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Annoying sounds from cars at stop light

What causes the stereo in the car next to you at the stop light so loud and annoying with over the top bass and how can the driver stand it?

128x128soundsrealaudio
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geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
14,147 posts
 

soundsrealaudio wrote,

"So here is a point I would like  to make.

I don't think those low frequency really travel through those walls in your home.

I would offer this, the waves from the driver hit the wall, they cause the wall to vibrate/resonate and because the wall is much larger then the driver it amplifies the sound."

>>>>>>>Uh, that's how sound waves propagate through ANY medium, air, water or walls, or whatever. The acoustic waves excite the molecules of the medium. Also, if the walls amplified the sound, the voices you hear from the next room, on the other side of the wall, would be louder, not softer.

elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
I would say that the wall may ’seem’ to amplify certain frequencies. The RESONANT frequency (or a multiple of it) of the surface..So it can seem to be amplifying a particular note... Taking the wider band of energy and focusing it more on the resonant frequency. Same is true of speakers..
soundsrealaudio's avatar
soundsrealaudio OP
642 posts
 
I would agree Elizabeth. Pretty accurate read on the issue. Sound waves are altered, Some frequencies don't fare well in sheet rock and lose amplitude. Others, like the dreaded 80Hz bass notes, ( those lease busters ) get amplified. 
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
14,147 posts
 
Alternative explanation: the poor guy upstairs or in the next apartment only hears the bass frequencies but not the rest of the frequencies. That’s why the sound is irritating, it’s just the thump, thump of the bass, not because the bass is amplified. The wall absorbs higher frequencies better than low frequencies.  If it was true walls amplified bass frequencies you could get better bass by constructing a wall in front of your speakers. Hel- loo!
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