Beginners Guide - Home Theater in Condos, Apartments, Townhouse etc.

Shared walls & Home Theater Possible?
Space - if you share a wall with neighbors, try to pick a room the furthest distance from the shared wall as possible.
Many times, in properties with shared walls, this isn’t an option but it’s still worth mentioning.
Speaker Positioning - Again, not always optional for properties/units with shared walls, due to the nature of these types of layouts and size restrictions.
But if you can do some planning, try to angle the speakers away from the. Shared wall, not firing towards.
Also, try to get the speakers as close to the main listening position as possible, so the sound has a direct shot to your ears. This will greatly help you cut down from having to crank it up.
Room Treatment - chops a room with carpet if at all possible. If your on hardwood floors, add a rug! Adding a rug, especially in the area you listen, cover up as much of the hard surface as possible.
Acoustic panels will also greatly down on reflections and clean up the sound, so you again, won’t have to crank the volume up as much.
Room treatment can be expensive but it doesn’t have to be if you are the DIY type.
Volume - Unless you are in a very well built property/complex, you will need to me mindful of trying to achieve reference volumes.
Luckily, I am not sure many people out there listen at or near reference volumes, at least not unless you are occasionally letting it crank but even then, I’m sure most folks don’t want to listen at that loud of a volume for long.
Bass - Unfortunately, another compromise. Most properties with shared walls, even very high quality buildings/units, bass can easily travel through walls, especially the real low stuff,
If you have two or even one capable sub, you can easily irritate your fellow neighbors.
I advise decoupling subs from the floor, especially if the floor is a hard surface. Items like isolation feet/pads work good, along with well designed isolation pads.
Isolation will help crack down on in room and vibration transfer to other properties/units.
Nearfield placement, if possible.
Neighbors - It doesn’t seem to be as common as it used to be but they to meet and be kind to your neighbors.
It would much better to let your neighbors and let them know about your home audio passion. Have them contact you directly if you are making too much noise. That way you can hopefully keep HOA or on site management out of the issue.
Try to find a volume with your neighbors that’s acceptable to both parties, if possible and try to stick to that volume.
It’s not ideal to have a shared wall or have very close neighbors, in this hobby. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have good sound. In fact, I’ve heard some very good systems that meet 90% of our desired audio quality and volume, in properties with shared walls.
You too, can have very good sound, my more size/location restricted home audio enthusiast friends, out there!
Subscriber Count At The Time Of This Video - 6,039 (broke 6,000 subscribers!)

[@normanham6142]

Great video for shared buildings, no matter what one calls it. All very good tips. Be considerate of your neighbors. I did all the tips you suggested seven years ago living in a second story apt. Now in different scenario, I still use my isolation pads for two of my down-firing subs. I still use my SVS SoundPath Isolation Feet on a larger sub. It helps overall sound quality And my neighbor below me and I worked together. I set a certain volume level and go down and listen. We agreed on max level and both were happy. Just found your channel. Like it. You, Gene @ Audioholics, cheapaudioman. We’ve needed this type of discussions about Hi-Fi and related gear for a long time. Thanks for what you’re doing.

[@bzrdbrew]

Thanks for this, great guide. I've been in this cozy (600sq ft) for almost 5 years and have never received a complaint from my upstairs neighbors using all of pointers you shared (except the shaker). When I owned a house I thought reference volume was great but find my current 5.2.2 rarely sees 100db when I'm "cranking" it on weekends with great sound and feel. Keep up the content! 👍

[@rmaxcy4497]

This was a great informative segment! Good to see you back!

[@blazermdx]

Thanks! I appreciate the continued support:)

[@agentooe33AD]

Thanks for this. My daughter and her husband are fixing to move into a duplex, and they're looking to get a good setup that won't bug the person on the other side. Also, loving the leg lamp from A Christmas Story (assuming it's the same one).

[@blazermdx]

You can definitely have good sound, when sharing walls. All about containing the bass, isolation and volume control. Also helps to let the neighbors know that you’re a movie buff and to just let you know if it’s too loud. And yes, that’s the infamous k LJ eg lamp. I love that movie:)

[@Chris-hr2uj]

Great video. I live in a condo and have loft home theater. Neighbors to left, right and below. And i've done a lot of the tips you cover, and i havent had a complaint yet (knock on wood). ive found a combination of (1) Bass shakers, (2) keeping subs at a low db with decoupling pads and (3) not playing at reference really is the key. Based on my room size, listening at 55-65db is perfectly fine. You can still be blown away by the sound, but never upset the neighbors. Another tip- for transducers/bass shakers, consider adding vibration pads to underneath your chair. Not sure if you mentioned that... but great video

[@VaudenQ]

Thank you so much!! Keep chasing your dream, I believe in you!!!

[@joshdekubber3631]

The SB 4000 is working out great! I put the svs sound path isolation feet on it and finally got it dialed in really well. It actually integrated quite well with my budget system making it sound so much better. Thanks again! My Anthem MRX1140 is on its way. I'll have it Monday. I'm so excited to get that dialed in with my Klipsch Forte iv's and Svs sb3000's at my other house.

[@rafaelsanchez8290]

Thanks..i didn't know about base Shakers. Gonna look into it

[@blazermdx]

They definitely add a whole new dimension to the experience. It does take some fine tuning but once you get them dialed in, its truly impressive. Thanks for stopping by and for taking the time to comment!

[@RBS22]

Very cool, I loved your tips regarding walls in conjunction with neighbors, acoustics, volume control and speaker placement away from these walls. I have two 10" subwoofers in the living room environment, it's the villain of the neighbor who lives downstairs.😁 Thank you very much!👊🏻

[@Roof_Pizza]

Try to use sub isolation techniques.

[@luisbaltodano227]

Thanks for the tips, very useful and I will definitely follow your suggestions. Keep up the good work.

[@capcom4eva]

Good tips. Thank you! Where do we find your products? 🤔 what do I need for down firing sub?

[@touchofdumb]

Duplex here so got a pair of vintage bookshelves (KLH 17) that cannot reproduce the trouble causing lows. The mids and the highs are thrilling and I rarely have to turn down due to bass.

[@chrisgerarddelossantos2103]

Great video! I recently bought a Bose Bass Module 700. I bought the SVS isolation feet to install on it. Will it help at all? It will be in a living room in an apartment and hope to not disturb my neighbor below.

[@computerkid1416]

Great video. Out of curiosity, why did you go with 4.1 and not 5.1? To me, having a center channel for dialogue is the biggest reason why you go for a surround sound setup vs a traditional stereo one. I consider the two surrounds to be simply bonuses.

[@blazermdx]

Great question! At the time, I didn’t have the right center speaker. The center is the most important speaker in the home theater but I’d rather have none, than have an inferior center. It takes more time to dial in a 4.1 home theater than a 5.1 but you can have excellent results with a 4.1. Thanks for taking the time to comment, my friend!

[@Lowkey_nxthxn]

Love the video as always man. And I was able tell get away with a 5.1.2 with a Denon avr which I love to death. And my Polk audio towers are some what big for my bed room but I was able to get away with it. Until I move In to a bigger house

[@HPMIKE55]

Great job bro & what works better for a subwoofer RCA Cable or XLR Cable? 😎👍

[@Roof_Pizza]

If you don't have signal interference (noise) then no difference.

[@HPMIKE55]

@@Roof_Pizza ok thanks am I supposed to run two cables into the subwoofer or just one cable? i’m asking because there are two inputs for both RCA & XLR.

[@Roof_Pizza]

@@HPMIKE55 2? Should be straight forward left/right so yeah 2. Some have 3 for LFE (Special movie Low effects) Ignore those if you have them. If your receiver doesn't have 2 sub outs (L/R) then use a Y adapter and make it 2 to your sub.

[@HPMIKE55]

@@Roof_Pizza cool thanks bro! 😎👍

[@nanao1267]

Another good info.

[@jdubdoubleu]

What about height speakers in a apartment? You have any ideas on how to have them without cutting a hole in the ceiling. I live on the 2nd floor of a 3 floor apartment

[@blazermdx]

The only way to really pull it off, without drilling holes in the ceiling is to mount them up as high as possible, in the proper placements, angled down at the MLP. Unfortunately, this still isn’t ideal and you’ll still have to create holes. Trust me, I wish there is a better option, but there just isn’t. Still worth the effort though. Just get speakers that are designed to be mounted on angles. Good luck my friend!

[@poisonpotato1]

My place is on the corner. Between my living room and neighbors on my floor: On one side my bedroom, then stairwell then neighbors wall. On the other is my kitchen (kitchen and living room are one big room). Really more worried about people above/below me, though I don't hear them too much so I don't think sound passes through super easily like other places I've been at

[@doc666ify]

Good review

[@BobFrostV]

Just have loud infrasonic bass and watch your neighbors blame each other. Make sure you call the landlord or apartment staff and complain about the noise as well.

[@blazermdx]

Great advice! Haha

[@RCFC89]

I spy Atlantic Tech speakers. Review coming?

[@blazermdx]

Good catch! Those are my go-to surround speakers, I just love them. I’ll probably round out the set, before I do a review. I’ve always loved Atlantic Technology speakers:)

[@musicgenie4572]

I have a old phaser tech 335 es the rubber outside the cone is not there and when I press down on the cone it makes a scratching sound is that normal

[@normanham6142]

No, do NOT press down on the cone! At least not if you plan on using them.

[@longbluesquid]

I had a townhouse in college where I could freely crank anytime. But now I’m worried cause I make go to a shared apartment.

[@blazermdx]

Hopefully your future roommates and you like the same volume level and content:) I think talking to them about your audio passion beforehand and setting up some type of time where you will turn things down, will go a long way. But then again, you look quite a bit younger than me and I know how I was with my volumes, when I was younger.. Haha

[@rindershow212]

is that a leg on the speaker?

[@blazermdx]

Yes. Haha! It’s a replica leg lamp, from the movie A Christmas Story. It’s one of my favorite Christmas movies so I had to have it:)

[@rindershow212]

@@blazermdx 🤣🤣 that's nice!!

[@nick48d]

Do you still have 703 polk?

[@blazermdx]

Unfortunately, I let them go. Someone really wanted them so I sold them off, for what I paid for them:/

[@nick48d]

@@blazermdx if you got them again let me know thanks

[@Edward135i]

SVS SoundPath Subwoofer Isolation System for your subwoofers, thank me later.

[@willburr5929]

Reality = Headphones.