Neighbors don't like my DIY speakers

[cotdt]

Hi everyone, my situation it this: my neighbors don't like it when I turn up my music, and I like listening to music loud. Loud music is very enjoyable. People complain that it is too loud and makes their windows vibrate, stuff like that. Of course I turn down the music and not use the speakers when the neighbors are around. Being considerate of others is very important of course.

But what is the point in making big powerful speakers when you can't use them in an urban/suburban environment? I really like these speakers, and don't want to go back to headphones.

I am interested in making a soundproof listening room, but don't know if it could be done. Dampening the walls or filling it with sand won't be enough. What could I do? Radical suggestions are fine, since it seems like the solution would have to be radical to work. Sound dampening doesn't seem so easy based on my research so far. But no headphones, and I don't want to live 50 feet underground in the caves.

[Scottmoose]

Only problem with this is that you don't want to end up with what is in effect an anechoic chamber. If the walls have cavities, then expanding, insulating foam would be a step forward, and also save on heating / air conditioning bills, if appropriate. Not enough? No. Sounds like you'd need to reconstruct the walls out of solid concrete or an equivalent. which might annoy the neighbours even more.

Exactly how loud are you listening? I mention this purely because anything over 85db in the long term will damage your hearing. You could try to attenuate some of the bass-frequencies a bit with traps etc, but in reality, they have to be VAST before they make a difference at low frequencies.

You might want to think less about the room, and more about the speakers. No, I don't mean swapping to something with 0 bass-output, but the type of speaker itself can have a huge effect on the disturbance, or lack thereof, given to people in the area. 2 types immediately spring to mind. Firstly, the dipole. These reduce the amount of energy compared to monopoles that is expended in activating room modes by around 30% or more. So you can listen at the same volume levels with a 30% or so reduction in unwanted room vibrations.

The other is the line array. Due to the cylindrical wave-front these launch, and the nearfield positioning, they too tend to annoy people a lot less, although that tends to be more in the vertaical than the horizontal domains.

Best
Scott

[Mutley666]

A friend of mine had much success with polystyrene back plaster board fixed to stud work about 2 inches in front of the walls of his lounge/living area.
He lived in a terraced house where he shared a common wall with his neighbours on both sides. His neighbours only complained when he crancked up his system with the windows open!

[lndm]

If you turn up your system and go outside, is it the bass you hear most of?

Bass needs thick damping because the wavelengths are long. But you could make a useful improvement by putting your speakers up on spikes. Hopefully you may isolate them from directly vibrating your room.

You may also consider reducing the midrange where the ear is most sensitive?

In extremes, you might move to a room that does not adjoin an external wall, or even build a false interior wall with a gap filled with fibreglass (maybe just on one wall?).

Don't give up. Music is too important.

[inertial]

You can decoupling speakers from the floor. How?
Air spring work really good .
but they are expansive.
Look at Newport for example.
Another radical system is to souspandes the speakers from the ceiling
with elastic chord ( I'm not shure of translate, rubber-chord) and set
an Fs as low as possible , 2-5 Hz can go .
I hope this can help ( sure it works!) .

Cheers,
Inertial

[BobEllis]

Move?

The air spring idea is interesting. How about making one out of a bicycle tube inside the base of the speakers? Works well for decoupling equipment.

Have you tried rearranging your placement to minimize room modes? I had an upstairs neighbor who would stomp if I got above a whisper. Moving things around I found a spot that didn't annoy her as easily, and sounded better to boot. Nothing helped with my electric bass. I had to use headphones when she was home. She finally moved and I have an understanding neighbor now.

[Dryseals]

I have the same problem, but in a different way. I live out side of the city limits. My closest neighbor is several hundred feet away. I like to listen to music in the loud way, this is in my shop. I've raised the speakers off the floor using 2X2s. It helped the bass, still sounds good inside but rolls off quickly outside.

The opening of my shop is a two car garage door. Across the drive way there is a brick wall, the side of the house. Certian frequencies reflect off this wall and bounce out for the neighbors. Not much I can do there, so I have to tone it down. In the warmer weather, I have some trees that block the reflected sound, not so in the winter.

I'm now looking at an 8 acre lot that covered with trees, nothing sounds better than Neil Youngs Powder Finger at full blast and I can't do that where I'm at.

[Circlotron]

Has your room got a big bass resonance that maybe you don't particularly notice but sounds very dominant and one-note to your neighbours? If so then maybe you could equalise the bass end at least in an effort to flatten / minimise this big hump?

[inertial]

Hi Bob,
Yes you can do! I suggest you to search very little bycicle-tubes ,
( to say not more 5-7 " when pressurized) and set 3 of these between
two big MDF triangle 18-20". Some work is need for easy acces to air valves and periodic pump also.
The triangle "sandwitch" is a sort of mobile- base , so you can move it easy without touch the bycicle-tubes and adyust your speakers placement as a normal base.
You will be surprise how much sounds better also !
Not only for your neighbors.....

Cheers,
Inertial

[Scottmoose]

Alternative: ganite slab as a base. Cover the bottom of the speake rin sheets of Blu-Tak and stick it onto those.