Audiophiles and apartments: Oil and water?


I live in an apartment, and am thus constrained when it comes to the volume at which I listen. However, I tend to view this as a glass-is-half-full kind of situation, because when I do have the opportunity for serious listening (when the downstairs neighbor is gone) I appreciate it that much more. How do you handle your situation in an apartment or other close-living quarters?

Tim
smorkinlabbit

Showing 1 response by tfkaudio

I have had some recent experience here. I lived in an apartment (3 flat) where everyone blasted away and the agreement was simple. You can blast away. I can blast away. End of story. Very nice. Then I bought a condo and the downstairs neighbor called the cops the day I moved in. I was playing folk music at about 70 db. Not a good situation. I turned it down and bided my time. He eventually moved, and I can play louder now. I still don't blast like I did before, but that's ok. I found out 2 important things during this experience: renters are generally young and flexible. Owners are generally older and uptight. You can't change that, so you have to deal with it, or buy a single family home. Not easy if you live in Manhattan, though. :) I live in Chicago, and I may upgrade to a single family home someday, although I'd prefer to make it work in the condo.

Don't be the bad guy. That's my advice. If you want to crank it up, do it at reasonable hours. Then, if they complain, turn it down and ask what hours work best for them. And mention that you ARE being considerate by not cranking it up at 2 AM, even though you'd like to...

Cheers