Noise levels & Soundproofing a Victorian mid terrace?

[nick s]

After a bit of advice here really. We've just bought a Victorian mid terrace house, and although i'm not in there yet, i'm beginning to worry a bit about noise through party walls. On one side the staircases are next to each other, so that's fine. But it's the other side i'm worried about. Our living rooms basically back onto each other...

I like to listen to my music at a decent volume, and also play the guitar on the odd occasion. And the last thing I want is to p*ss our neighbours off, and have them constantly complaining and me having to listen to music at annoyingly low volumes! I'm equally concerned about hearing their TV every evening aswell!

So I guess I have two questions;

1) How decent are the Victorian terraces at hiding noisy neighbours? I'm guessing as it is Victorian, that the walls will be pretty thick compared to new build stuff?

2) What are my options for soundproofing? I've heard of things like acoustic quilting, but it seems there are so many options! We're planning on extensive renovations when we move in anyway. So if it's cost effective I would consider doing some soundproofing immediately. would this be worth my while? Would it help?