Polk Audio RTA 15tl's Base to loud.

jackecsr
jackecsr Posts: 6
edited August 2009 in Speakers
Hi to all, I just found this website and think it's great. Some of you really know your stuff. Well here is my problem! I have lived in a few apartments over the years and live on the upper floors. My RTA 15tl's sound fantastic and the base speakers drive the people who live downstairs crazy. I have never turned the loudness up on my receiver. Know matter what I do I can't get the base low enough to where the people downstairs are happy. They complain and complain and I have been told to stop the loud booming or I will have to move out. What on earth can I do? I'm almost ready to sell them but I love the sound from these speakers. I have listened to dozens of speakers and there is nothing that sounds as good as these RTA's. They sound just like the day I first bought them.

By the way I really like where I live and don't want to move again.

So any idea's?

Thanks,
Jack
Post edited by jackecsr on

Comments

  • leroyjr1
    leroyjr1 Posts: 8,785
    edited August 2009
    That's the pain of apartment living. You might want to look into getting some bookshelf speakers. The RTA15tl's are huge. Nothing you can really do but listen at low volumes. Try to find out the people work schedule so when they're at work you can get your jam on.
  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited August 2009
    What you could try is an isolation platform for the speakers. An isolation stand will help to decouple the bass from the floor, and would help prevent it from being so boomy in your neighbors apartment. It would also make your bass tighter and more focused sounding in general, which definitely isn't a bad thing.

    Auralex has several different models. The Auralex Gramma isolation stands might work for you...

    http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/GRAMMA/

    The dimensions of the Gramma platform is a bit larger than the 15TL's though...

    The Auralex Subdude might work better...it's 15"x15", which is almost perfect for the 15TL's.

    http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SubDude/


    You might also want to try simply pulling the speakers away from the walls a little bit. The closer a speaker is to a wall, the louder and boomier the bass is going to be. Even more so on a design like the RTA-15TL, with the rear firing passive radiator. It'd be worth a shot if nothing else. If that doesn't do the trick though, I'd look into some isolation stands.



    Anywho...welcome to Club Polk!!:)

    What are you driving those excellent speakers with?
    The nirvana inducer-
    APC H10 Power Conditioner
    Marantz UD5005 universal player
    Parasound Halo P5 preamp
    Parasound HCA-1200II power amp
    PolkAudio LSi9's/PolkAudio SDA 2A's/PolkAudio Monitor 7A's
    Audioquest Speaker Cables and IC's
  • zarrdoss
    zarrdoss Posts: 2,562
    edited August 2009
    How on earth can you like living in an apartment? Just quit using your speakers and use headphones, Apartments suck for this reason......And welcome!
  • jackecsr
    jackecsr Posts: 6
    edited August 2009
    I have a Sony DA7100ES Receiver with 170 watts per channel times 7. Love the receiver. I also have the Bose Acoustimass 15 System.
  • kawizx9r
    kawizx9r Posts: 5,150
    edited August 2009
    jackecsr wrote: »
    I have a Sony DA7100ES Receiver with 170 watts per channel times 7. Love the receiver. I also have the Bose Acoustimass 15 System.

    I'd say sell the Bose, and invest in those iso. platforms curt recommended :D

    Or I can "borrow" those RTA's for a while until you either
    1. Make your neighbors "disappear" :eek:
    2. Get a different place
    Truck setup
    Alpine 9856
    Phoenix Gold RSD65CS

    For Sale
    Polk SR6500
    Polk SR5250
    Polk SR104


    heiney9 wrote: »
    Any clue how to use the internet? Found it in about 10 sec.