2. speakers
  3. 188817-11116

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.

hudsonhawk
gowanus
33 posts
 

I'd invest in a Sound Pressure Level meter for your own use and to use in your downstairs' neighbor's place if things get ugly. I was a co-op board president in NYC a while, that's a great tool for handling complaints.

 

Post removed 
bipod72
105 posts
 

A few things to consider while trying to acoustically isolate your speakers. Since this is an old warehouse conversion into lofts, certain requirements come into play to comply with the building code. There is most likely, sound batt insulation within the floor cavity and the gypsum ceiling is probably on  7/8" furring channels vs. being directly attached to the floor joists. So you may have some inherent isolation built in. You could probably find out when the last renovations were done. City Hall / Building Permit Dept may have records of the building plans you could look at to see what you're dealing with and adjust accordingly.

But, considering the language about loud music implies the developer/building owner may have cheaped out on sound attenuation between units or you have neighbors that don't like to hear anyone else and complain a lot. 

The only real way to know is set up your speakers, get the room tuned in and play some music at your normal listening levels you like, and see if you get any complaints. 

deep_333
855 posts
 

Your priorities in life are off. First, put a downpayment on a house where no one can bother you for spl levels dude. All the Eggleston Kiva, Diva, etc crap could wait.

grislybutter
2,306 posts
 

 1,400$/mon. for 55 sq./ft

that's the size of a king size bed. The door would need to open to the hallway, otherwise you couldn't get in. 

More to discover