing floor, which was reinforced (necessary!) with Stonehenge-like posts and lintels in the crawl space, and a gargantuan beam going across (pressing up on) the original floor joists, as recommended in an audio magazine at the time (to prevent movement / flexing of the floor, which could absorb bass, if very springy). The floating walls/ceiling were built on top of the floor, so that the inner room was independent of the outer room. The walls were made with a 3/4 ply skin on each side of the studs, and hardwood veneer over that. I think that today, experts might recommend leaving off one of the two plywood skins, and going for an even greater air space (look online for an article called something like "Common Acoustical Myths"). Of course, there was a large and insulating air space between the new and old room walls. Everything was caulked and sealed 6 ways for Sunday, and the seams of the hardwood and the plywood were staggered. The walls were high mass, particularly near the Klipschorn corners, where there were studs 8" on center. Naturally, there were two sets of doors, one for each room, and they were "sound rated," i.e., massive, airtight, with high thresholds that the doors pressed against, and a 360 degree closed cell neoprene super wide gasket for each door.

The whole thing was as airtight as we could make it.

The treble didn't leak out.

The midrange didn't leak out, (at least to the outside world) even at the highest levels.

The bass went through. Since I play mostly classical and jazz, it was not as much of a problem as it would be with frequent rockers.

Before we even finished the room, it was apparent that the culture was changing. Our neighbors didn't give a damn, and their music went through their thin windows and permeated the neighborhood more than mine, although they got sensitive to my bass for a few weeks after the '89 earthquake -- you could hear that quake coming in the distance, rattling buildings in the distance, as it came ever closer. So once in a while they wondered, "Is it a quake, or is it Gary?"

If there is any way to get a house .... with a big yard around it .....

[DrWho]

lol, what a great speaker ad:

"Is it a quake, or is it <khorns>?" [Y]

[WMcD]

The room within a room seems unrealistic in your circumstances.

You'd have to get the approval of the condo association. They will insist you meet local building codes and that could be a big problem. As alluded to by others they might be a weight problem. You're adding quite a bit. Then consider the problem of running HVAC.

I will add to the comments on concrete buildings. I live in a concrete high rise and it is quiet. A buddy lives in a converted concrete loft - warehouse. It was probably used to store paper or house printing presses. It seemed quiet.

There could be some things you can fix up.

Doors are big source of sound transmission. The door out to the hall in my place is just sawdust and glue. There is no airtight seal. Another potential area of sound leakage is windows. The ones in this building are pretty good. But in the spring and fall people tend to keep them open.

My conclusion is that concrete condos can be favorable but you'll have to shop for them.

Gil

[Chris Robinson]

Honestly, if I were to move into a condo, I'd sell the mountain of Heritage that I own right now (except for the old Cornwalls) and buy the best pair of headphones and headphone amp that I could find to meet my budget. When I needed to hear ZZ Top at insane volume levels at 11:30 PM, I'd do it and not bother anyone.

I'd run my tube amps at low levels during hours when folks were out. My SET amps don't go really loud anyway so there's no comprimise there.

Sometimes you just have to bend to your life's current circumstances.

My humble $0.02 anyway.

Chris

[TBrennan]

"Good decision plus a home provides a more private environment & a larger resell market."

A condo is a home. So is a rented apartment, a doublewide, a yurt on the Asian steppes or a cardboard box on lower Wacker Drive.

You've a slight infection of real-estatese Arky, you know, like when they say "single family detatched home" instead of the simpler and less pretentious "house".

I expect plain-speaking from an Arkansas man. ;-) I don't think you say at the end of the work day "Let's go to the home". ;-)

[Arky]

"Good decision plus a home provides a more private environment & a larger resell market."

A condo is a home. So is a rented apartment, a doublewide, a yurt on the Asian steppes or a cardboard box on lower Wacker Drive.

You've a slight infection of real-estatese Arky, you know, like when they say "single family detatched home" instead of the simpler and less pretentious "house".

I expect plain-speaking from an Arkansas man. ;-) I don't think you say at the end of the work day "Let's go to the home". ;-)

Spent some time in Chicago have you? At the end of the day I say "Let's go get a drink". Hell man, this is Arkansas after all, home of the doublewide. Actually, as I was typing that statement, your thought crossed my mind. Being a hunt & peck typist, I just wasn't up to correcting it. Guilty as charged.