I wonder if it might be instructive to visit these neighbours while your music is playing at typical levels. This might help you decide what kind of soundproofing treatment you require (treble versus bass) and aid you in what to look for in a product. Maybe you won't need to spend anything if the level is actually overly loud and the fix is just lowering the volume. I'd be concerned about how the soundproofing might affect the sound of the system itself.

If you are getting complaints from your neighbors then your music isn't loud enough. Turn it up untill you drown them out. Liquid Soundblocker will not do the job. It may dampen resonances in some cases but the thickness of the absorber and the wavelength are related. Or you need something so stiff that it doesn't transfer any motion. Sorry.

Quote:
I discovered a product (actually as an ad on this website) called Silent running

That won't help, and as far as I could tell they don't even claim it will help in situations like yours. It looks like it's meant to dampen vibrations in cars and boats. You have only one real option, which you probably don't want to hear, but here goes anyway:

Save up for a house.

--Ethan

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I'm looking for some general advice on a low- to mid-cost (less than $2000) means of soundproofing someplace that's already built.

Are the complaints coming from several neighbors or just one? Some people are really sensitive, or really like to complain. I agree that you should go to their place to hear for yourself. Maybe its loud, maybe you have someone who won't be happy until you're as quite as a comatose turtle.

Find out when would be the least likely times for your music to disturb the neighbors.

$2000 is a $100/month bribe for a year and a half.

Do you have a rug in front of your stereo? All that wood is going to be pretty bright as it is, a rug could help that plus absorb sound.

Stop listening to that jungle music. Get some respectable stuff, like Dean Martin. Straighten up, fly right.

LOL, you guys are funny.

To be totally honest, I actually haven't had any complaints yet because i just moved in, so none of my equipment is even hooked up. But I talked to a neighbor and they complained about how the walls are impossibly thin, and started to gossip about how they hear their neighbor having sex all the time. I can usually hear even moderate level conversations. I'm avoiding hooking anything up until I've found a preemptive solution to the problem. I'm just really sensitive to complaints because I've had such a nightmare experience in my previous residence with neighbors who would call the police Sunday afternoon for playing Miles Davis. I thought purchasing a condo would avoid that problem, but then when I moved I was presented with a series of rule books that talk about "quiet hours" and penalties for being too noisy. They had the audacity to say that talking and cell phone use should cease after 9pm. IN A CONDO.

The bad news is that it's a condo I purchased and I just moved in last week, so moving out and buying a house isn't an option.

The good news is that it's a condo I purchased and I just moved in last week, so making whatever changes to the structure that I can IS an option.

I took your word for it that the Liquid Soundproofing isn't going to work. In fact, after doing research, I found that it only adds another 15 STC to the soundproof, and as I understand it, you need more than a STC 70 rating to actually reduce heavy bass music. Given that the existing rating of the drywall is about a 40, the paint wouldn't come close to being effective.

So that's why I wanted to look into adding another layer of drywall. I saw some ads on this very site for QuietRock (http://www.quietsolution.com/html/quietrock.html) (http://www.quietsolution.com/index.html) and Supress (http://www.supressproducts.com/products/index.htm). They both claim to provide as much as an STC rating of 80, which would be amazing.

Does anybody have any experience with these or other types of silencing products? Any idea what the costs usually are? Neither of the websites mention it.

Thanks again!

Let me direct you to several sites for information. In addition to Ethan's site, www.realtraps.com, there is also www.rivesaudio.com, the acoustics forum on www.avsforum.com and, if you really want to get into it http://forum.studiotips.com/index.php

Kal

Demigawd,are you sure it was a complain ? Perhaps they meant
"we can hear (our neighbor having sex) but dammit,we can't watch" ! lololol
Seriously now,i can't help you with this particular problem,
the soundproofing i mean,but from what i read,there is no way to make a room really soundproof without spending big bucks and i mean BIG BUCKS,but usually the most annoying thing for someone living nect door to you,is the bass.

I don't know how effective it is, but there is a sound proof drywall available:
http://www.quietsolution.com/html/quietrock.html?gclid=CJP57uXpvosCFQtpGAodbne21w