How to get better acoustics without making your room look like crap

Improving the room acoustics and keeping the sound away from your neighbor are two different type of treatments. Unfortunately, there may not be that much you can do to minimize the latter. Check the acoustic treatments thread for a multitude of options and ideas on making the room sound better.

Do you own the house, or are you renting? If you're renting, then move. If you own the house, then you are SOL. The only way to stop her pictures from shaking and falling off the wall is to prevent the soundwaves from travelling to her house. Unfortunately, to do this, you would need to build a room within your room, and if you think having a few acoustical panels is bad news, then just imagine all the drama you would have to go through to make no sound enter or escape that room.

One word.... Headphones.

What about using some tactile "shakers" on your favorite chair and turning that sub down??

With acoustic treatment you can have effective, affordable, or attractive. Pick any two.

Seriously, you can have effective and attractive, but it costs more. One approach is to build false walls using one of those stretch fabric systems to hide the treatments. But that costs a few thousand dollars more.

Acoustic treatment is of necessity large. There's no way around that until they repeal the laws of physics.

--Ethan

How about somewhat effective + somewhat affordable + somewhat attractive??

I'm looking to acheive: just effective enuf + just affordable enuf + just attractive enuf!

There are a lot of ways to deal with room acoustics and not have them be overbearing. Wood finishes, special cloth to add to the decor, treatments that have secondary functions, etc.

As for her pics - sorry, treating the inside of the room won't help that in the least. You're physically moving the structure. To stop that, you need to decouple it. You can add additional layer(s) of drwyall with Green Glue between which will provide some mass and reduce bass transfer but you're likely sharing a floor system which will still transmit vibrations to her portion.

Bryan

As Bryan said there are different ways to get around treatment looking good inside of a room. Heck if your really handy you could build something like the following and place it in the corner. That will help a ton with bass trapping in the room but also look like like something that SHOULD be there.



Glenn

That is like being a "little bit pregnant"