Acoustical Instruments - a Bad Idea??

@newton_john 

So I dampen them and cover the sound hole with a soft cloth.

The body will still resonate.

I have a piano in one music room and a couple of violins, guitars, etc in another room usually. Area of impingement  is too small, to begin with, for any significant energy transfer. You are also not playing sine sweeps through the frequency band and letting it dwell on some resonant frequency associated with some instrument.

One would have a lot more to worry about with the room walls themselves, including ceiling and floor. All rooms fabricated with conventional construction produce significant noise commensurate with overall spl level, lower octave energy, room modes & other.  Special construction can mitigate that, not expensive to do and makes a big difference to attainable resolution.

No. My grand is right next to a speaker.

Although I'm sure some will imagine something.

@macg19 

Most likely, but it was the sound of the strings that was intrusive.

I have a set of drums, a piano, a whole bunch of percussion instruments.  They are part of my references.  If the snares sing, it is because I forgot to throw the strainer.  It is all good.