Low volume level Home Theater...CAN IT BE DONE?

[francis1967]

Guys,

I am sure this is a challenge for many and certainly for me now, so I need some help.

Used to live in my own house. Not now.

My setup has changed the last few days thanks to many of you and (bought R50s for fronts in hope of solving this, but they suck for music..) and now looks like this: LF&RF lsi9s, Center 2x lsi7s, RR&LR lsi7s, HK Sig 2.0 proc, 5x 125w high pwer NAD 925x. I have a REL Strata for LFE and it's good enough.

I cannot play as loud as I want. Gotta keep my landlord happy and in our 4plex sound travels.

What is the best choice for speakers when you want some kind of immersion in a lower volume environment?

All your choices in previous threads are great, but my budget does not include buying a house to move into.

All my speakers are pretty much "suspended" with tall spikes "on coins" and alike to separate the bass from any of the wall/floor surfaces. Even my lsi7s are well away from wall.

I love my lsi9s for music and even with the ring tweeter even HT soundstage is fantastic for mid/high voice/effects, but I just can't enjoy movies like I want to without going HIGH on the volume.

Low volume HT...CAN IT BE DONE? Please don't suggest buying a house :0

Mike.

NOTE. Seating is a mere 10.5 feet away from the front speakers and screen, and no...we can't move the walls. That's the best I can do without placing the lsi9s right on the wall, which has been tried and sounded crap.

[Dr. Spec]

Bass usually travels the farthest and offends the most. Shut the sub off, run all speaks on small, and buy a pair of buttkickers.

[madmax]

A pair of SDA's (probably SDA-CRS) and a Clark synthesis transducer. (Buttkicker would be ok too;) ) For late late thrills you could use headphones with the Clark or ButtKicker. I used that combo for awhile. AWESOME!
madmax

[AsSiMiLaTeD]

I'll go out on a limb and say that I also find Klipsch to sound great at low volumes...

[jefft1314]

I think the Infinity's sound pretty good at low volumes, actually like their dynamics a little bit more than polks, that is, until you turn them up. CC is clearing out the old stock of Infinity Alphas, you might be able to find a bargain.

[Early B.]

I wouldn't suggest you buy anything else (looks like you've been doing lots of shopping lately). You have great gear that will last for quite a long time. Just enjoy what you have at the moment, even if you can't crank it up.

[francis1967]

Thanks. All good advice. Checking out the Alphas at CC today.

My heart says follow EarlyB advice and just suck it up for now. They do sound wonderful when playing my fav jazz, vocals and blues recordings.

Funny, I have a Clark transducer I bought 7 yrs ago, never used and have somewhere in a box in Norway; small country in Northern Europe for those of you that skipped geography in school. My origin...

Will see if I can get it shipped over.

[Willow]

not sure but would watching the movies on night mode work ??
sorry what are buttkickers ???

[francis1967]

Exactly what they are so very well named for...kicking your butt. They are low level frequencies motors that will produce vibration in the seat you are sitting in when installed underneath chair, couch, bench etc. Expensive suckers...amp and a pair of these are easily $750-$900.

[dkg999]

I also have a HT in an apartment and have to keep the volume levels low. I was using a set of the small SDA's as my mains, but switched to a set of RTi70's for the HT mains. They seem to have a little more presence for HT at low volumes than the SDA's, but that is judging by my ears only! I have found that using a PSW404 for a front sub-woofer and a PSW303 for a rear sub-woofer gives me very tight bass presence at low volumes. I use SVL materials and technology (from my archery and shooting interests) to insulate the subs from the floor and to prevent vibration transfer. This stuff works really well! I have the subs in opposite corners front and rear, and the rear sub is turned down pretty low. You don't notice the rear sub much, but when you do, it's pretty spectacular! I've also found that the Yamaha HTR's have decent options for low volume listening. I like the sound of Yamaha amps and receivers, so again that's a personal choice. I tried bi-amping the CSi40 front center and the RTi70's with some Yamaha AX600 series amps, and also some NAD amps, and there was a significant sound improvement at low volume, but not sure it was enough to overcome the hassle of adding the extra amps, wiring, and space accomodations. I may play with that more once the new TV is here and I have the new entertainment center built. Also, 12 guage wire for low volume, get rid of the 16 guage. I believe what I am using is Monster Cable MC with their spade and banana connectors.

[Willow]

I kinda thought thats what they are.....

[phoneisbusy]

Originally posted by francis1967
Exactly what they are so very well named for...kicking your butt. They are low level frequencies motors that will produce vibration in the seat you are sitting in when installed underneath chair, couch, bench etc. Expensive suckers...amp and a pair of these are easily $750-$900.

Partsexpress has these on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3275&item=5702760721

Are these what you're looking for?

regards

Dave

[jdhdiggs]

Just another thought:
Make sure that the tweeter in the centers are aimed at your ear level at your favorite spot. The LSi's seem to be fairly directional in the vertical plane. Also, maybe crank the center volume a touch. If your system has a dialog offset or midnight mode, try those as well.

[Pablo]

Are you on the ground floor or is someone below you?

Insulating your surroundings is probably the best thing you can. If you have a hardwood floor, put down some nice thick carpet and padding. Try and find some nice tapestries for the walls. You can probably even find something nice to hand on the ceiling. Anything that keeps the sound from reflecting off the exterior surfaces will help reduce sound transfered to the ajoining room. And as said before, bass travels the best, so turn that down as much as you can stand.

good luck,

[francis1967]

Sorry, was perhaps a little unclear - we live above our neighbors in a $800/month lousily insulated apartment complex.

Thought I perhaps can win a little on trying to buy the CS350L center speaker, but I don't know if tibrewise if it is way off the LSIs. Anyone?

Oh, can I add something here: I read somewhere that Parts Express Dayton DYI sub can easily be adjusted to NOT perpetrate the floor thus keep the neighbor away. Sales pitch? Isn't all bass the same bass?

I have bought 2 aura bass kickers. They say you have 45 days to check'em out so I figured I go with the "non" PRO version first and see if that helps. Thanks for the tip...$15 each and $5 shipping is definately worth the try.

Have tried Night modes and this just takes away the fun. I think that I might do the right thing with bass thumpers.

["Polk" Paul DiComo]

Just in case no one else mentioned this: on your DD receiver or processor there is a "Late Night" function. It lowers the dynamic range of Dolby Digital sources. That allows you to turn the avergae volume up enough to hear the dialog and low-level stuff without having the loud parts blow the roof off.
Ooops., just saw that you knew about this already. OK never mind...

Changing speakers is not going to solve anything. Sound travels by two means - by vibrating some surface (like the walls, floor, etc) and through the air. Short of major renovation work, there is not much you can do to cut down leakage by a big amount.

Two things you can do to lessen sound print-through to adjacent apartments are:
1. Physically isolate the subwoofer - place it on a heavy slab of granite, marble, whatever rock stuff you can find at a decent price.

2. Plug air leaks. Like if you have a big gap under your door, stuff rags in the crack.



Good luck!

[Willow]

Originally posted by Willow
not sure but would watching the movies on night mode work ??
sorry what are buttkickers ???

seems like that's what I mentioned a while back........but thanks for the add. info

[francis1967]

Went to Home Depot and got a big slab of their leftover granite. The sub can be turned up an extra 20-30% on the gain with little/no effect to outside volume or structural vibrations. Wow!!

Thank you thank you!! This is great!

[jcaut]

That's why he's "Polkosaurus Rex"!

[Airplay355]

what about hanging stuff on the walls like a carpet or some other absorbent material......theres pics of a system in the system showcase with egg crate foam all over the walls, idk how it would sound but its an idea