2. tech-talk
  3. 1163728567

Walls, ceilings, floors -- neighbors and sound

I've started to search around my little town for a condo, and I'm wondering, all other things being equal (which they never are, of course), what might be best for allowing me to do a good deal of listening without making my neighbors have to hear what I happen to be into at that moment. In general, do folks above hear more than those below? Or vice versa? Or is it a bigger problem for those on the other side of a shared wall? I understand that this will all depend on the construction of the place in question, but can anyone tell me if there are certain things to look for? And other to avoid? Thanks for any help you might give me with this one.
-- Howard
hodu
warnerwh
539 posts
 
Some condos may have double thick walls between them. Some that are smaller may be designed to have a garage between them on the lower floor which is almost like having a house.

Bass frequencies will travel through alot. If you like to listen at any significant volume with good bass then consider building a false wall and use resilient channel to mount the sheetrock. Also putting some lead sheeting between these two walls would help.

Your worst problem is most likely the bass. As I said it will travel along trusses and through walls. I've heard of people also mounting their speakers on something soft so as to not transmit vibrations to the floor.
gregm
3,396 posts
 
As Warnerwh notes -- the longer the wavelength the more sound will propagate and go through anything. In practise, though, upstairs gets more of a blast than downstairs (because you can decouple the spkrs fm the floor)... So if you have no upstairs neighbours, you may get away with some extra dB. BUT, there's the next door to consider: Lead sheeting is one of the best attenuators.
tobias
1,534 posts
 
If you do use lead sheeting, make sure to ground it or you may get RFI. UHF Magazine didn't do it when they lined their listening room with lead, and one of the preamps they tested apparently picked up Radio Moscow as a result.
More to discover