Exhibits, Shows and Displays

I think I might be too loud... Are speaker stands the answer?

I love my music and films, however I live in a flat and I have neighbours directly below me. Although I haven't had any complaints yet, I'm conscious about annoying them with the *thump* *thump* *thump* of the bass coming from my Hi-Fi speakers, as they currently sit on the floor on either side of my television. I was thinking of getting some speaker stands to try to solve this potential problem. My reasoning for this would be that the stands would obviously move the speakers away from the floor and therefore reduce the bass that's heard by the neighbours. Another thought is that since the speakers would be a little more towards head level, I might not need to have them as loud as I usually would. Am I right in this assumption? If not, is there anything else that I can try, besides keeping the noise down? Note: I'm not allowed to fit wall mounts because the flat is rented. Plus I'm only concerned at how much noise I'm making because I barely hear a peep from anyone else in my block of flats. I can't be sure whether the flats are well insulated or everyone else is just quiet, but I don't want to take the chance. The speakers that I have aren't massive. They're speakers that came with my Sony CMT-CP500MD micro Hi-Fi. I don't know if this helps with your answers but thought I'd mention it.

Public Comments

1. yes, and also improve sound quality
2. Probably not, no.... I have a large pair of foor-standing speakers. They are decoupled from the floor by steel spikes. They stand on marble slabs (which also helps to reduce floor-borne vibration). I live in a bungalow, with a solid concrete floor. You can still FEEL the bass through the floor, when the volume is wound up. In a flat, any bass will be amplified and transmitted by the floor joists and walls. You may be able to reduce it very slightly with stands, extra insulation, etc., but not by much. A friend of mine spent many months (and lots of money) trying to sound proof his semi-detached house, to keep the peace with his next door neighbour - it didn't work. Unfortunately, the only real solution to avoid annoying your neighbours, is to turn it down.
3. You will need to carpet the floor and use some padding for the walls.
4. The best way to stop vibration is to keep the audio in the air, fit spikes to the bottom of your speakers.