Is there an easy way of knowing, how much your neighbor is feeling your sub?

I'm afraid to ask mine. Because, that will open the
door, for reducing the sub's output. Is there anyway of telling how the neighbor
is feeling it. You just can't go outside and see how loud it is, because you
may not hear it - but you feel it. I also, don't want to do the opposite. I lower
it, thinking I'm bothering my neighbors, but I'm not. Are side yards here are
very narrow. Probably- 25' between houses. Would a SPL meter help?


Is there anyway of minimizing the effect on your neighbors and still have
great bass?

What horror stories are out there? police called?

I know my neighbors can hear (feel) when I play music LOUD.. Even though my living room is like 10-20 meters away from each neighbor (and 3-4meter higher above the ground than their living rooms). I know, - because my neighbors have told me (well, their kids/teenagers). But I don't play music that much, at high volumes, so they are ok with it I guess :)

I wouldn't worry if I were you... As long as you don't play techno 24-7 - it shouldn't be a problem.

Pretty much I rattle windows around the neighborhood (I've been told) but it is not used at that level except at reasonable hours on reasonable nights of the week.

Art

Be a good neighbor....

I find the best way to handle the situation is make a slight remark about it (with a smile on your face), and see what their reaction is, that way you can correct the problem before it becomes one...

Example: I really must be keeping you guys awake at night with my extreme levels of movie watching... or I hope your windows aren't coming loose with my music I play...

If its an issue, you will get a comment, or a roll of the eyes, or a frown, and they will notice you are trying to get their opinion, which is the only way to not piss off your neighbors...

Nobody likes pissed of neighbors, as they tend to get nasty if they don't have the balls to just say please turn it down...


Now I personally have a new house and my closest neighbor is not an issue, as my house is tight as a drum, even at 110db !!!! Can't hear squat outside my house !!!!

Well two big things to do:

1) Limit it to reasonable times. If you aren't doing it at sleep hours there's much less grounds, both legally and practically for them to complain. This means not too late, especially on weeknights, or too early especially on weekends.

2) Check volume levels. Get a dB metre, as they are handy for calibration, and check the levels you are putting out. Try to keep it reasonable.

Some things are out of your control, for example the more sound insulation your units have, the less of a problem it'll be. Also depends on the neighbours. Some people are really bitchy, some are nice.

However as a legal matter you can check your local laws but just "because they can hear it" isn't reason enough to get you in trouble when played at reasonable hours. You don't have a right to live in total isolation from others.

Now since it is a house situation, one way you can gauge things is to take relative readings. Get your system cranked up inside as loud as you'd want to be listening, then go outside and measure the difference near the property line. If the music is 100dB inside and 60dB at the property line, well then there's probably no problem. Their house is likely to attenuate it to near inaudibility, and that's a low enough level they can't really complain anyhow (would be the same as people holding a conversation). If it is 100dB inside and 95dB outside, well then that's probably a problem, as that means that it is still probalby pretty high in their house.

In general so long as you are reasonable about it, I doubt there's a problem. I hear my neighbours below me when they have a party out back since I have large glass windows there. However they don't do it at like 2am so I don't care. I'm not living in a mansion with 40 acres empty around me, dealing with the noise of people is part of the deal.

How about for those of us in a townhouse? I have an 8" DefTech sub in my home theater, and often wonder if the neighbors can hear it. FYI, 1 shared wall with the neighbors, that is wood paneling over studs, followed by concrete block wall that goes up to the attic. Have never heard any complaints from them, but don't really wanna open Pandora's box by asking about it. :o

What hz level penetrates the most through walls? Below 50hz, 40hz, 30hz, 20hz?

Be a good neighbor....

I find the best way to handle the situation is make a slight remark about it (with a smile on your face), and see what their reaction is, that way you can correct the problem before it becomes one...

Example: I really must be keeping you guys awake at night with my extreme levels of movie watching... or I hope your windows aren't coming loose with my music I play...

If its an issue, you will get a comment, or a roll of the eyes, or a frown, and they will notice you are trying to get their opinion, which is the only way to not piss off your neighbors...

Nobody likes pissed of neighbors, as they tend to get nasty if they don't have the balls to just say please turn it down...


Now I personally have a new house and my closest neighbor is not an issue, as my house is tight as a drum, even at 110db !!!! Can't hear squat outside my house !!!!well stated..I personally can't stand hearing any bass louder than what I'm getting in my LR from the outside...course I have an acreage and noone hears me...yet.

Crucify me but I called the po-po on some kids for the first time this evening...non-stop bass/yelling for two hours across the street. :mad:the one directly across the street is the college aged daughter of our friends who moved out and she damaged our front yard wall backing out withouteven a peep pf an apology so needless to say our great street is going down! :mad:

I worry about this too since I live in a townhouse. Having only lived here a couple months, I've unfortunately discovered that the walls between each unit aren't great, since I sometimes hear the couple next door yelling at each other.

My home theater is in the basement, but I'm sure the massive bass from my VTF-MK3 (it was a gift! I'm not crazy enough to get one for a townhouse on my own) can easily travel through my floor and into their walls. I try to be reasonable since I am a working man myself, and certainly understand the importance of sleep hours and such. Still, sometimes I do watch movies late and if most of the movie is quiet, sometimes the occasional loud scene gets by before I can turn the volume down.

So far, no complaints. And as far as I can tell, no slashed tires, sugar in the tank, or other passive aggressive sabotage.

I had the police show up 4 times when I was in college. The people downstairs hated my roommate and I since we listened to music while we studied. The funny part was that they listened to music when I slept and I never complained. I think that people should really just chill out and realize that they likely mess with everyone as much as they mess with you. So long as its not malicious or out of line, why should they complain?

PS, the cops never really did anything each time. 2 times the owners of the property showed up and each time declared that the volume was "ok" "but louder will not be acceptable." ;)

One of the benefits of a basement HT, 1.5' of solid concrete, sound insulation and drywall with sound treatment between me and the outside world. Now upstairs is another story. Even though I sound insulated my ceiling and I have a dropped ceiling with acoustical tiles the sound travels through the HVAC vents and can be clearly heard upstairs..........as does the LFE. I was tuning up my subs yesterday (just swapped out my M&K for my old Velodyne)and after a heavy dose of rattling the walls I walked upstairs and my wife just looks at me with the "WTH were you doing down there?" look. :) My neighbors have never said anything and I make sure that I don't listen loud when it is past a certain time. Friday nights are always movie night at my house but we're usually done by 11pm.

I had just assumed since you could only barely hear my mains outside my neighbors house that he couldn't hear/feel the bass. I'll have to ask if they notice the bass inside.

my neighbor has a son in highschool, he blairs his movies pretty damn loud, so I do the same. Gears of war with HSU VTF2 sub, sounds like a war in my room.

The human ear wasn't designed for this kind of continuous assault at these volumes/frequencies. It will cause problems later on if it hasn't started already

When I lived in an apt., I had (and still have) a 60 W JVC shelf stereo system. One time, I was playing it pretty loud on a Fri. or Sat. night. (My apt. was upstairs.) A downstairs neighbor complained to my roommate that the bass coming out of my apt. was affecting her husband's heart pacemaker. What a load of crap! Needless to say, I was more well behaved and kept the volume lower.

Then that old couple finally moved out (or died, who knows) and a family w/ young kids moved in. They were great, never complained, and at least said "hi" when we saw each other. Their young kids used to slam closet doors, cry, etc., but it didn't bother me and I never complained to them, just like they never complained about my music.

:D Revenge of the bass!!!!!! Put that woofer next to the wall at FULL blast if you have noisy and or mean neighbors!

There's nothing like drowning out bad hip-hop music coming from the guys who live in the two dorm rooms across from mine with insane techno music (or the occasional Bruckner). My Klipsch RW-10 does a good enough job drowning out the "thump thump boom boom" of their garbage systems. I'm sure they'll love it when I get the SVS 16-46 PC-Plus.

It'd be interesting to leave it on doing infrasonics all day while I'm out to class and see if everyone in my end of the hall was "mysteriously" angry/agitated/nervous by the end of the day. :p

Wow, you "guys" sound like a bunch of girls that are asking your wives permission to do something.

If it's not an illegal level late at night then who cares.

Wow, you "guys" sound like a bunch of girls that are asking your wives permission to do something.

If it's not an illegal level late at night then who cares.
Even though it may not be illegal, you want to be respectful of your neighbors. You never know when you'll need their help or a favor. Besides, it would nice to get along w/ the neighbors. At the same time, if the neighbors are going to complain for no good reason, then the heck with them! :D

Crank it up, let god sort 'em out! :p

Three basic lines to follow...

1) Only use the sound/HT system during normal hours(to me this is 10:00AM to 8:00PM),not to early and not too late as this will irritate anyone in no time.

2) Use at humane listening levels,and you save your hearing as well as unwanted anger for those around you.

3) Do not listen to popular music blasting the same droning beat... When sourrounded by middle age people or older people RAP will irritate twice as much!
A study shows. ;)



I tested using sounds of trains and very deep bass shaking.Guess what nobody even thought it was my system,as it felt like some heavy machinery was producing the tremors. :p

Ah, the beauties of having my theater in my basement and neighbors at least 60' away in all directions. Concrete foundation, concrete walls behind my drywall and below ground. I can play anything anytime of the day or night without disturbing my neighbors. Thankfully my daughter is a heavy sleeper since the sound does travel throughout the house though. :D

Three basic lines to follow...

1) Only use the sound/HT system during normal hours(to me this is 10:00AM to 8:00PM),not to early and not too late as this will irritate anyone in no time.

2) Use at humane listening levels,and you save your hearing as well as unwanted anger for those around you.

3) Do not listen to popular music blasting the same droning beat... When sourrounded by middle age people or older people RAP will irritate twice as much!
A study shows. ;)



I tested using sounds of trains and very deep bass shaking.Guess what nobody even thought it was my system,as it felt like some heavy machinery was producing the tremors. :p
Many good TV shows don't even start until 8 p.m. or later.

Ah, the beauties of having my theater in my basement and neighbors at least 60' away in all directions. Concrete foundation, concrete walls behind my drywall and below ground. I can play anything anytime of the day or night without disturbing my neighbors. Thankfully my daughter is a heavy sleeper since the sound does travel throughout the house though. :D
I fear that you may have already damaged her (and your) hearing. :eek: :p

Many good TV shows don't even start until 8 p.m. or later.

Um... What TV shows would you be listening to at over 100dB? This is the level I'd consider to possibly be annoying to a neighbor that is seperated by ~10ft and a block wall.

Also, it doesn't even get dark here until 8pm right now! I only watch movies in the main room when it's dark. So, from ~9pm ~2 am you'll be exposed to ~110dB of sound.

Good thing our neighbors or ~100ft away. LOL

I fear that you may have already damaged her (and your) hearing. :eek: :p

WHAT.....WHAT...... :D

I don't usually listen to the point that anyone would be deaf. The loudest I usually go is about -8 from reference, trust me, she hears just fine :D

Um... What TV shows would you be listening to at over 100dB? This is the level I'd consider to possibly be annoying to a neighbor that is seperated by ~10ft and a block wall.

Also, it doesn't even get dark here until 8pm right now! I only watch movies in the main room when it's dark. So, from ~9pm ~2 am you'll be exposed to ~110dB of sound.

Good thing our neighbors or ~100ft away. LOL
I was just commenting to TheEAR, who said to use the HTS between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. My point is that anything worth using the HTS for is after 8 p.m. - shows like "24", "Prison Break", "Lost", etc. (Obviously those are for my TV tastes.)

Once I build my HTS, I'll obviously get an SPL and measure the sound leaking outside my house. Fortunately, my TV will be at one corner of the house playing toward the other end. So directional sound will have to go through a lot of distance and then the brick walls to get through. The bass will obviously go out in all directions, but since it's not directional, the neighbor might not know which house is spamming him w/ bass. :D

WHAT.....WHAT...... :D

I don't usually listen to the point that anyone would be deaf. The loudest I usually go is about -8 from reference, trust me, she hears just fine :D
Heh, I blast my computer speakers and car stereo quite often, but only in spurts. I also joke to my friends who comment about potential hearing damage with, "What? Did you say something?" :eek:

Heh, I blast my computer speakers and car stereo quite often, but only in spurts. I also joke to my friends who comment about potential hearing damage with, "What? Did you say something?" :eek:

:D

WHAT.....WHAT...... :D

I don't usually listen to the point that anyone would be deaf. The loudest I usually go is about -8 from reference, trust me, she hears just fine :D
-12 to -10 for me..............any louder than that and it becomes obscene :D

Is there an easy way of knowing, how much your neighbor is feeling your sub?

... Is there anyway of telling how the neighbor
is feeling it. ... Would a SPL meter help?


Is there anyway of minimizing the effect on your neighbors and still have
great bass?

...

Sound travels further through any material as the frequency gets lower. Water is a great conductor, earth and timber and moderate, and concrete is a poor conductor of sound. A combination of these, plus bulding materials and techniques of houses, make transmission unpredictable. Of course, bass will always travel farther than high-frequencies, and few materials will effectively stop bass.

Don't worry about you or your neighbors or family going deaf - it's not the low frequencies that injure the ears, it is the high frequencies.

A Radio Shack SPL meter is a great device, but it is not sensitive at the lowest frequencies, so using one might give you false confidence. Renting an appropriate measuring device with a flat microphone, or paying a consultant who owns one, will be an expensive proposition.

In this day and age, we often don't know our neighbors, but this is as good a time as any. Turn up your system, walk over and introduce yourself, and ask if they hear anything. The worst-case scenario is broadband low-frequency transmission - I have a friend who basically had to turn down his subwoofer to where it is too low to add much (he is in a townhouse). Sometimes, if a house resonates at one frequency in the subwoofer range, a parametric equalizer can be used to notch-out the offending frequency, leaving you with compromised bass, better than none.

Excellent post and food for thought. Knowing the effect your new "super system" has on your neighbors should be a concern for anyone really into this hobby. Sound pollution is not trivial.

Sound travels further through any material as the frequency gets lower. Water is a great conductor, earth and timber and moderate, and concrete is a poor conductor of sound. A combination of these, plus bulding materials and techniques of houses, make transmission unpredictable. Of course, bass will always travel farther than high-frequencies, and few materials will effectively stop bass.

Don't worry about you or your neighbors or family going deaf - it's not the low frequencies that injure the ears, it is the high frequencies.

A Radio Shack SPL meter is a great device, but it is not sensitive at the lowest frequencies, so using one might give you false confidence. Renting an appropriate measuring device with a flat microphone, or paying a consultant who owns one, will be an expensive proposition.

In this day and age, we often don't know our neighbors, but this is as good a time as any. Turn up your system, walk over and introduce yourself, and ask if they hear anything. The worst-case scenario is broadband low-frequency transmission - I have a friend who basically had to turn down his subwoofer to where it is too low to add much (he is in a townhouse). Sometimes, if a house resonates at one frequency in the subwoofer range, a parametric equalizer can be used to notch-out the offending frequency, leaving you with compromised bass, better than none.

I live in a ghetto neighborhood and everyone has a massive sub or two in their trunk. No kidding, I am listening to one right now, they all sound like garbage with the back rattling and the tweeters totally blown but boy do they love to crank them! It is the most annoying thing to hear nothing but IQ destroying rap music beats all day and night. I did get the police called on me once, but that was before I even had a sub and the neighbor was obviously quite a paranoid shut in, she is gone now.

In my home, my office (extra bedroom) is in a corner of the house upstairs. My computer is attached to Logitech Z-5500 5.1 speakers that can get incredibly loud for computer speakers. I occasionally blast it, esp. when I'm bumping to a good tune or watching an action DVD. But my window in that room has been closed so far. As the weather continues to warm, I'll open my window, as will my neighbor, I'm sure. That other house is less than 10' away from mine. So I know I'm going to have to be a good neighbor if I want to blast my music late at night (I'm a night owl) on my computer, esp. when our windows are open. But I'm prepared for that: I have good headphones. :cool:

Interesting Thread!

I too am moving into a Townhouse later this year and am somewhat concerned with the amount of SPL my system will produce. I'm sure the way townhouses are built nowadays that this hopefully will not be too obtrusive for my neighbors. I'm considering one of the Fathom subs which go to about +117Db so hopefully it will not be too extreme - of course at more realistic levels (<100DB)!!

BTW, what volume levels are safe as i enjoy listening to fairly loud music? I have an SPL meter and the sweet spot for me is around 95db and for movies -5db from reference. Should i be concerned?

I would hope 95Db would still be considered sane in a townhome!

We had our neighbors eventually removed from our condo building due to their insistence on using rear ported pro monitors corner-loaded in a shared wall. Made the wall on our side of the unit effectively a horn. Not fun. Particularly at 2am on weekdays and 8am on weekends.

Interesting Thread!

I too am moving into a Townhouse later this year and am somewhat concerned with the amount of SPL my system will produce. I'm sure the way townhouses are built nowadays that this hopefully will not be too obtrusive for my neighbors. I'm considering one of the Fathom subs which go to about +117Db so hopefully it will not be too extreme - of course at more realistic levels (<100DB)!!

BTW, what volume levels are safe as i enjoy listening to fairly loud music? I have an SPL meter and the sweet spot for me is around 95db and for movies -5db from reference. Should i be concerned?

I would hope 95Db would still be considered sane in a townhome!


Yes, that (-5 for movies) will probably be too much for a townhome. Most of the people here are talking about single houses and the neighbors hearing their bass in the next house over, not on the other side of the wall.

We had our neighbors eventually removed from our condo building due to their insistence on using rear ported pro monitors corner-loaded in a shared wall. Made the wall on our side of the unit effectively a horn. Not fun. Particularly at 2am on weekdays and 8am on weekends.
Talk about being a party pooper! :p

True, if one lives in a shared dwelling (condo, TH, apt.), he needs to be respectful of sound propagating the walls. Too bad your neighbor wasn't, but hey, you got him evicted.

One of My subwoofers has no Volume control!

The bass will obviously go out in all directions, but since it's not directional, the neighbor might not know which house is spamming him w/ bass. :D

ROFL @ spamming him w/ bass. :D