Not an audiophile but figured this was a good place to ask. I have a small subwoofer that came with my speaker set (Logitech Z407) and would like to use it for my Xbox audio since my monitor doesn’t have built in speakers. I live in a pretty old apartment and sound travels pretty easily between floors so I’m a bit worried my downstairs neighbor might hear the vibrations from the sub. I’ll be mostly playing games from the speakers at a relatively low volume (~30% max). Am i good to go or should i stick with headphones?
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As someone who has a problem with a neighbor’s music bass, do not do this. And them not saying anything is not permission; they may just be stewing in it. Apartments are not for subs or honestly even floorstanders. Apartments are for bookshelf speakers.
If you want to crank the volume or bass, really anytime but especially at night, get headphones. Sorry, this is just apartment life. If you don’t like it, move.
Apartment residents should have the attitude: my neighbors should never hear me. Every one of us has the right to quiet in our apartments at all times of day. People who do not have this attitude are, frankly, just selfish assholes.
I would just go for it (reasonably) and turn down if there’s a complaint.
Probably
Bass travels through almost anything.
It is best to make contact first. You should speak to your neighbour and ask them to let you know if they can hear it and if it bothers them. This avoids a lot of drama.
Find a game you can play with your neighbor ;) then get sub!
do not put it ina corner.
do put a sub pad or something like it, under the sub.
make sure your set up is not against a shared wall.
turn the subs off at 8pm weekdays. 10 on the weekend. party once in awhile. not regularly.
from an apt dweller with big stuff.
Subwoofers aren’t for apartment living.
Me current sitting looking at my 12 in carbon fiber sub in the corner of my apartment
The best you can do is put a stiff slab (spread load and reduce deflection of floor) and a soft spring (passive isolation but only if soft with the sub bouncing on it a few Hz) under the subwoofer. A possible zero cost test would be a paving slab and some inner tubes if you have them to hand. This should substantially reduce the direct structure-borne sound which is often a significant component. The indirect structure-borne sound from the sound in the air of the room driving the walls and floor is not something that can be addressed. The air-borne sound out one of your windows and in a neighbours window can sometimes be addressed. Air-borne sound through ducting can sometimes be an issue in some buildings.
My experience has been that listening to music at standard levels in an apartment will upset the neighbours. That includes me hearing the neighbours music/noise. Listening to music quietly at TV/radio levels in the living room is usually accepted but not necessarily in other rooms such as those next to a neighbours bedroom. As you say, headphones are the usual solution for listening to music at standard levels in an apartment.
Try to isolate the sub from the floor. I removed the feet from mine and replaced them with springy isolation feet. You can get them on Aliexpress. That then sits on a paving slab. Which in turn has a foam pad underneath. Three different layers of isolation. All in just 30 bucks.
I had a small 8” sub in my old apartment and it was fine. However - I always played low volume and kept the gain low. It was really useful to keep the crossover point high so it just filled out the mid bass at low volumes. This was for stereo at low volumes, NOT for blasting movies or EDM music. It can be done, but there limitations. Don’t expect to turn it up much.
Yes. Easily.
No question they would hear a big subwoofer. The one you reference has a 20 watt amp and 5 inch driver and is quite inexpensive (so does not have massive excursion or any remarkable technology) This is really not even a subwoofer. So while most of the general advice here is correct, you will be ok.
I‘m using a 8“ sub for my desk setup and neighbors never complained yet.
I recommend putting the sub on a thick stone or marble tile and have thick foam or any kind of absorption underneath.
You can put it over a foam rug to decouple it from the floor, but then put it at 50%, put some bass heavy music on it, and go ask your neighbour if its ok. Better to be nice and ask
Yes