home cinema systems and next door
Discussion
I've always enjoyed my quiet cul-de-sac location as you get, for quite a lot of the time, almost black silence on a night, where you have to poke your ears because you think you've gone deaf - lovely.
OK, neighbours make a bit of noise - (I live in an all brick semi, not one of these breeze block and plasterboard modern things), doors slamming somethimes - occasional raised voice, laughing, bit of TV through the wall etc - nothing to speak of really.
UNTIL - it seems that they've treated themselves to one of the sub-woofer equipped sound systems. So, between 6PM and 1030PM on tuesday I was treated to a montage of low frequency tones, punctuated with dull 'thumps' for the evening, as I was on Wednesday night.
Last night was different however. With an encore lasting until 11:30PM I was privileged to experience the lower frequency end of an entire action adventure film, complete with screeching tyres, explosions, exciting music and plenty of small arms fire.
not a happy bunny.
Friday/saturday night maybe you can tollerate it, though why you need so much bass I've no idea.
He generally comes across as a good lad, though I only realy see him if he's cutting his lawn, getting in the car etc.
Any ideas what to do chaps?
OK, neighbours make a bit of noise - (I live in an all brick semi, not one of these breeze block and plasterboard modern things), doors slamming somethimes - occasional raised voice, laughing, bit of TV through the wall etc - nothing to speak of really.
UNTIL - it seems that they've treated themselves to one of the sub-woofer equipped sound systems. So, between 6PM and 1030PM on tuesday I was treated to a montage of low frequency tones, punctuated with dull 'thumps' for the evening, as I was on Wednesday night.
Last night was different however. With an encore lasting until 11:30PM I was privileged to experience the lower frequency end of an entire action adventure film, complete with screeching tyres, explosions, exciting music and plenty of small arms fire.
not a happy bunny.
Friday/saturday night maybe you can tollerate it, though why you need so much bass I've no idea.
He generally comes across as a good lad, though I only realy see him if he's cutting his lawn, getting in the car etc.
Any ideas what to do chaps?
well, I actually own 2 Nexo PA systems.
One is 3kW RMS which would be good for the front speakers, and the other 1.7kW RMS which would be ok for the surround sound I suppose.
Put anything breakable on the floor, and remove mirros/pictures etc from the walls, and it would probably be quite a nice system - Nexo are regarded as near the absolute top end in the PA world and make very good hi-fi speakers, if not a trifle over-powered. The 2 larger subs are rated at 134dBu at 1 meter each.
Not exactly fair on you neighbours though, certainly not the ones living in the other half of the semi.
What to do though in reality?
One is 3kW RMS which would be good for the front speakers, and the other 1.7kW RMS which would be ok for the surround sound I suppose.
Put anything breakable on the floor, and remove mirros/pictures etc from the walls, and it would probably be quite a nice system - Nexo are regarded as near the absolute top end in the PA world and make very good hi-fi speakers, if not a trifle over-powered. The 2 larger subs are rated at 134dBu at 1 meter each.
Not exactly fair on you neighbours though, certainly not the ones living in the other half of the semi.
What to do though in reality?
It's just a matter of courtesy, perhaps he doesn't realise how loud it is for you?
When I watch films after 8:30pm I usually turn off my sub, always if it's a week night. I've been on the other end of noisy neighbours and know what it's like, so would be mortified if people thought of me as an incosiderate w**ker. I'd knock and have a quiet word, if that doesn't work, rig up your PA and everytime he starts his up, drown it out. He'll soon get the picture!
When I watch films after 8:30pm I usually turn off my sub, always if it's a week night. I've been on the other end of noisy neighbours and know what it's like, so would be mortified if people thought of me as an incosiderate w**ker. I'd knock and have a quiet word, if that doesn't work, rig up your PA and everytime he starts his up, drown it out. He'll soon get the picture!
I had this problem. Asked the neighbours politely, nothing happened.
So I went and turned round the hi fi speakers so they faced their adjoining wall. Put on a CD (on repeat) and left the house. Result: Noise ceased from next door!!
Give them a dose of their own medicin and see if they like it. Tends to put the boot on the other foot and make them consider their actions.
So I went and turned round the hi fi speakers so they faced their adjoining wall. Put on a CD (on repeat) and left the house. Result: Noise ceased from next door!!
Give them a dose of their own medicin and see if they like it. Tends to put the boot on the other foot and make them consider their actions.
We had the same problem when I was a student, except it was our rather camp neighbours obsession with Country & western music (well I did go to uni in Brighton )
Rigged up all 4 of my house-mates amps and speakers against their bedroom wall, and went to the pub whilst serenading them with a Boltthrower album on repeat..
They got the message
...of course the mature thing to do would be to ask them nicely as I'm sure they would understand... hehe
) Rigged up all 4 of my house-mates amps and speakers against their bedroom wall, and went to the pub whilst serenading them with a Boltthrower album on repeat..
They got the message
...of course the mature thing to do would be to ask them nicely as I'm sure they would understand... hehe
7db said:
Give it a week to bed in, and then have a polite word. Ask if there's anything he can suggest doing to reduce your disturbance.
Spot on.
Always try asking nicely first. Most people are reasonable and there is always a "new toy" factor for a while to take into consideration if he's still disturbing you in a week, have a polite chat.
After that there is all the council noise abatement order crap, but ask nicely at least once first!
sean5302 said:
I think what I'd do is:
1. Go and have a persuasive word.
2. Contact local council and see if they'll help. You'll end up logging times of noise, someone will come and measure dB and you'll all end up falling out.
3. Consider fitting timber battens to your lounge wall, infilled with sound deadening material, then covered with plasterboard. A knid of stud wall, if you like.
My father had this type of problem once and he tried option 3 (after 1). Sadly, it doesn't work.
In my experience a good hi-fi system doesn't put bass into the house structure like you're describing. It's therefore likely that the subwoofer is a relatively cheap one, probably quite small and overdriven.
I would guess that things will die down a bit -- how many DVDs of action movies can anyone take in a week?
Good luck with this. Try not to fall out with him, and perhaps as the nights get lighter then the real life outside will become more attractive.
BigGriff said:
I had this problem. Asked the neighbours politely, nothing happened.
So I went and turned round the hi fi speakers so they faced their adjoining wall. Put on a CD (on repeat) and left the house. Result: Noise ceased from next door!!
Give them a dose of their own medicin and see if they like it. Tends to put the boot on the other foot and make them consider their actions.
Did the same to upstairs flat.
Worked a treat
Now, they are as silent as a grave
sean5302 said:
I think what I'd do is:
1. Go and have a persuasive word.
2. Contact local council and see if they'll help. You'll end up logging times of noise, someone will come and measure dB and you'll all end up falling out.
3. Consider fitting timber battens to your lounge wall, infilled with sound deadening material, then covered with plasterboard. A knid of stud wall, if you like.
Why go through all of that crap?
Finish up in a much worse situation
J500ANT said:
Go and see them, ask them to put it on as they would normally then invite them to listen to it from your lounge. If they're reasonable they'll moderate the volume.
Thats a good idea. I dont think they know how loud it is. The 'midnight listening' mode alos does help.
Another factor will be he positioning of the subwoofer. It sounds like it may be placed against your shared wall. As well as amplifying the bass sounds it will also transport it through your wall. Simply moving it away from the wall will make a difference. Because the low frequency tones are non-directional they could place the subwoofer anywhere in the room without losing any quality of listening. In fact if they moved the sub closer to where they sit, even under/behind their sofa, they could turn the relative volume of it down as they would be close with the added benefit of a lot of the sound being absorbed by the sofa and not your wall and ears!
If they are reasonable then working with them first would be a good thing.
I play guitar, and spent a fair bit of money on a special sound deadening box to put my speakers in with the explicit intention of not upsetting next door. Sadly through sheer bad luck I managed to place this box right on top of the concrete beam conecting me with next door, thus transmitting certain low frequencies directly and with amplomb
Sunday morning car polishing time -
Neighbour: Your playing is improving!
Me: Thank you...err...how did you know? Oh feck!
Result for both of us - I moved the kit and spent another £20 on a rubber mat to put the speaker box on, problem solved. He got peace and quiet without me thinking he was being arsey...
If they are not being helpful though, try your local council - you will find they have more powers than the police when it comes to noise nusciance.
I play guitar, and spent a fair bit of money on a special sound deadening box to put my speakers in with the explicit intention of not upsetting next door. Sadly through sheer bad luck I managed to place this box right on top of the concrete beam conecting me with next door, thus transmitting certain low frequencies directly and with amplomb
Sunday morning car polishing time -
Neighbour: Your playing is improving!
Me: Thank you...err...how did you know? Oh feck!
Result for both of us - I moved the kit and spent another £20 on a rubber mat to put the speaker box on, problem solved. He got peace and quiet without me thinking he was being arsey...
If they are not being helpful though, try your local council - you will find they have more powers than the police when it comes to noise nusciance.
711 said:
If they are reasonable then working with them first would be a good thing.
Sunday morning car polishing time -
Neighbour: Your playing is improving!
Me: Thank you...err...how did you know? Oh feck!
Result for both of us - I moved the kit and spent another £20 on a rubber mat to put the speaker box on, problem solved. He got peace and quiet without me thinking he was being arsey...
If they are not being helpful though, try your local council - you will find they have more powers than the police when it comes to noise nusciance.
Could try tack - liked that film last night - could just about make out sound - if reasonable folk like 711 and neighbour - should solve problem.
Otherwise - only other option is council env health - but once down this road - prepare to lose friendship with neighbours.
I would be very careful how it is handled.
Assuming you own the house, when you come to sell, you will have to declare this as a problem with neighbours if you have reported it. This would put me off buying your place.
We had a similar problem, except it was a new house so it was very loud. We tried speakers against walls etc, asking politely.
In the end we moved to a detached!
Assuming you own the house, when you come to sell, you will have to declare this as a problem with neighbours if you have reported it. This would put me off buying your place.
We had a similar problem, except it was a new house so it was very loud. We tried speakers against walls etc, asking politely.
In the end we moved to a detached!
padgett said:
I would be very careful how it is handled.
Assuming you own the house, when you come to sell, you will have to declare this as a problem with neighbours if you have reported it. This would put me off buying your place.
We had a similar problem, except it was a new house so it was very loud. We tried speakers against walls etc, asking politely.
In the end we moved to a detached!
You would have to declare only if you were asked a direct question relating to the conduct of your neighbours. This would be whether you complained or not.
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