Neighbour complaints - help required

mattystorey001

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Hi,

Recently moved into a rented semi-detached house and the neighbours have politely complained about the noise of my home cinema. Probably my own fault as upon introducing myself I mentioned my setup and if it was loud to mention it so I could adjust it appropriately - I probably set myself up..

Currently I am running 3.1 as I haven't got round to buying the extra lengths of cable for the 7.2 so my setup is running at half volume.....

Anyway, story short they have moaned about noise. I have adjusted it, went round and stood in their lounge at approx 6-30pm (hollyoaks was on?!) with their tv muted and you could make out maybe a minor bump every now and then from the first five minutes of resident evil 4 (bassy, fight/shoot scenes) at approx level 35 on my onkyo.. Apparently it is to loud..

Their TV is approximately right behind mine behind the adjoining wall. I have said I would adjust it to appease hence why I am now here..

- I have moved the singular sub so it is no longer pointed directly at the wall but now behind the chair that I usually watch movies from

- I have adjusted the singular sub to just above zero.. And at a reduced ohm level

- I have moved the front floor standing speakers a little bit further away from the wall.

Can I place anything under the sub and speakers to reduce vibrations? Is there anything else I can do? Obviously I am going to get some cable and the full kit will come into play.

I would rather get to the point of trying everything I can within my limited capacity of a tenant in a rented house before telling them that I cant do anything more and sour our relationship.

Cheers, Matt
 
I would isolate the sub as much as possible with some packaging foam or rubber. There is very dense foam available that you can cut to sit the sub in within your cabinet. This will reduce sound transference to the wall if it is currently in contact but to be honest its a bit of a losing battle. If it's lound enough for you to enjoy the movie, probably it's too loud for them! Shame.

Some amps have a "night mode" setting that reduces the bass levels to help with sound transference but again this reduces your enjoyment.

Might be worth seeing if you could reposition the sub say under your seating so that with the bass reduced the additional vibrations would help to create the effect of bass?

It's a difficult one, I would say asside of ripping the plasterboard down and fitting some accoustic treatment you are probably going to be enjoying your movies less to keep the neighbours happy!

How about moving to a different room in the house?
 
are they expecting to hear no sound at all from you? if so then thet are being unreasonable.
i am fortunate in that my front room doesnt have a connecting wall to anybody, but im sure the neighbours must hear us on occasion.
we hear our neighbours music quite regular, but it isnt a problem. unless you cant hear your own tv or its going on after a reasonable time.

do you ever hear them? toilet flushing? music? any banging or anything?
it sounds like they are expecting too much.
obviously you dont want to fall out if you dont have to, but you cant live your life creeping around.
its worth basing your choice on your next house on your noise output.
 
I used to have a P.I.T.A. neighbour who complained all the time. Basically any noise was an issue. I had letters through the door, police called etc etc. She was completely unreasonable and was told this by other neighbours (witnesses) and the police. The new neighbours never said a word. Of course they can hear you if their tv is muted! My advice would be to stick to watching movies up to 22:30 or so. After that and you can get into bother. Ask them round and demonstrate that you're not playing it that loud. Definitely try to limit the sound transference by moving your speakers away from the wall in question.
 
Thanks for all your input. I can hear them every now and then and all honesty I think they are being over sensitive.

I only ever use the surround sound to watch movies (couple of times a week) otherwise I am away on business. Normal tv is through tv speakers.

Obviously I don't watch movies after 10pm as I am usually in bed (early mornings).

Going to try a couple of other things but with the recent changes my sound quality has been ruined along with my movie viewing.
 
i think you are being more than compromising.
they really cant expect you to be silent.
you could for example, instead of watching films for a hobby, be a musician.
how would they like a drummer for a neighbour? or someone who has noisy friends around frequently?
or just a social get together with singstar?
all would be far noisier, and more disruptive for neighbours.
at the end of the day, if they want/ expect silence from 'next door' then they nees to live in a detatched property.
if they cant afford that, they have no business expecting silence, you get what you pay for.

seems to me you are about the best neighbour anyone could hope for, and as long as you are under the legal level for sound, carry on doing what you are doing.
 

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