I have 2 pins in an apartment, with rubberfeet, havent recieved any complaints yet.

Your downstairs neighbors will almost certainly be annoyed.

The best way to fix this is to place rubber mat squares of about an inch thick under each leg leveler. This will help with the vibrations and clunking that are the biggest issue.

You really never know though. I used to get complaints and the rubber fixed this. It changed gameplay a little bit in that you have to dial back your nudging or the game will "sway," but it was a small sacrifice to be able to play at 2 am in my underwear.

I have 3 machines in my Chicago apartment building. No issues at all.

Nah. Flippers, pop bumpers...theres just a shit ton of vibration and clunking in a pinball machine. Your neighbor won't decide not to bitch because there are now 70 clunks per minute instead of 90.

The mat squares worked for me, in two different apartments. Like I said the swaying will take a little getting used to but it "Settles" a little once the rubber works in and wasn't a big deal since it solved the problem. Tip - put mylar on the floor side of the squares, and it's easier to slide the game around for servicing and such.

If your neighbors are complaining about you not having carpet and living your life, pinball is definitely the thing to put in your apartment.

just tell him you can hear him and his wife moaning during daytime real loud sooo hard its anoying !
if he says he s not at home during the day.......... you get it
or soundproof one of your rooms

This isn't exactly a rare complaint or issue in NYC. You aren't supposed to have bare floors as people walking around and such is worse without a rug. We make sacrifices and often live like worms for the ability to order Chinese food at 1 am.

Turn the audio soundtrack/voice chip volume all the way down and play one of your pins. All you will hear is mechanical clacking that can't be avoided. It's a sound that you won't even like (the audio volume is needed to offset all the clacking noises). Any neighbor will hate hearing these sounds through the floor or ceiling or walls. Especially if you play past nine or ten o'clock on weekdays. But maybe you live in a million-dollar gold coast condo where the units are all extremely well insulated from each other?

I slipped a note under my downstairs neighbors door saying I'm up weird hours listening to music loud, drinking smoking and playing pinball. Left my number to tell me to shut up or if she wants to hang out. She comes and hangs out occasionally

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Hmm pinball as a pick up line you say?

I had 4 in my old apt. Never had any complaints, but also respected my neighbors by not playing past 830p Mon-Thurs

Man I miss having my machines in my bedroom.

I never had a problem when I lived in an apartment, but I also use to live in a crappy neighborhood where it's only quiet outside during the winter. Plus my neighbors weren't the quietest people anyways.

Sounds like a new sitcom on NBC.. 4-Pinballs a girl and several dudes in an apartment. Sounds interesting..

Someone posted this in the "Show pics of your gameroom" thread. I don't remember who or I'd credit them.

I don't care what the neighbors say. That's magical.

It's all about your specific neighbors. If they have already complained about noise, you're probably in for some more trouble.

Sounds more obnoxious than needed because he started a game on each of them

I was playing TZ late night in my basement apartment once (like 10 pm late) and my upstairs neighbor came down out of bed to complain. We turned it off and apologized. Days later she started walking around in some crazy loud shoes and dropping stuff on the floor just to piss me off. Other than that I had no problems.

Get a large piece of rubberized foam (not styrofoam) and trim it to fit the speaker hole recess in the center channel underneath the cabinet. Instant noise reduction by over 60%, easily removable and non damaging. No volume adjustments necessary, and you do not need to clip or remove wiring.

The offender is always the center channel not the fronts.

I don't play pinball after 8pm. It is an issue and if anyone tells you otherwise, they are crazy. I also utilize headphones for my games, but even with that the pop bumpers and slings make a ton of noise.......Don't even think about a shaker! That being said, if you have loud neighbors there is no better way to get revenge.

Depends on the level of noise reduction your apartment is built with.
And the height of the ceiling. The more height of the ceiling the better.
As long as you don't play at night you should be fine

But playing at night is way fun.

If you are in an apartment that's not gonna happen :p

My cousin has 10 in his 1 bedroom Chicago apartment. He has a problem.

I have 8 machines in my apartment and no one has ever complained. I do have a rule that I don't play after 9pm on weekdays to avoid pissing people off.

I would never get to play if I didn't play at night.

False, I played last night at 1 am while wearing nothing but a tube sock.

Using my patented "fat slice of rubber foam under each leg" method, you too can engage in such debauchery!

Lol my old neighbour in my first apartment used to bang on the wall if i listened to radio in a normal volume while doing the dishes, so if i had a pinball back then he would prob have bombed my mailbox or something LOL

Some other pinball owner apartment considerations:

1) Live on the first floor for transport, set up, and noise
2) Use a headphone phone jack for those late night fixes
3) Be mindful of machine weight and stress on floors, not all buildings are created equal
4) Approach your neighbors BEFORE they approach you
5) Don't play at 2 AM with your windows open.

For many years I lived in apartments, following these basic rules and a few others, I only had real problems once.

The challenge is space, as you can only fit so many machines in an apartment with 10x12 type bedrooms.

For the Midnight Madness connoisseur there's always the acoustic blanket fort as well.

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Not a fan of this move. To seek permission is to seek denial.

Inviting your neighbors to complain is a big mistake in my experience.

Not to complain, engage to enjoy.
If they like what they see, they won't care.
No permission required.
To ignore is denial.

Pinball is all about playing at night, unless its like a Saturday or Holiday.

I don't think the problem is exclusively noise.

dudes you got to train your neighbours!
1. play music loud allll the time! that way when you stop playing music the sound of your pins is like silence to them
2. always ensure your neighbours think youre a ,pshyco,killer,mafioso,gangmember,axmurderer,freak,biker, or whatever and then only say hello when you meet them every 12th time or so but in a freaky way.
3. act like your deaf.
4. become real good friends with the male neighbour invite him to play and drink beers!!!

i am more like point 2 so my neighbours complained only once never heard them since.
good luck

I have a feeling that if a neighbour starts complaining, they are also opening a door not easily closed for getting complaints back so I think most normal people tend to accept some noise as long as it is not 24/7 or late after midnight in the middle of the week

Or you could just start sleeping around with them all and get some favors.

+1 (the female ones that is!)

Pics of her or it didn't happen...

100% agree with this especially in New York. You let people know what you have now they listen for it and wait to complain. Some spiteful jealous people out there.

Had a Williams EM Gulfstream in the apartment in college.
It was LOUD.
However, the whole building was exclusively college students and was across the street from a bar which was also loud at times.
Very few complaints, mostly just people joining the party.

I know this topic is mentioned a lot and I'm glad here's another. I live in a newer condo with neighbors directly above me. I believe it's poorly insulated as I can hear every damn step they take. I'm on the ground floor with 9 ft ceilings in a carpeted room and am wondering how much they can hear from my machine. My play window is 12pm to 8pm including weekends. Does most sound from a pin travel down the legs? I want to enjoy my hobby but refuse to ever be a nuisance to my neighbors. Thanks for your opinions.

At my house, my games are basically right below our master bedroom. If I'm playing pinball and you go into our bedroom, it sounds like I'm playing in the bedroom. Now I have an unfinished basement so nothing really to muffle the sound, but if you're playing with the volume up a bit, I bet your neighbors can hear you easily especially if you can hear them walking around. I suggest talking with them about it and come to an agreement of when you're going to play. I think 12-8 is more than reasonable, but you never know what you're neighbors are going to be like.

I lived next to someone in a condo complex and there was one shared wall. I had the cops called on me multiple times because she said her walls were shaking. When the cops showed up (both times), I was asleep and the tv was on very low. The cops thought they had the wrong house.

Dude, you hella snore

My first pinball machine was Eight Ball. I lived on the second floor of a 3 story apartment. I was 30 at the time and it never occurred to me that it might bother anyone. A month or so after I got it, the (adult) children of the downstairs neighbor knocked on my door and wondered what was making all of the noise. Then they saw the machine and laughed. Said that for the life of them they couldn't figure out what could have been making the noise they were hearing when they visited. Fortunately, their mother was 90% deaf (seriously), so it didn't bother her. After that I dialed it down a little bit and didn't play all hours of the night.

My husband and I are living in a basement rental apartment for 6-7 months while the house is undergoing a complete reno. Rentals are extremely scarce in our city. Month to month is especially hard to find - and forget about month to month unfurnished (which is what we wanted). He manages to find a place that's month to month, reasonable, unfurnished, two blocks away from our house and that has this very strange room in the back that's the perfect size for one pin (although the head had to come off to make it fit through the door). So of course the big decision was which one to bring...

One of my staff members lives in a rental condo and can hear the neighbour pee through the wall (condo has a reputation for not being very well built). I'm guessing if she can hear him pee then she can hear the rest as well...

Tell her to bust her head through the thin wall and yell "HERE'S JOHNNY" at him while he's taking a piss and scare the shit out of him