I'm considering buying a condo, but have to consider soundproofing as a limiting factor.

What's a good STC rating for a home theatre enthusiast as myself? I have an Axiom Epic 80 (no sub, but soon to be an SVS sub), and I don't want to become my new neighbor's biggest enemy the day I move in.

I will only buy a place with concrete floors, but it is the walls I am concerned about. Many places are advertising STC rating 63, which I hear is half decent. Others are saying they use a "Cali" system (?) to soundproof to 69. Is there THAT much difference between 63 and 69? Is 63 sufficient to watch Underworld at a nice volume with an SVS sub?

thanks for all your help.

I remember reading somewhere that the Average db levels for a room (fans, cars driving by, etc...) is from 20-30 db.

If you get a condo with 69 STC and you add the average room db levels you get a level of 99 db.

99db is the level of loudness that you are able to play your home theatre at. without someone next door noticably hearing what you are playing.

If your home theatre is set to around 75db (like many people here) your peak explosions will be around 100db. Your neighbors should be fine and not even really notice that you are playing a movie at high levels because in their room, they already have 20 - 30 db of backround noise.

Does this make any sense?

If you get a condo with 69 STC, you are going to be able to play your system at normal levels without worrying about sound transfer.

I've never even HEARD of a STC rating, so take this with a grain of salt:

90dB of a 1KHz tone is not going to annoy the neighbors nearly as much as 90dB of a 20Hz tone....

I know that's obvious, but I wonder how likely that STC "spec" takes subsonic frequencies into play?

here is something I found that explains STC ratings:
http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/reho/reho_003.cfm

It seems to suggest that anything in the mid 60's or higher is quite good, however, I just wanted people's feedback with these ratings and if they feel that they are adequate.

Quote:

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here is something I found that explains STC ratings:
http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/reho/reho_003.cfm

It seems to suggest that anything in the mid 60's or higher is quite good, however, I just wanted people's feedback with these ratings and if they feel that they are adequate.

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Just to give you an idea of how good 69 STC is, THX certified commercial theatres have an STC of 80+. So with 69 you are only 11 db's away from 80, I'd say thats pretty good. And commercial theatres sometimes play ear bleeding levels and you can't hear them in the next theatre at all.