# moved into an apartment



## gibroni (Sep 25, 2010)

I moved into an apartment and the walls are on the thin side. I'm in a 4 unit apt on the first floor. The other tennants are elderly women. It's a 2 room apt and I want to set up my HT in the larger bedroom which is away from the woman across the hall but I have two retired nuns in the apartment above. I can hear them walking around and I can hear them talking if not enough to understand what they are saying.

My current HT system is modest. Klipsch Kg4 LCR and a pair of Murphy Blaster 1's I had built as surrounds. I have a Dayton Ref 12" sub which replaced a blown Klipsch drive in the Klipsch box with the plate amp. It's all powered by a Denon AVR888 I watch Bluray's and a lot of streaming content through my HTPC.

My projector and screen aren't an issue.

I don't want to be a bad neighbor I just want to be able to enjoy m HT.

Should I sell off my Kg4's and go with smaller speakers or keep them and be wary of the volume.

I do think I'm going to get a pair of in-ceiling speakers for surrounds since they would best fit the new room. It's a drop ceiling so I could replace the tile with plywood or mdf.

I was thinking of using a lot of acoustic wall treatments to have as mush sound proofing as possible.


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## KalaniP (Dec 17, 2008)

Consider a subdude?


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

I'd been doing the apt living for 13 years before the day came when I could afford our house, and after trying everything, the only thing I found that works, short of reconstructing the walls, is turning it down. Sad but true. Bass frequencies travel the farthest, so just reducing the level on your sub can help, as well as utilizing any dynamic compression in your AVR to make quiet passages louder, and loud passages more quiet. Audyssey's upcoming technology Low Frequency Containment promises to limit the travel of bass frequencies to surrounding areas, but I haven't experienced it yet.

http://www.audyssey.com/audio-technology/audyssey-lfc

Having understanding neighbors also helps.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

gibroni said:


> I was thinking of using a lot of acoustic wall treatments to have as mush sound proofing as possible.


This will not help. Room treatments only help with the short wavelength higher frequencies in _your_ room.



KalaniP said:


> Consider a subdude?


This _might_ help, especially if the neighbor's walls are rattling.


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## TypeA (Aug 14, 2010)

I feel for ya gibroni. In my situation I spend a mere $400 a month for a nice 700sf 1 bedroom that has a living room _ideally_ suited for home theater. But alas Ive built a very capable 7.2 system that is _rarely_ used to its full potential simply because of attached neighbors. Despite my theater being on the far end of the building from my neighbors main living area, they still can hear my subs from time to time throughout their home. What I would recommend is introducing yourself to the neighbors and explaining what youll be doing, maybe ask if there are better times that theater sound wont be as bothersome, maybe provide your phone number and make it easy for them to contact you if theres any problem at all. Being considerate and communicating your intentions goes a long ways but ultimately with retirees (who are probably always home) and very thin walls youre in the worst situation possible and compromises will have to be made.


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## sga2 (Nov 14, 2009)

I'd keep the speakers for the day you move out. 

You might consider getting a Buttkicker so you can enjoy some bass sensation without having to crank up the sub to the point of angry neighbors. I've never used one but they seem to get good buzz around here. And since you're on the first floor (slab on grade?), I doubt any rattling the would be noticed by anyone outside your room. 

Regards,
sga2


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Yeah, living on the ground floor is the best if you're the noisy one.


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## gibroni (Sep 25, 2010)

I decided to keep my Kg4's but I'm going to look for some inceiling speakers for surrounds. Just something that will be sealed from behind (or above) and cheap like the Daytons at PE. I'll have to test the waters as far as a sub goes. The room is at the end of the building so I'm not too worried about my neighbors across the hall but I have 2 retired nuns in the apt above me. I hear they like their drink so hopefully they'll be too drunk to be bothered while I'm watching a movie. raying:


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## gibroni (Sep 25, 2010)

It's going to be a nice little theater room, 12' X 14" with a nice sized closet to house my equipment rack. It's got dark brown paneling around 3/4 of the walls and a drop ceiling. All I need is a pair of recliners or a recliner couch and I'm set.


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## gdstupak (Jul 13, 2010)

gibroni said:


> I decided to keep my Kg4's


That was going to be my advice. 
I would stop using the sub and have the LFE go to the mains before changing to smaller speakers.
If the bass from the mains still carry too much, then in the AVR you could either turn down the bass setting or set the mains to "small" so it cuts out the lower freq.
Using buttkickers would be a good idea if you isolated the couch or seat from the floor.


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## Theresa (Aug 23, 2010)

I live in a small condo so I often "ride the gain" of my system. I keep my finger on the volume control. I have an upstairs neighbor who is home all day, as I am, and starts stomping on the floor whenever it gets too loud for hir.


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