Soundproofing Hi-Rise Apt?

Hi:

I will make some assumptions and guesses here in an effort to help you find a solution.

First, "management" usually will not complain to a tenant unless someone complains first to management -- management is most likely the voice of angry neighbors who want you to keep your music out of their apartments.

Do you live in a steel-frame building with drywall walls, or is it a concrete structure with concrete walls? My guess is that you live in the former and that it's not just the front door -- the entire structure is passing music, and hopelessly so. The only solution for apartment dwellers with potent stereos is to live in older, concrete buildings. The floors, ceilings and walls are all made of concrete, and it is much harder for music to get through (they use concrete to protect ICBM silos from nuclear blasts for a reason).

As for the front door, if the building will permit you to modify it, adding a good insulating strip at the top and bottom to prevent air (and thus, to some extent, sound) from passing underneath and above it will help. Again assuming building permission, you could install a heftier door. It may be aesthetically unacceptable, but you could also install a heavy curtain (something with a material like rubber lining it) that pulls over the door from inside the apartment, which should knock off a few more decibels. One of the above contributors is absolutely correct, however, that it is the bass frequencies that cannot be controlled -- the only solution to low bass escaping is to live in a concrete building.

Of course, the ultimate solution is a house out in the country.

Good luck.

Montalk:
I'd suggest that you first try to define the magnitude of the "noise" (i.e. for your neighbors) problem. Sometimes it's us getting too carried away with listening levels....
so go to the hallway closethe door and listen from outside to your system playing to see if it really is the bass the problem. If you have a spl see what's the ammount of sound outside and check what's your actual dB level at your listening position maybe just going a little down might save the day. You might get a better idea about how serious the problem is and how complicated or easy you might improve.
Is the system close to the main door? does your listening room have a door ? do you close it while listening?
_Your feedback ....

Hi Montalk,

The easiest and least expensive option is to make sure the seal around your present door is made correctly. There are rubberized sealing sections that you can find at any building supply center like Home Depot that are afixed to the inside of the door jamb and compress when the door is closed which makes a relatively tight seal. You may want to attend to the opening at the bottom of the door as well. If you already have a good seal on your door then you can persue more elaborate options such as full hood or cowl that can be fabricated out of rigid fiberglass and/or closed cell foam that can be placed over your existing door when you are listening.

Best Regards,

Barry Kohan

The first thing might be to find out who is the real complainant. If the sound is getting to them via the building structure, rather than through/around the door, you have few practical solutions. If it is via the door, sealing it helps but a double structure like an additional door, a drape or, at best, building a vestibule around it will be even more effective.

My experience was that sealing the door was an entirely adequate solution except for those times that I intentionally blasted the system. But that was only briefly and at a reasonable hour. OTOH, my listening room abuts no other apartments, except above and below, and my building is solid, reinforced concrete. That really helps (except when you want to do any inwall wiring!).