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Speaker Placement to Avoid Bothering Neighbor

Brainonska511

Brainonska511

Lifer
I just moved into a new apartment and yesterday, my neighbor knocked on my door asking me to turn down my music. It may have been a bit on the loud side, but I want to try and avoid upsetting my neighbor in the future, and since I just moved in, my furniture configuration is not yet set in stone. Edit: It wasn't at a particularly late time, it was around 730 in the evening.

I have 2.1 speakers (2 speakers + subwoofer). Here's the current setup: http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/B...11/speakersdiagram.JPG (speakers point out in the direction of the arrow).

Would it be better for my neighbor's comfort for me to have the desk (with the subwoofer underneath and on the floor) with speakers sitting on the stairwell wall pointing towards her wall or would it be better to just leave them where they are?
 
Volume knob. Use it.

Speaker placement will have little affect, unless you put them into a closet or something.
 
It's probably the sub on the floor that's annoying your neighbor.

Talk to him and see what he hears - if all he hears is bass, then deal with your sub.
 
lol, when I move out the first thing I will check is to see what kind of neighbors I have. That would have pissed me off if someone came to my house asking me to turn shit down.
 
Originally posted by: amdhunter
lol, when I move out the first thing I will check is to see what kind of neighbors I have. That would have pissed me off if someone came to my house asking me to turn shit down.
Click to expand...

Why exactly would that piss you off? Neighbors have as much right to relative degrees of peace and quiet as you do to listen to music.
 
Originally posted by: amdhunter
lol, when I move out the first thing I will check is to see what kind of neighbors I have. That would have pissed me off if someone came to my house asking me to turn shit down.
Click to expand...

And this is why I'm glad I don't live in an apartment.
 
Originally posted by: amdhunter
lol, when I move out the first thing I will check is to see what kind of neighbors I have. That would have pissed me off if someone came to my house asking me to turn shit down.
Click to expand...

Really?

You'd prefer they:

1. Deal with it?
2. Call the apartment complex people?
3. Call the cops?
 
Originally posted by: amdhunter
lol, when I move out the first thing I will check is to see what kind of neighbors I have. That would have pissed me off if someone came to my house asking me to turn shit down.
Click to expand...

As rivan suggested, would you rather have your neighbor knock on your door, or a cop giving you a fine for noise violation?
 
Originally posted by: amdhunter
lol, when I move out the first thing I will check is to see what kind of neighbors I have. That would have pissed me off if someone came to my house asking me to turn shit down.
Click to expand...

I think the only reason it would bother me is that she didn't come and introduce herself as I was moving in and my first interaction with her was to turn down some music (heck, she didn't even introduce herself beyond saying "I live next door"). Edit: but a neighbor knocking is better than cops coming and knocking on the door or having the landlord complain to me.

Again, I realize it was a little on the loud side. I'm just looking for ways to reduce it in the future. It probably is the bass going through the wall. I'm just wondering if I moved everything to the opposite wall, and obviously didn't turn it up too much, would it reduce the amount of sound leaking through to the other wall?

Edit:
To be clear, this wasn't at a late time, it was at around 730PM.
 
Biggest thing to do I would say is get the woofer off the floor, make some kind of wooden stand for it.
 
Originally posted by: Brainonska511
Originally posted by: amdhunter
lol, when I move out the first thing I will check is to see what kind of neighbors I have. That would have pissed me off if someone came to my house asking me to turn shit down.
Click to expand...

I think the only reason it would bother me is that she didn't come and introduce herself as I was moving in and my first interaction with her was to turn down some music (heck, she didn't even introduce herself beyond saying "I live next door").

Again, I realize it was a little on the loud side. I'm just looking for ways to reduce it in the future. It probably is the bass going through the wall. I'm just wondering if I moved everything to the opposite wall, and obviously didn't turn it up too much, would it reduce the amount of sound leaking through to the other wall?
Click to expand...


I suppose you'll be introducing yourself to everyone that moves in?

She didn't do anything rude beyond perhaps being a little abrupt. Knock on her door, tell her you're trying to address her concerns and ask for feedback.
 
Originally posted by: rockyct
Originally posted by: amdhunter
lol, when I move out the first thing I will check is to see what kind of neighbors I have. That would have pissed me off if someone came to my house asking me to turn shit down.
Click to expand...

As rivan suggested, would you rather have your neighbor knock on your door, or a cop giving you a fine for noise violation?
Click to expand...

Unless it was loud enough to hear outside or past your city's noise ordinance timeframe there'd be no ticket whatsoever.

Best thing to do is talk to your neighbor and find out what he/she is hearing. There is little you can do in an apartment to shield sound if the apt was shittily constructed. If it has hardwood floors you should get a small carpet sample to raise the sub up off the floor. Also, make sure the sub itself is pointing away from that wall, try moving it to the side. Furthermore, make sure the sub isn't touching any walls itself.

But most likely, you're going to be in for a ride. If you're playing shit loud in the evening it's one thing, but for he/she to complain during the day at a moderate volume is bullshit.. but that's apt living for you.
 
Originally posted by: rivan
Originally posted by: Brainonska511
Originally posted by: amdhunter
lol, when I move out the first thing I will check is to see what kind of neighbors I have. That would have pissed me off if someone came to my house asking me to turn shit down.
Click to expand...

I think the only reason it would bother me is that she didn't come and introduce herself as I was moving in and my first interaction with her was to turn down some music (heck, she didn't even introduce herself beyond saying "I live next door").

Again, I realize it was a little on the loud side. I'm just looking for ways to reduce it in the future. It probably is the bass going through the wall. I'm just wondering if I moved everything to the opposite wall, and obviously didn't turn it up too much, would it reduce the amount of sound leaking through to the other wall?
Click to expand...


I suppose you'll be introducing yourself to everyone that moves in?

She didn't do anything rude beyond perhaps being a little abrupt. Knock on her door, tell her you're trying to address her concerns and ask for feedback.
Click to expand...

I guess not. Lol...
 
Originally posted by: Platypus
Originally posted by: rockyct
Originally posted by: amdhunter
lol, when I move out the first thing I will check is to see what kind of neighbors I have. That would have pissed me off if someone came to my house asking me to turn shit down.
Click to expand...

As rivan suggested, would you rather have your neighbor knock on your door, or a cop giving you a fine for noise violation?
Click to expand...

Unless it was loud enough to hear outside or past your city's noise ordinance timeframe there'd be no ticket whatsoever.

Best thing to do is talk to your neighbor and find out what he/she is hearing. There is little you can do in an apartment to shield sound if the apt was shittily constructed. If it has hardwood floors you should get a small carpet sample to raise the sub up off the floor. Also, make sure the sub itself is pointing away from that wall, try moving it to the side. Furthermore, make sure the sub isn't touching any walls itself.

But most likely, you're going to be in for a ride. If you're playing shit loud in the evening it's one thing, but for he/she to complain during the day at a moderate volume is bullshit.. but that's apt living for you.
Click to expand...

Which direction of the woofer should be pointing away from the wall? Mine has a hole on one side and has a mesh cover over a big circle pointing in another direction.

Would putting the woofer on a small box also do the trick for isolating it from the floor?
 
Originally posted by: Brainonska511
Originally posted by: Platypus
Originally posted by: rockyct
Originally posted by: amdhunter
lol, when I move out the first thing I will check is to see what kind of neighbors I have. That would have pissed me off if someone came to my house asking me to turn shit down.
Click to expand...

As rivan suggested, would you rather have your neighbor knock on your door, or a cop giving you a fine for noise violation?
Click to expand...

Unless it was loud enough to hear outside or past your city's noise ordinance timeframe there'd be no ticket whatsoever.

Best thing to do is talk to your neighbor and find out what he/she is hearing. There is little you can do in an apartment to shield sound if the apt was shittily constructed. If it has hardwood floors you should get a small carpet sample to raise the sub up off the floor. Also, make sure the sub itself is pointing away from that wall, try moving it to the side. Furthermore, make sure the sub isn't touching any walls itself.

But most likely, you're going to be in for a ride. If you're playing shit loud in the evening it's one thing, but for he/she to complain during the day at a moderate volume is bullshit.. but that's apt living for you.
Click to expand...

Which direction of the woofer should be pointing away from the wall? Mine has a hole on one side and has a mesh cover over a big circle pointing in another direction.

Would putting the woofer on a small box also do the trick for isolating it from the floor?
Click to expand...

Doesn't matter on the sub as long as it's sideways. It has a mesh grill front and the port on the back, as long as those are not against the wall. I would point the mesh part towards the longest length, so in your diagram on the left.

Raising it off the floor on a box will kill your bass a lot.. so keep that in mind. I find it's better to just get some thick carpet for it.

My best advice would be to work with your neighbor. I've had to do this in the past for my neighbors (I play electric guitar/bass w/ 100W tube amps) and it worked out well. Basically it involves moving shit around and then going into their place to hear the results.

7:30 is approaching what I use my judgement as in being quiet time. Noise ordinance is later but I like to keep noise to be after 12pm and before 8pm in apt/condo living. The wise and beautiful woman that lives above me doesn't follow said rules, nor that of the city either, so I am a bit more liberal with these hours with her.

All in all, work with instead of against in these situations. Sugar instead of vinegar and all that.
 
Not much you can do if the speakers have a subwoofer. You can raise it off the ground and move it away from the corners but the bass is still going to radiate throughout your apartment and adjacent units. They'll still hear that boom, boom, boom from the bass.

Either lower the bass from the sub using the level knob in the rear if it has one, use a player with EQ settings and lower the bass there or just keep the overall volume down.
 
Get some nice headphones. They can sound much better than your 2.1 setup likely, anyhow. You can put spikes on your sub to try get it off the floor a bit, and reduce the amount that actually contacts the subfloor, but a sub is a sub, man. They're gonna hear it, no matter HOW low you play it. Low frequency travels WELL.
Cheap spikes you could try
 
Originally posted by: randalee
Get some nice headphones. They can sound much better than your 2.1 setup likely, anyhow. You can put spikes on your sub to try get it off the floor a bit, and reduce the amount that actually contacts the subfloor, but a sub is a sub, man. They're gonna hear it, no matter HOW low you play it. Low frequency travels WELL.
Cheap spikes you could try
Click to expand...

Very true; I bought a pair of headphones in my last apartment for this very reason. I don't use them where I'm living now, but I have the bass on my subwoofer (which is small to begin with) turned down to almost nil. Haven't had a complaint yet.

My downstairs neighbor, on the other hand, used to have a problem with very loud bass. I'm guessing the complex got onto him about it, as that's stopped, but he still plays his video games/music loudly enough for me to be able to hear the treble relatively clearly through my floor. What's especially frustrating is that I've had 3-4 different neighbors, including one with a toddler, living below me, so I know it's not that I'm being unreasonable.
 
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