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Down-firing subs and downstairs neighbors

Hello Audiogoners,

I am looking at subwoofers for 2 channel music. I will soon be moving into the 2nd floor of an older wooden house, with neighbors below me. I don’t want to drive my new neighbors crazy.

It seems intuitive that a downward-firing sub would penetrate the floor more than a forward-firing one--but is that true? Also, can you do things to mitigate, like put a down-firing sub on a piece of stone, or a particular material?

Any suggestions/info much appreciated
abarnett
Post removed 
jdombrow
371 posts
 
Down-firing subs and downstairs neighbors = upfiring pistols
abarnett OP
18 posts
 
Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I'm glad I asked.

Does anyone know at about what frequency the bass becomes really bad (penetrating)? I'm thinking maybe I could find a shallow but musical sub to fill in between 40 and 80Hz, or one with two crossovers. Thanks
cleaneduphippy
323 posts
 
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.
abarnett OP
18 posts
 
Hello Cleaneduphippy
I don't know anything about the innards of the new house (or the neighbors). Actually I have a sub already, a basic HT Velodyne I'm thinking of replacing. I'll see how it works in the new place before investing in a better one.

I use the sub now in a bi-amping arrangement with a NAD integrated (NAD only gets signal above 80hz). I like this arrangement--that's why I'm keen on having a sub. Don't care too much about very low bass.
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