Down-firing subs and downstairs neighbors

First question, how much insulation will be between your floor and your neighbor's ceiling (if it's none, which is probable the case, you asking for trouble, by putting in a subwoofer)? Second question, how loud to you like to listen to your music and at what time of day? Probably the biggest problem will the bass from your subwoofers bleeding into your neighbor's apartment, and it really doesn't matter whether the subwoofer is down-firing or forward-firing. And there is "no way" to stop this "sound bleed" unless you're willing to pull up your flooring and acoustically isolate and/or dampen the space between your floor and your neighbor's ceiling. If I was me living in such a situation, I would stick with stand-mounted monitors, and wait until I had a place where I could use a sub-woofer without bothering the neighbors. Other than that, once you get moved in, I would borrow a sub-woofer and test your system to see how much bass "sound bleed" goes into your downstair neighbor's apartment and what THEIR tolerance level might be. Remember if YOUR MUSIC is bleeding into their apartment, it's your responsibily to solve the problem.

PS: You signed the lease on the place, yet?

Abarnett,

The frequency that the bass becomes really bad (penetrating) is dependent on a variety of factors, some of which are:

1. The room itself and how it effect bass frequencies.

2. How much insulation is between your floor and neighbor ceiling, and how well constructed the floor joist are.

3. The type of music you play, and how loud, and at what hours.

4. The types of dampening you plan to do (thick carpet/padding, ect) that you're going to use to prevent "sound bleed" into your neighbor's unit.

5. And probably the most important, the tolerance level of your "downstairs neighbors" towards any bass frequencies coming into their unit.

The fact that you're moving into an "older wooden house" pretty much tells me, you're going to having some issues with sound transmitting into your neighbors unit, as most older wooden homes are not well insulated and have many area in the walls and floors where sound will penetrate.

Once again, my suggestion would be stand mounted monitors that probably roll-off around 50 Hz, and to be mindful not to play your music at very high volume, as it doesn't take much for sound to start penetrating. As for the subwoofer, in your situation, I would forget about it, at least until you've moved into your apartment, and have had a chance to get to know your neighbors, and discuss what you want to do in regards to adding a subwoofer, and to get their reaction.