Having lived in an apartment or condominium most of my life, I
can say the worst thing is neighbors complaining about the noise coming
from your home theater or stereo system. For the purpose of this
article, the term "Apartment" will also include condominiums and "home
theater system" will also include stereo system for playing CDs. Here
are some tips I've learned through the years to minimize sound escaping
your apartment causing the neighbors to complain.
Before I go on, unless you have a huge amount of money, there basically is no such thing as sound proofing a room in an apartment. Yes, it can be done but the cost is going to be off the roof. The advice I'm going to give will be to try to minimize the amount of complaints with your neighbors. Some easy common sense advice before we get started. I would introduce yourself to anyone who lives right above you or below you or shares a common wall with you, give them your phone number and just tell them in a friendly way, if they ever have a problem with your sound system, just to give you a call. This way at least you might be able to internally mitigate the problem before it escalates to a higher level. I would try not to play loud music/movies before 11:00 AM and after 8:00 PM, even if your buildings policy is 10:00 AM and 10:00 PM, and listen to wireless 5.1 headphones like Pioneer SE-DIR800C Dolby Digital 5.1 Wireless Headphones during the other times.
The main problem you're going to have with your neighbors is your subwoofer. The easiest solution is to be in an apartment on the first floor as that at least gets rid of people below you complaining. Failing that or even with that, I would buy both an Auralex Gramma Isolation Riser and Mason Super "W" rubber pads. The Gramma Isolation Riser is basically a platform to put your subwoofer on that somehow provides acoustic isolation and improves the subwoofer's tone without making it sound artificial. In short, it helps get rid of any boom from the subwoofer that you don't want. Mason Super "W" rubber pads are a mat of square rubber 2" modules 3/4 inch high separated by thick web that you can use the entire mat and/or cut modules off to put your subwoofer on. The way I have my subwoofer set up is the subwoofer is on top of the Gramma Isolation Riser which is above the Mason Super "W" Mat which is above my carpet floor. I have the Subwoofer back about 14 - 16" from the back wall and the subwoofer's side also about 14-16" from the side wall. I have the subwoofer set up on the Isolation Riser so that its grill is directly above the edge of the riser. The width of the subwoofer is centered on the Isolation Riser. I've included a photo in one of my websites listed below.
I also recommend if you live in an apartment to try satellite speakers and a powerful receiver. I have an excellent Orb Audio Mod 1 5.1 Speaker and Subwoofer set up that I love that seems to play loud volumes without being ear shattering. I've found that the more powerful your receiver is, the softer you can set the actual volume and it will sound as loud to you but not carry out louder in the room.
In regards to speakers, my advice to you is not to have them attached to or right next to a wall, but a couple of inches away and as far from the ceiling and floor can be, anywhere from around 28" to 56" or so off the floor, from the bottom of the speaker. I also wouldn't put them by corner walls. You might also want to experiment and put them over cut Mason "W" square modules.
Lastly, just use some common sense. Keep your windows closed when you play your home theater system. The best hours to play stuff really loud is during the week between 11 AM and 5:00 PM, when people are at work and 12:00 - 5:00 PM on weekends. When playing DVDs be aware that movies with gunfire and explosions tend to play louder then Woody Allen movies and set your volume accordingly! Good luck. You'll still probably get complaints but the amount should be cut down quite a bit!
Before I go on, unless you have a huge amount of money, there basically is no such thing as sound proofing a room in an apartment. Yes, it can be done but the cost is going to be off the roof. The advice I'm going to give will be to try to minimize the amount of complaints with your neighbors. Some easy common sense advice before we get started. I would introduce yourself to anyone who lives right above you or below you or shares a common wall with you, give them your phone number and just tell them in a friendly way, if they ever have a problem with your sound system, just to give you a call. This way at least you might be able to internally mitigate the problem before it escalates to a higher level. I would try not to play loud music/movies before 11:00 AM and after 8:00 PM, even if your buildings policy is 10:00 AM and 10:00 PM, and listen to wireless 5.1 headphones like Pioneer SE-DIR800C Dolby Digital 5.1 Wireless Headphones during the other times.
The main problem you're going to have with your neighbors is your subwoofer. The easiest solution is to be in an apartment on the first floor as that at least gets rid of people below you complaining. Failing that or even with that, I would buy both an Auralex Gramma Isolation Riser and Mason Super "W" rubber pads. The Gramma Isolation Riser is basically a platform to put your subwoofer on that somehow provides acoustic isolation and improves the subwoofer's tone without making it sound artificial. In short, it helps get rid of any boom from the subwoofer that you don't want. Mason Super "W" rubber pads are a mat of square rubber 2" modules 3/4 inch high separated by thick web that you can use the entire mat and/or cut modules off to put your subwoofer on. The way I have my subwoofer set up is the subwoofer is on top of the Gramma Isolation Riser which is above the Mason Super "W" Mat which is above my carpet floor. I have the Subwoofer back about 14 - 16" from the back wall and the subwoofer's side also about 14-16" from the side wall. I have the subwoofer set up on the Isolation Riser so that its grill is directly above the edge of the riser. The width of the subwoofer is centered on the Isolation Riser. I've included a photo in one of my websites listed below.
I also recommend if you live in an apartment to try satellite speakers and a powerful receiver. I have an excellent Orb Audio Mod 1 5.1 Speaker and Subwoofer set up that I love that seems to play loud volumes without being ear shattering. I've found that the more powerful your receiver is, the softer you can set the actual volume and it will sound as loud to you but not carry out louder in the room.
In regards to speakers, my advice to you is not to have them attached to or right next to a wall, but a couple of inches away and as far from the ceiling and floor can be, anywhere from around 28" to 56" or so off the floor, from the bottom of the speaker. I also wouldn't put them by corner walls. You might also want to experiment and put them over cut Mason "W" square modules.
Lastly, just use some common sense. Keep your windows closed when you play your home theater system. The best hours to play stuff really loud is during the week between 11 AM and 5:00 PM, when people are at work and 12:00 - 5:00 PM on weekends. When playing DVDs be aware that movies with gunfire and explosions tend to play louder then Woody Allen movies and set your volume accordingly! Good luck. You'll still probably get complaints but the amount should be cut down quite a bit!
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