Soundproofing a floor?

Question

hey everyone,

I was wondering how i can soundproof my floor? I'm specifically interested in stopping the airborne sub noises...seems to be the biggest complaint. I am not looking to purchase these expensive vinyl mats / lead flooring...just looking for a simple and cheap solution. Could i put the subwoofer / speakers on cones? could I only put the speakers on a vinyl / lead sheet? Thanks!!!

Answer 1

There are a few methods.

Try investigating the following.

-Raised flooring

-Sound proof insulation (Roxul)

-Green Glue (http://www.greengluecompany.com/upgradin...

-layering drywall

Answer 2

As the other respondents said, soundproofing a floor is not easy. If the problem is that your subwoofer is rattling the ceiling of the room below you, you could suspend the sub from your ceiling on  a platform. A piece of plywood, four chains, and a hook might provide an affordable solution.

I remember doing this in the olden days with LP turntables to solve the reverse problem of vibrations causing the stylus to skip over the vinyl.

Answer 3

Sorry but there is no simple, easy and inexpensive way to effectively soundproof for low frequencies.

The issue is physical transmission of the high energy low frequency energy from one side of the floor, through the underlying structure and the recreation of airborne sound waves on the far side due to vibration of the remote surface. The only way to cut this is to damp out the vibration (increase weight/mass) and/or decouple the two surfaces.

You need to increase mass and/or introduce some form of elastomer between the two surface (floor on your side, ceiling underneath). And you must seal the space in between to prevent transmission of higher frequencies too).

Putting foam rubber pads under speakers will help, but if you have loud bass notes the whole floor is vibrating so at best this will have limited success.

You really have to create a new floor floating on an elastomeric support/spacer, and the floor ideally would include heavy, dense acoustically dead material such as drywall (or more effective but also much more expensive specialized acoustic material) to help damp out vibration.

See info at the links