HT in Apartment - How do You Folks do it?

[My_Two_Cents]

I'm curious as to how those of you living in apartments are able to fully enjoy the sound aspect of HT? Having lived in various houses for the past 20 years, I've never had worry about sound levels bothering anyone other than occasionally my wife or kids (if they weren't watching something with me). I don't yet have a "dedicated" theater room with sound insulation or anything, and I know how rumbly things get at time in the rest of the house even though our main theater is in the basement.

I never really thought about this until we spent a few days at a friend's apartment over the summer. I honestly don't know how you folks can stand all of the noise coming from others that live around you. You could literally hear conversations happening next door (at night, while we were trying to sleep). If they were watching a movie on a HT, I would constantly be complaining. Our friends said they've learned to tune out the noise of others, but I don't see how that's possible.

So, to those of you whose have HT setups in apartments: Are you able to enjoy your systems/movies without bothering the neighbors, or do you have to keep volume levels low, thus limiting the overall experience?

[andyman1970]

The apt your friend lives in must be very old or not up to standards and cheaply made. The apt I live in is very quite most of the time unless someone is having a party outside with windows and doors open. I have never had any complaints about my HT, but then again, I only turn it up loud enough to fill the room and give me the full experience of watching the movie.

[Carlsberg19]

I thought about this 2, thankfully my theatre is in my attic and my nearest neighbour is 100's yards away, so i never have to worry about having to turn down the volume, but god knows how the rest of u guys do it!

[mike79]

I live in an apartment, and have not had 1 complaint in 3 years thankfully. Usually I don't watch movies until late at night also. I think the only place anyone really here's it is in the hallway anyway. And I used to have annoying people below who would have complained if they thought it was too loud.

[Drew664]

My neighbor says that sometimes his walls shake, but other than that it isn't a problem as I have a basement apartment. Some times I've even cranked up the volume just to see if anyone cares, and they don't! If I ever had to limit my volume unreasonably it would be annoying. So far so good though.

[kjacobs03]

I live in a condo with someone on each side. They are both ususally noisy so I let the MotherF*#%er rip. But I don't watch movies at unreasonable hours.

[cathexist]

No loud movies after about 9:30pm for myself...cept on Friday and Saturday night were I'll let it go to midnight. I've only had one complaint thankfully.

I'm really looking forward to eventually being in a house where I can do whatever the hell I want though...

[Stephan.klose]

I live in an apartment building with neighbors all around me. Still, I can turn up the volume very high and have my subwoofer have a fieldday and I had never any complaints. Mostly because the neighbors directly next to me are seldom at home and the other ones don't speak the language of our country. I have to say though that I am amazed that nobody ever complained because sometimes when I lie in bed I can hear sounds from their TV's (which is annoying) and they just watch regular TV and don't enjoy the full HT experience.

Before that I lived in a more expensive building that was built sturdier and therefor was very soundproof. The only thing I did was to put the Subwoofer on a stand so that the basswaves don't touch the floor directly

[JasonS]

I live in an apartment on the third floor which is the top floor. I have my "theater room" relegated to the outside bedroom so that 2 walls are external and the other 2 just go to our bathroom and living room. The only way that sound carries is directly down.

I run an Onkyo 5.1 surround setup with a THX fiber optic cable. The bass probably carries like crazy to the room directly below me, but I have never got any complaints at all so I still rock out.

[My_Two_Cents]

Wow. I really figured there would be a lot more "neighbor complaint" stories. I know the slightest bit of external noise bothers the heck out of me, especially if I'm trying to sleep.

[snoborder351]

I too live in an apartment. Not a complain yet, my previous apartment was awesome for movies. It was an old hotel built in the 20's or 30's and then converted to apts. Needless to say the walls were solid and you heard nothing from anybody.

My current place, not so soundproof but I haven't gotten a complaint yet, in 2 years since I moved in. But I don't really listen to movies loud after around 10ish or midnight on weekends. But I don't really have the best system either. Apartment living is one of the reasons why I have still yet to get the Onkyo 606 that I so desire.

[DBlackGT]

I also live in an apartment and so far so good. Its my first place and Im 21 so I constantly have friends over and watch movies. But I am polite to the downstairs neighbors...I usually dont watch movies after 10 on weekdays, and midnight on weekends.

[johnarnold101]

I'm about to close on a condo and I'm not that worried. The apartment I'm in now has walls so thin I can hear my neighbor snore. The condos were apartments but the build standard is much better and when they convert the units they add layers of soundproofing inside the joining walls and below the new flooring. The popcorn ceiling is rumored to help but I can't stand that crap so it's gotta go but I'm on the top floor and at the end unit so no worries about someone above me or on one side, the HT side.

[SkullPhyre]

They used to complain. I fixed that. I killed them and got rid of them. Oh no the month is almost over and they will come looking for them when rent is due.

[bigpapy]

I really want to turn the volume all the way but I cant I have to stop on -10 and my reciver volume all the way is +16.

[katharsis]

We live in an older apartment complex (with neighbors to the left, right and below us) and have 2 more houses about 20 and 30 feet away. It does get quite noisy at all times so I don't really care to crank up the volume at reasonable times (11pm during the week, 1am on weekends) after that I tend to turn it down a notch, because I would like to be treated the same way (which of course only sometimes happens!)
Had 2 complaints from the guy below us, because of the subwoofer. Put an extra piece of carpet and it seems ok for now...

However I cannot wait to get my own place and a dedicated theater room where I can watch, what I want and when I want as loud as I like! (single family houses are quite expensive here, so that might take some time- until then I will keep on dreaming about the perfect setup- so when time comes I will be more than ready)

[jdc115]

Originally Posted by andyman1970

The apt your friend lives in must be very old or not up to standards and cheaply made.

Having spent 20 years or so living in various apartments in different places, I always found the new construction had the worst sound proofing. Older places to me seemed more solid in the way they were built.

Now I own a condo that is built from concrete and I have never heard my neighbors and I can play my system quite loud without disturbing them. Something I could never have done in the typical condo/apartments in the US

[jdc115]

Originally Posted by Ricshoe

Wow. I really figured there would be a lot more "neighbor complaint" stories. I know the slightest bit of external noise bothers the heck out of me, especially if I'm trying to sleep.

I think a lot of those people probably are annoyed but some people just are not complaining. Within reason, i usually preferred to have neighbors make a lot of noise as then i felt more comfortable to play my own system at more reasonable levels without them complaining.

[SkullPhyre]

Honestly, I live on the end of a building that has 3 stories. I live on the first floor. My neighbors moved into another apt. So one side has nobody the other side is empty. They tended to make noise and we got along so they never complained. Some russians that barely speak english live upstairs. The only time that they ever stomped the floor was on sunday nights( I dont know)

I generally play 1 or 2 movies a night My onkyo 875 is usually on -10 or -5. No complaints. I am expecting that my luck is when i get new neighbors they will hate noise and complain all the time. September and oct are gonna be big months I have alot of movies pre-ordered they are just gonna have to suck it up.

[BirdManJr]

stop throwing your money away. Save & buy a house.