drop ceiling is rattling?

You can make a DIY bass isolator with the foam the HSU came in...run a search for DIY subdude or DIY bass isolator here at AVS or google it...VERY easy to make.

The isoaltor will help with the rattles and will make the bass sound better by tightening it up!

If you have vinyl faced ceiling tiles then it is very likely that the facing is loose & it will rattle. You most likely have these if they are fibreglass backed. They usually de-lam around the edges first. You can get hold down clips if you think the tiles are loose. These snap over the mains & cross tees of your grid system. They have 'ears' or 'legs' that press down on the tiles. And they may force the edges down into the grid enough to keep the rattle down. You can occasionally find a mineral fiber, aka 'normal' type tiles sold under the 'materials' sub-group on Craigslist. Good luck.

Another thing to do is make sure the hanger wires that suspend your ceiling are not loose where they loop around the grid. You can unwind & re-tie them or simply take some pliers & SLIGHTLY put a bend in the wire WHERE THE LOOP IS WRAPPED. If you do this directly to the single drop of the wire then it can & most likely will sraighten out again & cause the same problem. When done to the wrapped area of wire that is closest to the grid, the likelihood that the weight of your ceiling will pull the bend out is minimal. Be carefull to bend just enough to take the slack out of the wire & not make your ceiling look like a roller coaster.

I'm having similar vibration issues with my desktop system.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3Qz7ksl63Y

Holt..... the attached link shows a bad video file.

I think I fixed it

Holy ****! That is some kinda rattle!

How come I cant type ****!?

f@#$ if I know!

Yes
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=644330

Fantastic looking setup. How far are your mains away from the wall?

I've heard of people putting little zip lock bags of sand on top of the tiles to weigh them down a little .

Is your sub on a carpet over wood floor or on concrete? If it is on concrete this will do very little to decouple. If you can tell where the rattle is coming from try taking out the tiles in that area and retesting.

My old basement had drop ceiling and I had the same problem. The advice is good above to test the tie off wires to make sure they are tight. Most of the problem that I identified were loose fitting frames and this was mostly due to the tie wires not being evenly tight and making the frame unlevel or cockeyed. The tiles themselves have very little to do with the rattle.

My current basement I made sure had a hard ceiling and I also made sure the can lights had no vibration.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Yup very easy to build... make sure you are not running the sub hot..i bet if you dialed it down or moved the sub away from the corners you may get a smoother response.

You can also dial the sub waaaay low and get some bass shakers to add feel but without busting out a window.

The HSU has a lot of tactile output...just dial it down a bit.

My previous dropped ceiling rattled like crazy. I tried everything. I fianlly ended up replacing it. I used Capaul Open Plan Black Nubby Tiles, 1" thick, with a commercial grade grid system. I had a professional install it. No more rattles.
http://www.certainteed.com/products/...-series/314118

Expensive, but that's what it took.

Craig

I will go out on a limb here and say get rid of the drop ceiling! Worst material for hometheater and music!

Jeff

I disagree. A dropped ceiling, (that doesn't rattle), with open floor joists above, and fiberglass stuffed in between the floor joists, makes a big acoustic cloud/bass trap. Reflections off a hard ceiling are far more damaging than absorption into an acoustic ceiling.

Craig

+1,000,000

Please explain why you say this. Do you prefer the smearing that comes from the reflected sound off a hard ceiling?

Craig

Yeah, drop ceilings are the worst. I have one in the hallway of my apartment, between the living room where my setup is and my bedroom, and the air conditioner intake is up there. Whenever the AC goes on, the tiles get sucked up a bit.

They used to rattle when my sub was active, but I did a DIY isolation platform that helped a lot. But they still rattle a tiny bit. Can't imagine how a whole ceiling would rattle.

To find the rattles, download the individual frequency test tones from RealTraps:
http://www.realtraps.com/test-cd.htm

Play the tones at volume. You'll find that many of the rattles are frequency dependent. They'll only rattle at one, specific frequency.

Once you find them, then you need to find a way to dampen them. I had some ductwork that was rattling against a floor joist. Some felt shoved in between them fixed it. I also had a couple of wall sconces rattling. I used some felt "dots" behind them to dampen them. I still have one rattle in the back of the room that is in the ceiling above a built-in cabinet and behind a drywall soffit. I would need to tear the wall apart to find it. I'm not *that* compulsive... yet.

Have fun!

Craig

+1,000,001! I've been a professional installer since '86. Yes, acoustical ceilings CAN be fraught with problems but they can also be some of THE best applications for sound. There is a reason they are called 'acoustic'.
Less than professional or , more properly, commercial grid systems intalled by a regular Joe raises the likelihood that you may have problems. Take out some tiles & knock on the grid. You will know immediately if the wires supporting the grid are loose. Thats a problem. Look around the perimeter/wall angle to assure it is installed snug & secure to the wall. If there's hvac or the like above the ceiling then it, too could well be a source of noise. Putting a hard lid under that would just make it impossible to access at all & the problem will still be there. I have seen & installed many high high end home theatre ceiling applications & they are very fine for sound. There are things to do to improve the sound/noise. And they are cheap.

Adding more ties and tightening existing ties will stiffen the structure. I did this recently and the buzzing/rattling is way less.

Are you trying to isolate the sub vibrations (a la a DIY Subdude)? If so, don't use table legs, use sanding sponges (from the paint department.) They will absorb much of the cabinet vibration.

If you're just building a riser, then yes, Lowes Depot sells them, usually near the lumber section.