I live in a second floor NYC apartment. I have two Polk subwoofers hooked up to a pair of Axiom M22's. As of yet I've received no complaints from my neighbors downstairs, but the constant lowering of the volume when a deep bass-boom approaches, coupled with the difficulty of setting the volume low enough to not disturb anyone, yet still high enough to remain audible, has all but convinced me that it's just not possible to fully enjoy a subwoofer while living in apartments. I wonder if anyone else has had this problem, or if anyone has any advice about neighbors, noise, subwoofers, and the like. Thanks.

I've had no complaints from my upstairs neighbor, despite turning it up fairly loud later in the evening. Of course, she's just generally cool about stuff, so...

(btw, I have M50s and a Cambridge Soundworks Subwoofer 1)

Dio,

I live in a townhouse, with only one contiguous neighbor. Though they have never complained, I STILL find myself turning it down when I know the place is about to explode. I doubt that it's necessary as my movie watching rarely goes past 10 PM, but I do it anyway. The volume is still loud enough to give me a thrill, but I don't shake the walls. I certainly wouldn't give up my sub. Just the price of living in an apartment.

Try this-turn the bass up to a loud level and then go to your neighbor and ask(or hear for yourself) how loud it is in their apartment. If the vibrations are bad but the noise level is tolerable you can always put a slab of rock under the sub to minimize vibrations.

If its just too loud, then its just too loud and there is nothing you can do other then undertaking a very expensive soundproofing operation.

did you try moving the sub closer to where you sit? maybe you could turn it down a little and still get good effects from it....just an idea...ron

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I think I'll try listening to the Axioms on their own for a while. If they sound good enough, and if I don't miss the deep bass too much, then maybe I'll try to find someone who can take these subs off my hands. It's hard to go back to regular speakers once you get used to that deep bass, though. And to think, just a year ago I was listening to a small little Aiwa shelf system with not a care in the world. Ah, memories.

Yeah. Ignorance really IS bliss.

TechPro must be one happy guy then.

LOL! Nicely, nicely, now.

LOUD TUNES!!
Thats one of the main reasons I purchased a house 5 years ago.
Love the tunes LOUD.
Bray

I have a sub in small apartment however I live on the top floor and there is concrete between the floors. but between the walls it isn't.

what i did is i placed the sub in the corner furthest from where you neighbors usually are, so right now my sub is in the wall I share with their kitchen.

Check out the ButtKicker http://www.thebuttkicker.com/
They are great live, haven't used them for HT

Those are only good as a supplement to a subwoofer, not a replacement, especially if you intend on listening to music.