This is an account of personal sound space, a way of describing the auditory environment of an individual that emphasizes their conscious participation in a dynamic social exchange within that space, which is meant as a theoretical groundwork for further empirical research. The concept draws on ideas from across cultural studies to articulate a form of individualized auditory experience latent in the discourse. The term is structured into sound space, personal space and personal sound, whose concepts are explored individually as well as integrated in the collective term. Sonic experience is framed as a dynamic spatial-social complex whose conceptualization involves culturally informed ideas of territory and authority. This is compounded by attitudes of property and agency reinforced by the proliferation of personal audio technologies.