HT too loud or annoying neighbors?

[JJJMan]

Ok here is my situation. I've been living in a ground floor apartment for a little over a year now, had the same upstairs neighbors the entire time. Never had any issues with annoying neighbors or any issues with me. Lately however, I have been doing upgrades and more fine tuning of my HT system and apparently I have awoken the beast.

I will be watching an action movie (Ironman, Transformers as examples) that has a full sound spectrum, at between 8 and 10PM and during the movie I get BOOM BOOM BOOM on the wall from my upstairs neighbors. Even a "friendly note" has been put in the common area by the mailboxes saying how the bass is loud and annoying and it needs to stop because people have to be up early for work blah blah.

After carefully calibrating my HT to actually sound nice and clear, its apparently annoying my neighbors. Keep in mind, my sub (Sony SA-WPFT1 from a HTiB) is set at about 15% gain, and my Receiver is set to a volume of between 18 and 22 when the neighbors have made a stink.

So... am I doing something wrong here? Should I turn down my HT even more, compromise everything I have worked for? Or do they need to know they are being stubborn about this and I am not being any louder then they are on their hardwood floors (which sound like they are walking around in ski-boots 24/7 btw) Move the sub further away from my wall, get a riser for it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

[Paulness]

That is the EXACT reason I waited to get a HT setup until we bought a house!

[Hammie]

Originally Posted by JJJMan

Ok here is my situation. I've been living in a ground floor apartment for a little over a year now, had the same upstairs neighbors the entire time. Never had any issues with annoying neighbors or any issues with me. Lately however, I have been doing upgrades and more fine tuning of my HT system and apparently I have awoken the beast.

I will be watching an action movie (Ironman, Transformers as examples) that has a full sound spectrum, at between 8 and 10PM and during the movie I get BOOM BOOM BOOM on the wall from my upstairs neighbors. Even a "friendly note" has been put in the common area by the mailboxes saying how the bass is loud and annoying and it needs to stop because people have to be up early for work blah blah.

After carefully calibrating my HT to actually sound nice and clear, its apparently annoying my neighbors. Keep in mind, my sub (Sony SA-WPFT1 from a HTiB) is set at about 15% gain, and my Receiver is set to a volume of between 18 and 22 when the neighbors have made a stink.

So... am I doing something wrong here? Should I turn down my HT even more, compromise everything I have worked for? Or do they need to know they are being stubborn about this and I am not being any louder then they are on their hardwood floors (which sound like they are walking around in ski-boots 24/7 btw) Move the sub further away from my wall, get a riser for it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

Leave a note saying that if they stop walking, you'll stop watching your HT.

Seriously, though, you may just want to turn the volume down some. It's only being a courteous neighbor.

[JJJMan]

Haha thanks Lou, it's tempting...

well the "notice" from the neighbors have only occured 2x now, the first time I was being loud (receiver probably at volume of 30-32) but the second time it was around 20 I believe and they still banged on the walls. That is what is perplexing me, what they are actually hearing, or if my sub/bass isn't set properly and its just rattling the walls, if I need some kind of sub isolator just to dampen the sub from going elsewhere then my livingroom

[iam1bearcat]

Talk to the neighbors and see if there is a certain time that works for them for you to blast your system. being friendly and trying to work out a deal will be better than pissing them off and having them try to get you kicked out of your apartment.

[MrFattBill]

I would say talk to them and come to an agreement on a time of night after which movie watching should be kept much quieter

As far as the sound of them walking...you chose to live under someone so you just have to roll with it. If they are practicing river dancing at 2AM you might have a complaint.

Bill

[crackinhedz]

You could invest in a nice pair of headphones...then you can jam out any time of the day with zero complaints!

[neos_peace]

my advise would be to ask them if you could listen to what they hear while you have a movie running, that way you can adjust accordingly. if they want to "noise" to stop. just a thought.

[MrFattBill]

Originally Posted by crackinhedz

You could invest in a nice pair of headphones...then you can jam out any time of the day with zero complaints!

Also a fine option if you watch movies on your own at odd hours.

Bill

[ZIPPO]

Originally Posted by JJJMan

Ok here is my situation. I've been living in a ground floor apartment for a little over a year now, had the same upstairs neighbors the entire time. Never had any issues with annoying neighbors or any issues with me. Lately however, I have been doing upgrades and more fine tuning of my HT system and apparently I have awoken the beast.

I will be watching an action movie (Ironman, Transformers as examples) that has a full sound spectrum, at between 8 and 10PM and during the movie I get BOOM BOOM BOOM on the wall from my upstairs neighbors. Even a "friendly note" has been put in the common area by the mailboxes saying how the bass is loud and annoying and it needs to stop because people have to be up early for work blah blah.

After carefully calibrating my HT to actually sound nice and clear, its apparently annoying my neighbors. Keep in mind, my sub (Sony SA-WPFT1 from a HTiB) is set at about 15% gain, and my Receiver is set to a volume of between 18 and 22 when the neighbors have made a stink.

So... am I doing something wrong here? Should I turn down my HT even more, compromise everything I have worked for? Or do they need to know they are being stubborn about this and I am not being any louder then they are on their hardwood floors (which sound like they are walking around in ski-boots 24/7 btw) Move the sub further away from my wall, get a riser for it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

Go speak with them, make a compromise. In your situation, I would be done watching movies by 7:00 pm. Investing in a good set of headphones might the solution for late night movies. The sound quality will also be better than your HT speakers.
"You would probably have to spend five to six times as much money on speakers to get close to the equivalent quality of sound you hear through headphones."
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[Mordir]

Talk to them like others have suggested to find out a good time for you to be able to blast it. Another thing I suggest is inviting he/she or both to come watch the movie with you. If you get along with them they'll be much more understanding and you'll understand their situation better too.

[LastDitchEffort]

Originally Posted by Paulness

That is the EXACT reason I waited to get a HT setup until we bought a house!

Not to be rude but this is one of those common sense kind of things, least shouldn't it? You have to understand you live in close proximity to others that might not share your joy of HT and dont want to hear bass, which can be very annoying.

I lived in an apartment for a couple of years while I was saving to buy a house, and waited to get the HT till then for this exact reason. I lived upstairs and the guys below me didnt care about the noise and i always had to deal with bass. And when dealing with migraines bass is not going to be your friend.

Sorry if I am coming off as being uptight, but its something that bothered me when I had to live in apartments. People just werent concerned others when in regards to thier peace and quiet. I understand you don't have much of an option on where you can move to. But the biggest recommendation I can give you is to get a decent set of headphones. I used to and still do wear my senn hd555 and those are fantastic for movies. I can turn it up and not bother the fiancee.

[tilallr1]

We had similar problems with neighbors as well. When we used to live in a Semi-detached, and I'll admit the sound was set about average 25-30. Luckily, after the second complaint (Which involved them knocking on the door) I asked if I could come over and hear exactly what they were complaining about. It was the LFE .1 (Sub) that was the problem. It wasn't the walls but the windows that it leaked out and into. Running back and forth between the two places I was able to tweak the LFE and this eliminated the problem.

COULD NOT MOVE OUT OF THAT PLACE FAST ENOUGH THOUGH. Those neighbors were extremely sensitive to noise in general. Now own a house.

[rubystone356]

I think the general rule is about 7am to 10pm. you can be loud during that time, but then turn it down after 10pm. I had this problem with my neibors. they would pound the walls saying that it was too loud. I would keep it down. it was mostly the subwoofer that would be the problem. if you play a movie from 7pm to 10pm.. you should be okay.

the neibors did leave last month so then I could be loud for a while.. but now I have new neibors. have to take it one step at a time.
best to talk with them and make some arrangements. its a pain in the butt, but in the long run better for you and the neibors.

Jacob

[Agrare]

Originally Posted by neos_peace

my advise would be to ask them if you could listen to what they hear while you have a movie running, that way you can adjust accordingly. if they want to "noise" to stop. just a thought.

This is what I was going to suggest. If you know what exactly they are hearing you can adjust that accordingly. maybe it is the base too close to the wall, perhaps they actually hear the dialog. know what will let you just lower the base or the overall volume, or whatever else it might be.

If you then also find out when quite hours (so to speak) are you can also adjust listening time to that and watch quieter movies later at night.

If they know you are trying to adjust it can help avoid a major conflict with them down the road, they might be thinking that you are just ignoring them. Perhaps invite them down so they see that you truly are listening to it at a normal volume and not blasting it.

Perhaps the floor/ceiling is just thin

But if you've had no problems in the past it's probably best to start with communication.

-Agrare

[ZIPPO]

Originally Posted by rubystone356

I think the general rule is about 7am to 10pm. you can be loud during that time, but then turn it down after 10pm. I had this problem with my neibors. they would pound the walls saying that it was too loud. I would keep it down. it was mostly the subwoofer that would be the problem. if you play a movie from 7pm to 10pm.. you should be okay.

the neibors did leave last month so then I could be loud for a while.. but now I have new neibors. have to take it one step at a time.
best to talk with them and make some arrangements. its a pain in the butt, but in the long run better for you and the neibors.

Jacob

noon to 7:00pm would be safer & more agreeable.

[JJJMan]

Thanks everyone for the great advice, and I agree, communication is absolutely key. I will definitely be talking to them and getting a better idea of what they are hearing (just bass, dialog, etc) and adjust accordingly, let them know I am concerned about their wellfare and not just ignorning them.

I am truly hoping its just something we can both come to a compromise on, Appropriate times for lower volumes, and so that they understand I'm actually listening at reasonable volumes, not blasting my stereo. If the alternative occurs (them telling me to go screw), I'm fortunate I will be moving out in the coming months and getting a house with my GF.

[Fors*]

Maybe you could blast the system the way you stated with their OK,and then go up to their place and listen for yourself. I am sure the proof will make this an easier decision. Then you will know what they are hearing and it also shows you making an effort to get the matter resolved. I would at least start here......

[Driver_King]

There are quite a few causes for this. One is that you may have thin walls. The rest likely involve your subwoofer. Your Sony HTIB subwoofer is tuned very high and is slightly boomy. It can easily be heard and pinpointed. There are a few solutions to improving your situation. One would be to purchase sound proofing, especially bass traps. Another would be to move the subwoofer away from the corner at least one foot. Then, you could also try adding Poly-fill to the subwoofer to decrease the tuning frequency (removing the boominess and improving the sound quality) and you can build a riser or raise the subwoofer off the ground a foot or two to lessen the effects of the room modes and the vibrations that travel through the walls. For more information, check out the stickies in the Subwoofer subforum here.

[JJJMan]

Currently the sub is next to the TV on an interior wall, 6 inches from the wall, with only its pre-built feet between it and the tile floor. I will be moving it to a different, exterior wall, 1 foot from the wall, and I am going to purchase a SubDude this weekend