How Do I Keep My Apartment Neighbor From Hearing My Subwoofer?

[sphinxsix]

36 minutes ago, intothedragon said:

How Do I Keep My Apartment Neighbor From Hearing My Subwoofer?

 

It's very simple - you definitely need one of these (you can choose): 

Next you will have to choose once again - either your subwoofer or your neighbor. 

 

[sphinxsix]

There is one more option which I used to practice when I was much(!) younger and listened to metal more often and a little  louder than nowadays. You turn up your music step by step with each day, beginning with quite low volume and ending with your maximum volume for about two weeks after moving into a new apartment. At some point you usually can hear you neighbor banging with some heavy tool at a radiator (most popular method, not the only one though). This is the crucial moment.. (you obviously shouldn't listen to the music loud late at night according to the law of most countries which usually doesn't say anything about a day time reproduction). Well.. you know - I actually could never be really sure what the banging meant - they don't like the music, they think it's too loud or ...maybe they simply love it and e.g.  want more of it or want it louder. All of this can obviously be explained in a normal conversation, as for banging the radiators - you simply can't know the meaning of such uncivilized behavior  And like I said - this is the crucial moment - what you do is very simple - you don't react - you don't change the music, you don't turn it down. It requires some  self-control and iron discipline if the banging takes again place some time in the future.. You allow the music to play for about 10-15 min longer and then you turn it off - very important - off, not down!

This method not only always worked but also allowed me pass some neighbors without so in  fact repetitive and boring 'good mornings' 'good evenings' etc.. 

 

[sphinxsix]

50 minutes ago, Allan F said:

I gained the added benefit of tighter bass.

 

You've decreased the stability of the speakers and gained tighter bass.?

Seems strange to me. IME the optimum is - spikes going through a carpet and resting on solid floor surface (if it's wood - on some metal elements resting on the wooden floor).

Talking optimal placement, not sound isolation form neighbors here, of course.

 

[sphinxsix]

Something tells me that in most cases putting loudspeakers on something less stable than their spikes resting on stable floor surface, if connected with the described above increased bass control works like this': the lowest bass gets lost to some degree due to the increased instability of a speaker (instead of emitting the lowest frequencies into the room a driver slightly 'shakes' the whole loudspeaker enclosure) hence the problems connected with those frequencies disappear and therefore one can have an impression of increased bass control.

Just my 2p.

[sphinxsix]

55 minutes ago, jiminlogansquare said:

See what you think after reading it.

 

First of all they concentrate on isolating speakers from the supporting surface and this IMO isn't everything that matters..

 

 

..which they actually confirm themselves:

 

"The bungee cords were very effective at managing the vibrations, but the sound lacked definition and was less sharp."

 

And the above observation is consistent with my experience as far as any support less rigid and stable than spikes on a solid surface is regarded which I'd still personally regard as optimal as far as SQ is regarded.

 

I'm completely not convinced by their explanations regarding the internal reflections. IMO this is also not all that matters, quite the opposite, enclosure vibrations caused by a non stable support are far more dangerous (also according to many speaker manufacturers) to some aspects of SQ.

 

Edit: As for the FR of speakers on spikes vs on their products the differences are small indeed, however they don't say (or I haven't noticed) what speakers were used for measurements - the ones on the photo seem to be quite big floorstanders. In this case it's simple physics - the smaller (lighter) the speaker the differences I wrote about will be bigger.

 

[sphinxsix]

25 minutes ago, jiminlogansquare said:

You might want to audition some cast iron speakers.

"JERN cabinets are made as a one-piece composite metal structure of proprietary material called ‘’ Vibrakill ‘’.
This material ensures massive stability and density, providing unsurpassed resistance to vibrations and resonance."

 

Ok, everything seems just wonderful, now let's have a look at their stands.. (from their site)

How about their "massive stability and density providing unsurpassed resistance to vibrations and resonance"..?

 

   

 

32 minutes ago, fas42 said:

The concept that I work with, as ideal, is to imagine using one of those free standing bank safes in the customer area as the speaker cabinet - cut a couple of circles in one, with an oxy torch 😁, and bung the drivers in ... that's a speaker !!

 

That is, enormous mass, which is going nowhere, nor vibrating, when you add some energy to it - for once, the visual analogy works: solid stability gives 'solid' sound ...

Don't forget that by putting the money in/taking it out you could possibly perfectly fine tune the enclosures!  

 

[sphinxsix]

47 minutes ago, jiminlogansquare said:

The poor OP! We have thoroughly hijacked his thread.

We have, indeed!