Help with redirecting Bass

Hi all

I'm building on a small setup in an apartment building. For
now, I've been focusing on the video aspect of my theater, though
in the back of my mind I've been trying to plan ahead for upgrading
my audio. I've been making do with some very nice entry-level Sony
speakers, which until lately I've had on the bookshelf. This week
I've upgraded to freestanding speaker stands.

Here's my problem: my floors are very thin, and I have neighbors
below. I am trying very hard to be a courteous tenant, especially since
most of my movie-watching is done late at night. My neighbors have
told me that the only part of the sound that travels through the floor
is the bass, but I do not want even that to go down if it can be helped.
I've already tweaked my receiver to tone down the bass.


Obviously, this scenario prevents me from needing a subwoofer in the
forseeable future.

Anyway, is there any way to absorb sound that would normally go through
the floor? I don't need to truly soundproof the room, just cut off the
lower frequencies. Could anyone offer some suggestions?

--

Aaron J. Bossig

http://www.GodsLabRat.com
http://www.dvdverdict.com

Aaron J. Bossig wrote:

[snip]
Anyway, is there any way to absorb sound that would normally go through
the floor? I don't need to truly soundproof the room, just cut off the
lower frequencies. Could anyone offer some suggestions?

Basically, no. There are a few things you can do that might help a
little, but isolating bass frequencies from building structures is the
most expensive and difficult part of acoustic treatment; you can spend
thousands of dollars and still not completely succeed.

Bass frequencies propagate through the air and couple with walls and
floors everywhere in the room, so just isolating the speakers from the
floor is not enough. Isolation sufficient to allow a system to operate
at normal home theater levels requires measures such as building
polymer-suspended walls and floors that are buffered from the building
structure itself -- obviously, a more extreme solution than most
apartment dwellers are willing to commit to.

I would suggest looking into some really good headphones.

RichC

"rdclark" wrote in news:1164816028.257107.17200
@j72g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:


Aaron J. Bossig wrote:

[snip]
Anyway, is there any way to absorb sound that would normally go through
the floor? I don't need to truly soundproof the room, just cut off the
lower frequencies. Could anyone offer some suggestions?

Basically, no. There are a few things you can do that might help a
little, but isolating bass frequencies from building structures is the
most expensive and difficult part of acoustic treatment; you can spend
thousands of dollars and still not completely succeed.

Well, ****. Thanks anyway

--

Aaron J. Bossig

http://www.GodsLabRat.com
http://www.dvdverdict.com

Aaron J. Bossig:

My neighbors have
told me that the only part of the sound that travels through the floor
is the bass

My sub seems louder in adjoining rooms than it does in my TV room so it
probably annoys the hell out of them.

--
Mac Cool

"Aaron J. Bossig" wrote in message
...
Anyway, is there any way to absorb sound that would normally go through
the floor? I don't need to truly soundproof the room, just cut off the
lower frequencies. Could anyone offer some suggestions?

Short answer is no. There are some good 5.1 surround headphones on sale, I
suggest you invest in a good pair of those, cheaper for you and better for
your neighbour.

--
Italo

keep the speaker out of the room corners
keep the speaker away from the floor or
ceiling,
buy yourself a really good pair of
STAX headphones.
not really, you see bass is non directional
and cant be aimed, the higher the frequency,
the more directional it becomes.
thats why you need really good expensive
(covers entire ear with soft comfortable cup)
STAX headphones.
you could build a subfloor and soundproofing
to dampen the coupling of bass, but i dont
think thats what you had in mind.
cheap headphones that press foam against
the ear will make your lobes HURT after
only a short time. it cuts off the blood
circulation and produces pain.
a really good pair of headphones costs
1200-1600 dollars and in your case it
may well be worth it.

On Wed, 29 Nov 2006 01:16:04 -0600, Aaron J. Bossig wrote:

Could anyone offer some suggestions?

If you can't use a subwoofer, you might want to try these:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=299-028


Not as good as a subwoofer, but much better than nothing at all.