Knowing more than me is not difficult. The porcelain dogs would vibrate and create an easy to hear extra noise. Unless as I pointed out they were modified. Pe

Knowing more than me is not difficult. The porcelain dogs would vibrate and create an easy to hear extra noise. Unless as I pointed out they were modified. Perhaps by making them heavy and letting them sit on a robber mat or some such. Noise from a good bass makes all manner of things vibrate. Some of which is noticeable. About the fireplace. An open fireplace would be noticeable. Perhaps he has filled it in. even with some absorbing material. I am not convinced about his skill level on matters like acoustics. I dont think he could sit down and the do all the math. What he could do was to try things out, and incrementally make improvements. Ultimately, he created a system he thought was great and that was what mattered. In my day I would spend endless hours moving things down to a mm here or there. Moving acoustic treatments all around, all such stuff. Aside from the general rules, I did not have the math, so I tried to find a solution that I loved.