We all make mistakes.
Moving into an apartment with wood joist floors - worried about neighbors hearing
Hey all,
So during the pandemic I bought a pair of very Manhattan-unfriendly Egglestonworks Kivas. They sound amazing!
However I recently decided to move and found an amazing old loft. While signing the lease I saw a bunch of language about noise and playing music loud - and now I’m starting to wonder if I’ve made a huge mistake.
I’ve lived in places with concrete floors the last 15 years, so i didn’t even think about it when taking the place, but this old building has wood joist floors.
While I don’t listen loud - I’ve always been a low- to medium-volume listener - I’m worried that even then the Kiva’s will have too much bass energy.
The opposite pressure is that the room is huge with high ceilings. So in a vacuum, the Kiva’s would be the perfect speaker for the space.
The way I see it I have two options:
1) Try to move in with the Kiva’s and do everything I can to contain their energy (bass traps / panels / thick rugs / Isoacoustics Gaia pucks - some of which I already have). If there are complaints, then get different speakers or use equalization to lower the bass on my digital sources (not an option for vinyl though)
Or:
2) Get different speakers proactively. If I do this, I could consider a pair of bookshelf speakers with limited LF (SF Amati’s or those WIlson bookshelves?)
Anyone have any experience with this? If I go route #2, what about planar ribbon speakers like Maggie 3.7? Seems like the dispersion on them might solve a lot of the problem here, but not sure if they’ll still resonate the floor.
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- 62 posts total
@deep_333 For my work and quality of life I have to live in Manhattan. My stereo is nice but not enough to translate into a down payment on much more than a closet here. |
I live in old Victorian tenement 1880 so high 3.6m ceilings and wooden floors - I use isoacoustic feet under my large tannoys - I don’t want to put anything on ceiling as plastered ceiling rose and high elaborate cornice …. But I have 3x rugs layered on top of each other in front of speakers before listening sofa (about 5/6cm) I also have room treatment on side and rear. Even playing loud and sitting barefoot I feel nothing under feet and neighbours are happy. But I’m friendly with them as well so they can message if I’m a bit loud or late …. And I pre warn if I’m having a party 🎉 |
It's too bad you don't own the unit to be able to make changes to the floor. And for the most part not cheap. I live in a hundred year old space and the floors were changed. Removing all the wood, then filling the space between the joists with expansion foam where all nooks and crannies are filled especially around radiators if you have them. Then very thin plywood sheets were glued and screwed (lots of screws) to the joists followed by that pink membrane stuff (forget what it's called) and finally, the floor reinstalled. In some spots, you may want to add additional screws that could be hidden by a wooden plug that matches the wood floor if necessary. There is a tool from Dewalt that makes both holes for screw and plug in one shot. Makes a noticeable change. I imagine it wouldn't be cheap but considering what you may spend on audio equipment. |
Sorry to say if the speakers produce deep bass there is nothing you can do bass wil penetrate all less dense materials
Therefore rugs and footers can not block bass any and all materialsthat are not extremely dense only bass blocking material is mass loaded vinyl sheeting or cobcrete board with an air gap we know we built a theater for rev runs renovation and we had to sound proof the walls and yoou would need to cover the entire floor to be even remotely effective Put the speakers in storage and look for a less bass capable loudspeaker Dave and Troy AUDIO INTELLECT NJ |
- 62 posts total