Too much sub!

[kiyka]

I have two AT-15 Cerwin Vega! speakers. I run them off a 200w Receiver, with a little speaker/component converter off my computer (X-Fi). The sound is amazing, and fortunately I only have one neighbor, she lives across the road from me, but she still complains incessantly!

I've had the police called multiple times, and I'm not being disrespectful I've gone over to her house a few times to talk about the noise level, I placed a marker where she told me it bothered her, and kept it under that, well that was 4 markers ago. Every week she complains more!
She's called the police when a car went by, and I wasn't even in the garage with the speakers!

Is there anyway to soundproof this garage anymore than it already is? (Insulated) I know that generally low frequencies are hard to capture because they have longer wavelengths, and penetrate deeper. However I'm just curious! :rolleyes:

[Jamesrt2004]

might have to delve into soundproofing (pro stuff) acoustic foam etc... however if it was me i would just lay couple layers of old carpet all around it then collect egg boxes and use them all over... :) should help quite alot

[EniGmA1987]

Call the police on her for harrassment.

Also find out about noise laws in your area, what the db limits are, and what time of night you have to start being quiet. DBs are usually measured from 1m away, so do your measuring from there. Keep it under that, and be more quiet after the time your city says and she cant do anything about it.

[Mescalamba]

Pretty simple.. buy some digital sound meter, push your aperature at level when she says its too much.. go near her house, and take a look how much noise you do.. Than try it with aperature switched off.. if theres no or very low difference.. she can´t complain. And you can even sue her.. :) For being such annoying b*tch..

[jc99]

Just because you set a 'mark' on your volume knob does not mean the actual SPL she hears is the same everytime. You've simply set the gain for the amplifier. Depending on the recording you're playing an how it was mastered, dynamic peaks in songs, etc., it could be much louder than she heard before when you talked to her. You've had CDs where one was 'louder' than the other and you had to turn the volume up to get it to an enjoyable level. Same thing is going on here.

Assuming you've got a clean 200watts and the CV's are efficient speakers, you're talking about very high SPL's. Stick all of that into what's essentially a poorly dampened speaker cabinet (your garage) and you've got a recipe for obnoxious noise levels. I don't blame the lady honestly.

[kiyka]

Just because you set a 'mark' on your volume knob does not mean the actual SPL she hears is the same everytime. You've simply set the gain for the amplifier. Depending on the recording you're playing an how it was mastered, dynamic peaks in songs, etc., it could be much louder than she heard before when you talked to her. You've had CDs where one was 'louder' than the other and you had to turn the volume up to get it to an enjoyable level. Same thing is going on here.

Assuming you've got a clean 200watts and the CV's are efficient speakers, you're talking about very high SPL's. Stick all of that into what's essentially a poorly dampened speaker cabinet (your garage) and you've got a recipe for obnoxious noise levels. I don't blame the lady honestly.



I don't either, and to be honest I don't blast music or anything, it's just hard to know what level to maintain the noise at.
The biggest problem is she only hears the music when she is in her 'den'. Which is essentially a sun room, with one inch thick vinyl wood. The sound goes right through it, and of course it's right on the porch directly across from me.

Now I'm trying everything I can from extra insulating, to speaker positions.

[Martijn]

Time to get some decent headphones? I generally prefer them over any set of speakers and you can set them as loud as you like without bothering anyone.

[EniGmA1987]

It sound REALLY nice to get some decent big speakers, and set them up exactly opposite each other facing in. Place your chair directly in between, set your computer desk in front of you, and play your computer games. EQ it right and they sound AMAZING. Sound cards have come with decent EQ software for a long time now so it shouldn't be an issue. Having a good sound card helps though as onboard stuff still sounds like crap compared to any decent sound card. Its all about the opamps and DACs.

And since the speakers are so close to you and shooting right into your ears, you can keep the volume a lot lower. BTW, 200w (100w each?) is not enough for Cerwin Vegas to truly shine. You should be running them off of a nice 400w each. Personally, I run my CLS-215s with 200w to the highs and mids, and 500w to the lows. They sound great :)