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Soundproofing and room correction for apartment?

Hey, was hoping to get some help on wife-friendly sound-proofing and room correction options.

I just moved to a new place and have a dedicated room, which is roughly 12' x 12' with 10.5' ceilings. I have neighbors above, below, and on the wall where my speakers are--not ideal. My system already sounds good (tremendous depth!) but there is definitely a little more reverb to the sound, a bit of bass slap and maybe too much depth, so voices sounded a tad recessed.

I was thinking of bass traps in the corners behind the speakers, and canvases lined with acoustic batting on each reflecting wall and on the ceiling, with a thick tapestry on the wall behind my head. I have a rug on the floor, and am going to put wall-to-wall carpeting with acoustic dimple pad underneath and corner mounts.

Am I missing anything? Is there a better approach? I can't obviously build another room in the room, and my wife draws the line at canvases on the wall, as WAF is an issue here, so it's gotta look nice, whatever I do.

Thanks!

BTW: My system is Devore Nines, Luxman L-550A II, MHDT Havana DAC, Mac MIni, and Clearaudio Performance TT all fed by Audience Adept Response AR12.
brookjoo
larryi
1,972 posts
 
One more reference to Green Glue. I recently heard an NPR broadcast about environmental noise. The guest, who recently wrote a book, actually mentioned Green Glue as one of the modern technological marvels that helps in reducing noise. A transcript can be found here:

http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=125511963
brookjoo OP
26 posts
 
Thanks so much Larry, really helpful! I'm going to start bit by bit so I can get a sense of how the things I add change things for the better.

First definite changes will be platforms for my speakers, then wall to wall carpet with acoustic padding underneath. Then I'll some bass traps and wall/corner treatments and make sure the door seals well.

My neighbor is fine with me being in their space to see how much sound is transferring, so I can get a sense for how I'm doing with the treatments. Last resort will be dropping the ceiling.

One thing that I am thinking in the back of my head is that I may have too much speaker for the room. I have Devore 9's, and the room is roughly 12 x 12. Should I try the super 8's?

Thanks!
larryi
1,972 posts
 
I have heard both DeVore speakers in somewhat small rooms and really like both. I don't think there would be that much difference between the two for your sound transmission problems. The BIG difference would involve the use of a fundamentally different kind of speaker, like the Quad electrostatics or Magnepan speakers (for the dipole cancellation reasons I mentioned before). The current Quads sound pretty good at low volume too, helping your problem even more. But, I can understand your desire to stick with the DeVores; they are really nice sounding speakers.
cyclotronguy's avatar
cyclotronguy
11 posts
 
Well you cannot easily block low frequencies... that takes mass, lots of it and space.

You can however remove the low frequencies from your main speakers and divert those notes to woofers / sub-woofers right next to your listening spot.

This will diminish the level at which you play the woofers and of course the level to the adjacent domociles. A 6 dB reduction in energy should be easy to get.

This is going to require either a very low turn over frequency or some time dalay for the woofers... easiest to do in the digital domain.

Cyclotronguy
6550c
393 posts
 
I agree with schipo, your treatments may alter the sound, but they will do little to "soundproof" the room and protect the neighbors from 2 am listing sessions. !
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