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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think wtf do people who live in a semi are thinking when they buy a sound bar for their tv

47 replies

JacobReesMogadishu · 17/10/2020 19:58

So I live in an old semi, a halls adjoining one. So our living rooms are both on the far side of the house from each other.

Neighbour has recently got a sound bar, it’s in his bay window so not even on the wall nearest our house.

I can feel it through my whole house. Not hear it, feel it. I’m currently upstairs in my bedroom on the furthest side of the house from him and it’s making me feel sick. It’s like that throbbing you get on a ferry.

I’ve mentioned it to him, he said he was sorry. Said he was surprised I could feel/notice it. Said he’d tweak the bass. Said he’d watch tv with the living room door shut. It’s made no difference.

When he turns the tv off it’s like a switch has been flicked inside my head. The change in sensation is unreal.

He said he bought one which the sales person said would properly reverberate so it would be immersive. But it’s reverberating through my whole bloody house.

He’s obviously done as much as he can/will do. Is there anything I can do for soundproofing? Well it’s not really sound proofing I need, it’s vibration type proofing. I want to move it’s so bad. Dh thinks I’m bonkers, he doesn’t seem to notice it as much.

OP posts:

Chloemol · 17/10/2020 21:44

If he wont stop using it go to your councils environmental health dept and see if they can help

Bellesavage · 17/10/2020 21:50

What's he got the woofer on? If it's on a wooden shelf or something that can act as a sound box then the sound will vary more. Ask him to move it to the carpet or stick some carpet under it perhaps?

tenlittlecygnets · 17/10/2020 21:52

Ask him to come round to your house and hear/feel the effects! I do sympathise.

AwaAnBileYerHeid · 17/10/2020 21:56

Yes, I'd ask him to have it at the volume he would usually have it and then come round to your house to hear/feel the effects.

Waterdropsdown · 17/10/2020 22:05

That’s awful he doesn’t care! Can you speak to him again? It’s really not cool.
I live in a semi. We are not halls adjoining and I have to listen to a piano being played all the time. I don’t really mind, until the lady next door sent me a moaning text about some trees we were getting cut down and they took 2 hours to cut out (husband was wfh and it was noisy, so was I and barely noticed noise it was quite fun to watch!) Had to really make myself not say anything about her piano that is being played ALL the time. Part of me thinks well it’s what happens in a semi but bass vibrations I don’t think I could stand that.

DisneyIsMyHome · 17/10/2020 22:10

It won't be the sound bar it'll be the sub if the bass is turned up, new TVs generally need a sound bar as the sound quality is so poor! You can turn it down, but it becomes less effective for the people watching tv. My partner is currently watching 1917 I feel like I'm on the battle field luckily our neighbours don't care as we have one in each room!

Doingmybest4u · 17/10/2020 23:19

My issue was mainly with the bass rather than the volume OP (it was noise from a bar operating a strong bass system). The noise team were as interested in the vibrations and general disruption as they are in ‘pure’ noise (if that makes sense). Try to resolve with your neighbour first but definitely contact your local noise team if not.

Original poster

JacobReesMogadishu · 17/10/2020 23:24

I’m worried if I ask him round to my house he won’t be able to feel it.....like I said it’s not a volume issue. If he has the same sensitivity as dh he won’t notice a thing and will think I’m bonkers.

He did say if him tweaking the bass and shutting the door doesn’t help to let him know. So I think he is open to trying to sort it. But previous to this post I didn’t know what else he could do apart from disconnect it and although for me it’s awful I worry I’m being unreasonable when it’s maybe my super sensitive head which picks it up. But I didn’t know about the acoustic mat so guess I could ask him about using that. I do think he thinks I’m bonkers though.

OP posts:

Notcontent · 17/10/2020 23:27

@DynamoKev

Trouble is bass has long wavelengths so can actually be louder next door or outside than in the room it’s in as the peak of the waves is longer than the room. We live in a detached house but I can hear the bloke across the road’s subwoofer when it’s quiet I’m my house. A couple of summers ago the bass from the pub’s disco was reverberating around our front room - the pub is 1/2 a mile away.

That’s really interesting. I have some neighbour to the back of me - not adjoining but another row of terrace houses, although our gardens are very small so quite close - and when they play loud music I can feel the vibrations.

I actually think the use of bass speakers in residential settings should be regulated because it can be really anti social.

PickAChew · 17/10/2020 23:30

Led tvs have really shit audio as there is little room for speakers. A sound bar is almost a given. The problem with yiur neighbours is that they turn it up too loud.

Pelleas · 17/10/2020 23:36

Unless he lives in a mansion, he doesn't need three woofers.

StrawberrySquash · 17/10/2020 23:39

YANBU. I hate loads of bass, even if I'm the one watching. It's just horrible.

Original poster

JacobReesMogadishu · 17/10/2020 23:41

@Pelleas

Unless he lives in a mansion, he doesn't need three woofers.

His living room is 12ft square.

OP posts:

Original poster

JacobReesMogadishu · 17/10/2020 23:42

I wonder if some people are more susceptible to hearing bass and it affecting them.

Like when teenagers are the only ones who can hear certain high pitched noises?

OP posts:

Pelleas · 17/10/2020 23:44

His living room is 12ft square

Should be fine with a single woofer then.

DaftyD · 18/10/2020 00:16

Possibly some people are more susceptible to bass I think. Some noises are just intolerable to some people full stop. Eg where I used to live I was constantly disturbed by this loud buzzing noise, drove me mad trying to figure out where it came from, spoke to other neighbours who had no clue and possibly thought I was a bit tapped 🤣, then finally spoke to a neighbour 15 doors down (long narrow street) who had the same issue and had worked out it came from a cooling system in a nearby industrial unit and was campaigning in a local sort of way to get it moved/changed. But nobody else registered it or gave a shit about it so we were on a hiding to nothing.

Conversely in that same street we had several student households who were mostly noisy as such people are and lots of neighbours were very active in trying to get something done about it, but while I was aware of that noise it didn't bother me even half as much as the constant buzzing that no one else gave a shit about.

It's a weird thing really, how noise affects you I think.

BlankTimes · 18/10/2020 01:16

Can you get him to set it to his "normal" and leave it on while he comes into your house and hears/feels it for long enough to make him feel the discomfort himself?

AlwaysLatte · 18/10/2020 01:22

We don't have neighbours and still don't see the need for one of those! It must be horrendous if you can hear it. You'll just have to keep on at him until he disconnects the wretched thing.

TableFlowerss · 18/10/2020 01:32

People are dicks. I used to say to my DH that his TV was too loud (before he met me he lived in a terraced house) and that his neighbours can probably here it. He didn’t think....

We now live in a detached house so don’t worry about the neighbours but I still turn the tv down when the kids are in bed as I don’t want the bass to wake them up!!

Poor you OP

TableFlowerss · 18/10/2020 01:33

Also I don’t understand the need for it......

Poppins2016 · 18/10/2020 01:45

Dh thinks I’m bonkers, he doesn’t seem to notice it as much

My DH thinks I'm bonkers (or perhaps, magic! ) because I can sense the vibrations of people walking down the path to our front door if I'm in any of the rooms at the front of the house. I guess some people just sense vibrations more than others...

Grendel7 · 11/03/2026 16:35

JacobReesMogadishu · 17/10/2020 19:58

So I live in an old semi, a halls adjoining one. So our living rooms are both on the far side of the house from each other.

Neighbour has recently got a sound bar, it’s in his bay window so not even on the wall nearest our house.

When he turns the tv off it’s like a switch has been flicked inside my head. The change in sensation is unreal.

He said he bought one which the sales person said would properly reverberate so it would be immersive. But it’s reverberating through my whole bloody house.

Our neighbour got one for Christmas and since then its like living with an MRI machine next door. You FEEL as well as hear it. Who needs a cinema situation in their semi? Sooo inconsiderate! They also only seem to watch action stuff so with all the drums and everything! Our lives have been made so unhappy we cant use the lounge and are going to move.

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