Sound Proofing..

[naughtika]

hey fellas..

just out of curiosity.. would you guys add/put sound proofing in your vr4?

reason i ask.. i turned my sub around and its sounding ALOT better but now the car's a little rattly..

I think I'm considering adding more sound proofing towards the rear.. since that's where I notice where the unpleasant sound is coming from..

any brands you guys recommend? something that actually works.. something that's not too heavy..

any inputs appreciated

 

[frozen]

go see northfield and get some dynamat. you wont regret it. i had the whole rear end of my last car done. makes the sound MUCH clearer, and soundproofs, along with removing ALL rattles. best stuff ive ever seen

Just watch your budget, dynamat though being great, costs quite a bit.. i think its 150 bucks a sheet.

ok another edit - http://www.dynamat.com/store/store-car.asp thats the pricings. its not too expensive for doors, but trunk kit is 170. DEFINATELY worth the spend in my opinion... made my 2 type R's sound alot better and kept the bass where i wanted it.

 

[Guest]

Yea I'm going to put Dynamat in my doors when I get new speakers, at lot later on though.
I got some off ebay and item+postage from USA still added up to be a lot cheaper than the shops.

 

[bradc]

cardboard if you're on the cheap

 

[snickells]

Or flat-tac from Bunnings which is exactly the same stuff without the logo printed on it. It should be in the roofing/guttering section. I did the Prelude in it yonks back and it worked a treat.

 

[SiliconAngel]

Or you could try lightweight sponge foam - usually dark grey in colour and used for packing fragile equipment, you can get it in various thickness sheets. Doesn't have the same deadening properties as Dynamat and won't kill body panel rattles in the same way, but it will absorb sound and reduce (eliminate, if you have enough of it) reflections which will substantially reduce vibration as less sound will be getting through to your panels.

This type of foam is also cut-to-shape for sound-proof rooms - ever seen a sound lab with inside walls that look like porcupines? All those tall pyramids are light-weight foam cut to a template and attached individually.

Personally I'd only ever use Dynamat if I had a competition show car or a particular niggling rattle I couldn't eliminate any other way. Dynamat is heavy sh!t, and weight in a car = bad, mmkay?

Just my 2c

 

[frozen]

true silicon never thought of weight... i didnt think it was 'that' heavy.. <5kg per door / boot id have thought. maybe less? or am i very wrong hehe

 

[naughtika]

how about this dynaspray?

http://www.dynamat.com/products_car_audio_dynaspray.html

im kinda lazy to cut and shape up things.. and i might end up just wasting the product..

 

[weeaazz]

nothing works as good as dynamat,if you like your music and want to hear it at its clearest,save for dynamat for sure,ebay has pretty cheap options too

 

[Guest]

Fundamentally, to stop rattles you need to add more weight to the panels. I wouldn't use cheap stuff as they are notorious for falling off under the summer heat.

Definitely use dynamat - Christian, you can hear my car tomorrow night and see hear how it's worked on my car.

Leigh

 

[frozen]

if i had a spare $300 id have my sound system installed already too.. all 6-8 grands worth hehe... (300 is the cost to buy the wiring i need from the US, or pay 700 for the exact same kit here....)

look around for dynamat though, but you can definately get it at northfield (though possibly with some markup.. try beat them down in price )

 

[SiliconAngel]

Not that I'm trying to knock it or anything, but if you've got panels that are rattling so badly that you need dynamat you might have other problems more substantial than an annoying buzz accompanying your bass... At the end of the day a car isn't meant to be, and never WILL be, a perfect audio environment.

Don't get me wrong, if you've got money to burn and car audio is your thing, knock yourself out! I've had friends who have had some of Australia's best competition stereos and they loved every minute of it. But then, I've also seen just how much money you can throw at this stuff and frankly (other than volume) the difference in audio QUALITY between a nearly $200,000 install and a $10,000 one are SFA. If high-quality music is really what you're chasing, dump your cash on a pair of B&W 801 speakers and a good amp and you're 98% of the way to human audio reproduction perfection.

Sorry guys, I'm really not trying to be negative here - I've just seen and heard way too many people talk BS about car audio for years and at the end of the day 90% of it is hype. A car's meant to be transportation first and foremost, and having great music to drive to is part of that great experience. But adding a buttload of weight to your car just to dampen sound vibration... well, you might as well buy a Bentley *shrugs*

 

[SiliconAngel]

I've just seen and heard way too many people talk BS about car audio for years and at the end of the day 90% of it is hype.

And can I just reiterate here, when I said that I wasn't trying to say ANYONE on here is talking BS - you're relating your honest experiences, and that's cool - its exactly what we want! I guess I'm just being Devil's Advocate for anyone reading this, wondering if Dynamat is worth it (in terms of initial $$ cost, and fuel economy / weight cost down the line). Obviously it's totally up to the individual, and for those of you who swear by it I'm honestly not knocking your opinion. I just personally don't think the benefits outweigh the costs

 

[weeaazz]

haha so true,why spend more on the sound than u did on the car

but back to dynamat,it realy is the best stuff and it isnt too heavy,sure itll add a few extra kg's but you realy do notice a difference,you gotta sacrifice something to make another thing better

 

[frozen]

A car's meant to be transportation first and foremost, and having great music to drive to is part of that great experience. But adding a buttload of weight to your car just to dampen sound vibration... well, you might as well buy a Bentley *shrugs*

If it were just for transportation id have bought a common-as-dog-shit commodore and throw some 6x9s in it like everyone else does. To me, its more of a pleasure of driving cross with display of effort and uniqueness.. I tend to wax my car more than anyone else i know, love to make it look great with nice wheels, custom changes, etc. A premium sound system just adds that little bit of extra luxury.

Not trying to say you're wrong, just that i personally dont agree that its just transportation with a bit of extra music - its a hobby / piece of art, and a little bit of extra technology gives that little 'extra' feel when you're driving it, and exhibiting it to the public. (my install is definately going to be removable however, you are 100% correct about weight being a pain in the ass..)

 

[mookers]

The sound system in my Astina cost me less than $1000 and I reckon it sounds great, and while I don't have sooper dooper audiophilic hearing, my ears aren't made of cloth either.

I've had it for so long I can't even remember all the brands I used - decent mid-price head unit, 6.5" triaxials in the front doors, 6x9" triaxials and a 12" sub in a custom enclosure behind the rear seats (heavy as shit, but removable in five minutes).

The sub and sub amp are cheap audioline units I think, but the Astina is an 18 year old car with a hell of a lot of road noise and there really isn't any point spending a lot more money when the listening environment is so polluted.

My favourite feature is the way I installed it so that when I park the car and leave it, you can't even tell there is a sound system at all... something I learned to do with my cars in California where stereos got stolen all the time.

Luckily for me it doesn't seem to have any nasty rattles - pretty good for such an old car!

 

[naughtika]

just had a look and weighed the dynamats, they're not as heavy as I thought they were.. looks like i'll buy some..

btw... I've already put silicon between panels.. works like a treat.. the rattles have come down a bit now.. but i still hear a bit when i turn up the bass..

 

[SiliconAngel]

If it were just for transportation id have bought a common-as-dog-shit commodore and throw some 6x9s in it like everyone else does. To me, its more of a pleasure of driving cross with display of effort and uniqueness..

Haha I didn't mean a car is 'just' transportation, just that transportation is its primary purpose. I mean, MOST people don't buy a car to sit on their front lawn or in their garage primarily for the purposes of looking pretty and containing a stereo, the purpose of the car is transport and looking fantastic and sounding great are secondary (even if they are critical criteria).

You're right, for people like us cars are a hobby and a passion - our cars are a little bit of an extension of ourselves, our personalities, how we see ourselves. We want our cars to show the world a little piece of us. To me, that means tasteful, understated but immaculate appearance, lithe and powerful (hence wanting to shave weight where practical and add as little as possible). To others it means big and strong, to others still its all about bling. None of this is wrong if it makes you happy, its all just opinion after all

 

[frozen]

well said

 

[Guest]

For me, having a good stereo is just as important as having a good car.

Leigh