Keeping apartment neighbors happy with Sierra Towers and Rhythmik LV12R?

[DeliciousSounds]

So about to move into an apartment and will have the Sierra tower and Rhythmik LV12R shipped shortly thereafter.

I don't have the need to listen to things at ridiculous levels but I do want to be able to put the volume a bit up for movies or a really good song. What steps can I take to minimize the sound that goes through my walls and floor (I'm top floor)?

I don't really know anything about the material between walls but I do have my own wall that is shared between my bedroom and livingroom which is where I plan to put the TV and speakers (and hopefully sub??).

I already have a little subwoofer isolation stand thing that I plan to use (hopefully it's big enough for my new sub). Apparently it can actually improve bass too so that's a nice win/win for all involved.

Thanks for the help guys!

[Johnny_Mac_III]

I know others can chime in, but I would PM FirstReflect. He is running 2 SVS Ultra Cylinder subs in his apartment. I would PM him.

[FirstReflect]

Thanks for the shout out! :)

There are two ways in which sound travels out of your theater to bother your neighbors: structure-borne vibrations, and airborne sound waves.

The basic trick to soundproofing is understanding that vibrations and waves do not like to transition between dissimilar mediums. Mythbusters demonstrated this to great effect by showing what happens when an explosive is set off under water. Despite sending out a massive shock wave that travelled for miles under the surface of the water, when that shock wave reached the boundary between the water and the air, a huge percentage of that wave was reflected back downwards while only a very small percentage of the shock wave's energy managed to actually transition into the air. Air and water have drastically different densities, so the wave was reflected far more than it was transmitted between the two mediums (air and water).

So this happens with sound waves, too. Air and drywall or plywood are very different mediums. So when the airborne sound reaches a wall or the floor, the vast majority of that energy is reflected back into the room rather than transmitted into the drywall. Don't get me wrong, a small percentage is transmitted into the drywall or wood, but most of the energy is reflected.

So when it comes to soundproofing airborne sound, the trick is to seal up the room. Anywhere that the air CAN move, the air WILL move - and this includes all the little gaps that you might not think about - like around electrical outlet boxes for your switches and plugs, the gaps under your doors, the gaps under your drywall that are hidden by the baseboard, and of course your duct work.

Having air circulate in and out of your room is, of course, a necessity. So you cannot have a truly air tight sealed room. But sealing up as many of those often-overlooked gaps as you can (you can just use acoustic caulk that you can buy at any hardware store - it's just caulk that never hardens) will prevent airborne sound transmission.

Now we come to the other form of sound transmission: structure-borne. While the air and drywall (and plywood) have very different densities, your speaker cabinets and the drywall and plywood do not. When your speakers and subwoofers are in direct contact with the floor, any physical vibrations of the speaker/subwoofer cabinets are rather easily transmitted into the floor. And since the floor is physically connected to the walls, which are physically connected to the ceiling, pretty soon, the entire structure of your building is shaking along with the movements of your speakers and subwoofers.

So the key here is to introduce a very different medium in between your speakers/subwoofers and the floor. You might truly decouple them from the floor by hanging them on bungie cords, but far more likely, you will simply put your speakers and subwoofers on top of some sort of cushion. Putting them on some sort of cushion is called damping.

There are many types of damping devices sold, some of the most popular are the Auralex SubDude and GRAMMA isolation risers and the SVS SoundPath Isolation Feet. What those products all have in common is that they are squishy.

If you want something already made for this purpose and sold at a pretty hefty profit, there's nothing wrong with these products. They do what they are meant to do, which is damp the vibrations coming from your speakers so that they are dissipated before they enter the floor. But it also isn't necessary to spend $50 or more. Any type of cushion you can come up with will do. Some nice, thick carpet pad is often a great choice. And you can often get scraps of carpet pad for free from carpet stores that were just going to throw out small, unusable pieces anyway!

I don't know what sort of "subwoofer isolation stand" you already own, but there are some that won't do you any good. If it is a hard, solid device, it won't be nearly as effective. I've seen all sorts of "bases" that claim to add stability - and they very well might - but stability does not equal damping.

Another horrible, counter-productive thing that many people do is put spikes or some sort of pointy "feet" on the bottoms of their speakers or subwoofers. While this might help with physical stability, it is the complete opposite of damping. It is, in fact, coupling, not decoupling. You are taking all of the downward force (the weight) of the speaker or subwoofer and "focusing" it into those four tiny "feet". Same number of pounds (the weight of the speaker/subwoofer) acting across many, many fewer square inches! Pounds per square inch: we all know about that, right? So spikes or "feet" in NO WAY help to isolate a speaker or subwoofer from the floor. They help to couple the speaker or subwoofer to the floor, which is the exact opposite of what we want to do when it comes to stopping the transmission of vibrations.

So that's about it! Prevent air movement into and out of your theater room as much as possible by sealing up every little air gap that you can, then prevent structure-borne transmission by isolating the speakers and subwoofers from the floor. If you want to know whether or not this will be effective, it's as simple as running a free experiment before buying anything. Play a loud bass sweep on repeat and go over to your neighbors place (or give them a phone call) to hear just how much the bass is "bleeding" into their place. Then just fold up a blanket and put it under your subwoofer. Keep your subwoofer in the same spot in your room (just atop a folded up blanket now) and play the same bass sweep at the exact same volume level. Ring up your neighbor again and compare.

If the damping (in this case, a blanket) is effective, the results will not be subtle. If you and your neighbor can't hear any difference, then don't bother spending any money on a damping device! But if you easily hear a big improvement, then you'll know it will be worth using something a little more stable and visually attractive than a folded up blanket :)

I hope that's of some help!

- Rob H.

[rsmt2000]

FWIW, I am in a 3 level town home with my Rythmik F15 on wall exactly on the other side of common wall between me and my neighbors. The lady of the house was ANAL... A*N*A*L about sound coming from my property. she called cops thrice who don't hear anything walking around my property ( mine is an end unit so the sub is literally behind the exterior wall). They just ask me to turn my system down as a friendly thing and left.

This lady and her husband used to knock my door when I had my system playing at -45 db ( after audessey calibration). I was using auralex subdude, moved the sub behind the listener position completely on the opposite side of the common wall etc and still the lady complained. I have spoken to sound proofing companies who said the only REAL thing they can suggest is to build a new frame and build a room within a room to isolate any vibrations but warned me that this couple can still bother me if they are expecting ABSOLUTELY ZERO NOISE/VIBRATION.


Turns out the lady has her head rest leaning on the common wall at 3rd level and is able to hear or more so feel some vibration. I asked them if they can move the head rest a couple of inches away from the wall and was said NO.

And within few months, they sold their property and left. I am happy with the new neighbors. I still don't play my system loud but have never heard any complaints when the loudest I have been is around -30db.

P.S There is a basket ball court right next to my property and I can hear every thud, bounce etc and this was also audible from my neighbors place. we are very near to an airport and can hear the jumbo jets too. This couple wanted the HOA to replace their roof :-)

[FirstReflect]

Heh. Yes, damping under your subs and speakers is never going to stop ALL sound transmission completely. There's still the airborne sound that does manage to penetrate the drywall and plywood. And at the resonant frequencies of any of your building's materials, you're still going to get shaking and vibration.

I've only lived in apartments ever since I moved out of my parents' place. Everywhere I've lived, it's been pretty simple rules: you can make noise - within reason - during the day. After 11 o-clock at night or so, when people are trying to sleep, it's time to keep it down. Pretty simple and common sense.

If you're living in an apartment, you're GOING to hear noises during the day. There's just no way around that. If you have insane neighbors who are going to call the cops during the day, let them. Live your life - be respectful and reasonable - but if they want to call the cops during the day and the cops don't find anything wrong, pretty soon, it's the people who keep crying wolf that will be getting in trouble, not you. During the day, you're allowed to live your life in your apartment. If you're keeping people up late at night, that's different. I just pop on my headphones after 11 o'clock, to be honest :)

- Rob H.

[DeliciousSounds]

Hello!

Just want to say thank you guys so much for the responses, hopefully I can make this work but I think the first step is to ensure my door is at least plugged from air getting out.

I actually have an aurolex subwoofer thing that seems to be a legitimate brand.

Does anyone with the Sierra towers have advice for those specifically? I am thinking that because they are so much clearer I won't have to put it as loud which will be nice.