my townhome neighbors are so inconsiderate... (apartment, HOA, condos)

[rraabb11]

OK-heres the deal. I asked them to turn down their television after several nights of disturbance. My neighbor responded that he will turn it down, and listened to my suggestions to move the speakers from the wall and perhaps turn off the subwoofer.
Several weeks went by, and after some restraint on their half, things were fine. Then one day i rented a movie and used the surround sound for the first time. An hour in, my phone rings and its the neighbor giving me a dose of my own medicine. thats fine, i comply and have not watched a movie with surround sound again.
after another call to ask them to turn it down, i get "well my neighbors do it, so we need to drown out the sound from theirs". i suggested he talk to them like an adult, and he stated that they basically blew him off.
basically, i am at a standstill. i understand there is no such thing as dead silence, but is it necessary to listen to your movie with high powered speakers? i can enjoy tv with its own speakers, why cant they? isnt it assumed that when you move into a townhome that you cannot treat it as a house but almost as a medium between an apartment when it comes to your sound levels?
i just feel like a jerk having to call. whats a proper time of night to say enough is enough?
i guess the only options i have are to call the hoa or move out. anyone have any other suggestions?

[CouponJack]

Originally Posted by rraabb11

. anyone have any other suggestions?

Yes,

Move into a SFH so you won't have to deal w/those problems...

[chicagocubs]

Originally Posted by CouponJack

Yes,

Move into a SFH so you won't have to deal w/those problems...

Unfortunately, I second that.

[brokensky]

After having lived in an upscale condo for a while . . . I learned that there is no condo w/ thick enuff walls to make me feel comfortable. I have to have some buffer space. I am an insomniac and one neighbor swore he could hear my TV at nite, even tho my DH was sleeping right beside me while the TV was on. And I had it turned waaaaaaay down. In the bathroom, I could hear - uh - biological noises coming from my neighbor's bathroom! Evidently, the toilets were back to back. Now that is pretty bad when you feel nervous about using your own bathroom. And these were expensive condos supposedly well constructed. Another neighbor's dog would yap yap yap and you would swear it was in the same room with us.

I would rather live in an RV than a condo. I pray I don't end up old and retired in a condo w/ people complaining when I play my piano.

[Belmarin]

I had the same problem but it is my spouse who was complaining. I solved the problem with wireless headsets. They are know available providing true surround sound. Might be a good compromise for you and your neighbors.

[flexysteve]

If you're stuck in your townhown, you could do some sound deadening between the units. Build another seperate wall out from the other wall and use resilent rails and quiet rock. More info here. QuietRock Soundproof Drywall

I did it in my garage so I can run power tools at night without bothering my neighbors.

also here's another link with another brand of product

http://www.soundstop.net/demo/Default.aspx (broken link)

[Tober138]

Originally Posted by rraabb11

is it necessary to listen to your movie with high powered speakers?

I have to say yes - I do want the theater experience in my media room.

Having said that and more to your initial post. You may want to contact the hoa to see what they have to say - if there is anything on the books about noise rules, etc.

As someone else suggested, if you do not have very thick walls, putting up a sound-dampening wall may be a lot cheaper of an alternative than moving.

When does this typically happen? There's a huge difference between hearing their system going at, say, 5:00 in the afternoon as opposed to after midnight. I wouldn't think to complain if I heard a neighbor's stereo at 4:00 on a Saturday afternoon...I would change my tune if it were 1:00 AM on a Tuesday. There is some common courtesy (both ways) regarding what's appropriate for the time of day.

And how loud is it? is it everything you are hearing or is it just the bass from the subwoofer? Most decent SS systems are made so that they can be configured to the size of the room and so that the subwoofer can be set to an appropriate level. It might be that you and your neighbor may just need to do some calibration (and maybe you have - just thinking out loud here). Having the speakers built into the ceiling also helps as the vibrations against the wall will be less than wall mounted speakers. Even having the speakers on stands would help as they are no longer vibrating right up against the wall.

But the bottom line is trying to work out a compromise with your neighbors. We have a pretty kick-butt surround sound system - and we watch a lot of movies. We don't blast the speakers, but we have them up high enough to get the full experience of the system. We've never had a neighbor complain, and of course if that did become a problem we would work with them to resolve it.

[FrankTheTank2]

Those are the downfalls of living in a condo/town home.

All you can do is nicely ask to turn it down. If they blow you off, then I am affraid you are stuck.

How about killing them with kindness? Give them some little gifts or cookies and thank them for turning it down (even though they didnt). Maybe they will feel guilty.

[XcapefromNJ]

This is depressing... I was so looking forward to moving someday someplace where I would not have a yard or exterior to maintain.

[brokensky]

Originally Posted by XcapefromNJ

This is depressing... I was so looking forward to moving someday someplace where I would not have a yard or exterior to maintain.

Well, I will probably live in a condo or townhome again some day. Now that I have found out about sound proofing . . . I am not so concerned.

Or get an upstairs end townhome. That should be less noisy and less bothersome if you make some noise.