Prescott Valley, AZ Noise from Specific Sources: Low-Frequency Bass Limits (2026)

The Town Code never uses the word bass and sets no decibel figure by frequency. The provision that reaches thumping subwoofers and low-frequency music is Town Code § 10-01-070(C)(2)(a), which makes it unlawful for any person to operate personal or commercial sound amplification systems within the Town of Prescott Valley at any time in such a manner or with such volume that the sound is plainly audible at a distance of fifty (50) feet in any direction from the operator, or that causes a person to be aware of vibration accompanying the sound at a distance of fifty (50) feet or more.

Two features matter for bass. First, vibration is a separate trigger from audibility: music that cannot be understood at fifty (50) feet but still makes a person aware of vibration at that distance violates the subparagraph. Second, the rule applies at any time, day or night, and covers personal and commercial systems. Sound amplification system is defined to include any radio, stereo, musical instrument, compact disc, or sound or musical recorder or player, so a home stereo, a vehicle audio system and a business sound system are all within it. Plainly audible means any sound that can be detected by a person using his or her unaided hearing faculties, so enforcement does not depend on a meter.

Related limits sit in the same section. Portable hand-held systems on public property face the fifty (50) foot test from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and cannot be detected by anyone other than the operator from 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. Music played by a business or residence is also a nuisance if unreasonably loud, with a rebuttable presumption of unreasonableness above 60 dB(A) between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Noise created in a C1, C2 or C3 commercial area is instead measured inside a complainant's closed-window dwelling under Table 1. Subsection E exempts parades, concerts, festivals and similar activities within sound limits approved by the Town.