Speakers off the floor?

M

March31st

New Member
Hello all,
Very new here and to the audio world. I've recently acquired a pair of EPI m100 speakers. I live in a very small 3 floor, 8 unit apartment complex. The apartment itself isn't all that big either. My upstairs neighbor came down this evening stating he can hear all sorts of bass and thumping (very nicely) up in his apartment. Note, i did not have them on very loud.

Is this due to the fact that they are sitting on the floor? Would setting them on a stand make a difference?

I can also understand that the construction/layout of the building, how thin the walls are, etc can play a huge factor. Just wondering if anyone had any experience with this. Thanks!
 
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Stands should help. I would put them on some 12"- 15" stands. Then I would put sorbathane pods under the speakers, and some small pods under the stands or some other rubber feet.
If your handy you could make them for under $30 bucks and another $30 for all the feet.
 
sturgus said:
Stands should help. I would put them on some 12"- 15" stands. Then I would put sorbathane pods under the speakers, and some small pods under the stands or some other rubber feet.
If your handy you could make them for under $30 bucks and another $30 for all the feet.
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Thank you for your reply. I didn't even think of sorbothane pods. That will be my first step.
 
Some good suggestions, but low frequencies go through thin walls and floors, no way around it.
Think when you’re outside, and hear low rumbling trunk buzzing bass from a car two blocks away, same thing.
I’d suggest trying the suggestions mentioned, play music while talking to your neighbor on the phone, and ask him if it improved.
One of the unfortunate aspects of apartment living.
 
March31st said:
I can also understand that the construction/layout of the building, how thin the walls are, etc can play a huge factor. Just wondering if anyone had any experience with this. Thanks!
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Bass is the most difficult sound to contain. Since your neighbor was nice about it the best suggestion I can offer is to work with him one day to find the volume level where your music becomes annoying to him. Play some music, gradually turning it up while he listens in his apartment. Have him call you when it gets "too loud".

I built a listening room below my main bedroom and noise containment was a major focus. I hung double drywall from isolation clips, used dampening compound between the sheets of drywall and sealed all outlets and HVAC vents. It's remarkably effective, but above 80dB you can tell there's music playing if you're in the bedroom, and it's all bass.

Decoupling the speakers from the floor might help, but my guess is that sound is making its way upstairs through the ceiling to the floor above or finding its way through a/c vents or wiring paths from outlets.
 
I was afraid that might be the case. These walls pick up a lot of noise, vibrations. My whole apartment rumbles when the metro drives by.
Thank you all for the great suggestions. He's a very nice guy and we've become neighbor friends. Ill have do the communicating via phone route and mark my volume knob.

I still want to get stands for my speakers. Are there any suggestions for these model in particular? Or do most DIY / improvise?
 
March31st said:
I still want to get stands for my speakers. Are there any suggestions for these model in particular? Or do most DIY / improvise?
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I would improvise at first. You want the tweeter to be at ear level when you are in your listening position. If you sit in a chair, lower stands will do. Try a box. In my office, I have a stand-up workstation so my speakers sit high for best sound.
 
This is an edit to my original post.

When I first looked up these speakers on Google it was showing a floorstander. Elnaldo's post made me look again. I see now this is a bookie, so yes you need stands to get the tweeters at ear height. However, as a few have noted, bass notes tend to travel through walls with ease. Consider using headphones when your neighbor is home.
 
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Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply and helping me out. I guess I have to find that sweet spot of enjoying my speakers and keeping my neighbors happy.

or....i can buy more speakers! :banana: Recommendations on lighter bass, near field? speakers?
 
March31st said:
Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply and helping me out. I guess I have to find that sweet spot of enjoying my speakers and keeping my neighbors happy.

or....i can buy more speakers! :banana: Recommendations on lighter bass, near field? speakers?
Click to expand...
Just turn the bass down on your amp or receiver, and turn off the loudness button if you have one.
 
I had a similar problem years ago when I lived in an apartment. I did raise the speakers up so the tweeters were at ear level. I found I could get better detail at lower volumes. I didn't have to have them turned up quite as loud.
The only thing that seemed to really help with the bass was to move the speakers out from the wall.some and put dampening material on the wall.behind the speaker, not ideal,.but the neighbor on the other side of that wall didn't complain anymore. I lived alone at the time and I just used eggcrate foam about 6" to 8" wider and taller than the speakers. Not something I could get away with today.
 
I'd say you need to put the speakers on stands to improve the sound quality. It helps a lot to have the tweeters not firing to your knees. A speaker of that size should be on stands for sure.
 
the closer a speaker is to the floor or wall the more bass room reinforcement it will get.
100's are not floor speakers, they are meant to be up so the tweeter is at ear level.
Placing them on stands will do that or on a shelf (hence the name 'bookshelf' speakers which in the case of the 100 will actually fit on one). Doing that would likely reduce bass bloat and coupling (neither of which is neighbor friendly) while substantially improve imaging. You don't need uber-expensive speaker stands to see if that works for you,
just get a couple of chairs, set them on them & try it out. You might be surprised. How speakers are placed can have a profound impact on how they sound.
 
Sadly, thin walls in attached dwellings are the bane of us audio enthusiasts.

Have you been in his apartment to hear the effect of your music on his life style??
 
Change speakers to something that rolls off very early. Good low mid and up might be the hot setup. Mid bass and down will not be part of the program with this apartment deal. It is what it is.
In other words quality mid where most of the music lives would be the prime objective.
 
Milk crates are among the cheapest speaker stands, so experiment with them. There are a variety of ways, legal, and not, to acquire them, but in many areas, you will be doing a public service by removing them from the waste stream.
 
I was talking to my renter downstairs today about music and what not. His bedroom is directly below our living room. I've had to tell him to turn down his music once since he's lived here. He was playing it very loud at 2:00am on a weekday! Anyway, he was curious as to how loud it was for us when it was playing in the apt. So, he turned it up fairly loud and came upstairs to our living room. He agreed that the bass really traveled throughout the house. Now he knows at what volume he can get away with.
Me nor the wife is bothered when he plays it loud, as long as it's not on a weekday late at night.
 
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