[chawklit]

I was just wondering how much dynamat people are putting in their car.

I'm hesitant to put too much, but I don't know how much will be effective (As in, if I don't put enough in, will it just be a waste of money because there is not enough?). :-?

 

[CloNeGTS]

yeah, I've wondered about the stuff. Without doing the whole car, is it even worth it?

I'm so used to small, unsound-proofed cars.....I don't think I'll bother with the stuff.

 

[MKIVSupra]

I am having a trunk kit put in and some in the doors. Another thing it helps with is vibration or buzzing. Nothing I hate more than a car next to me buzzing from the bass.

 

[ldivinag]

i will do the doors and the underside of the trunk lid. that's where it's gonna be resonating the most...

then if and when, the roof and the floor, since they have nothing or close to nothing...

 

[WRX_Mundi]

I am only doing front speakers right now, and do not see myself ever doing a sub. I am putting off rears for now. I have bought a Dynamat Extreme door kit which is 4 pieces of 12" x 36" [12 sqft @ 0.45 lbs/sqft = 5.4 lbs]. I plan to put this on the front doors only, and maybe double up behind the speakers.

You'll note that their inexpensive Speaker kits (only $18 for the extreme kit at onlinecarstereo.com) just put it behind the speakers. Obviously that is putting just a tiny amount and is nowhere near doing the whole car.

Now I am no expert in this, by all means. However, I have read a number of reports that it does work and really improves the sound, especially the bass and mid-bass. Without a sub I am concerned about the bass from my main speakers, so I'm thinking I'll spend the money / weight. I won't be doing a before/after comparison (will put it in at the same time the speakers go in), so I won't be able to give you my opinion on the effectiveness. After all, a lot of people believed in green markers on CDs, so who really knows. But it makes at least some logical sense, so I'll give it a try.

Since the STi is a performance car, I won't be putting more in. With no sub and the volume I listen to music, I won't worry about resonating (there is not much I hate more than hearing thump, thump from any car -- impressed is rather the opposite of my reaction). For a minivan or a highway cruiser, I could see coating as much of the car as possible with this stuff (or Brown Bread), then using some of the foam absorber in door panels to really give a solid feel and block a lot of noise. Sounds great, but it would add a lot of weight. I'm already getting people suggesting that I'm stupid for putting a stereo in the STi at all.

 

[slvrphish]

Like many of the other flavors on the market PartsExpress has a "lightweight" varity. I am not sure how well it does at sound damping, but it is a heck of a lot less expensive. As are their other varities.

 

[CloNeGTS]

I can certainly say that the difference in a car with and without Dynomat is a very big difference. It's like being in a soundproof room vs. a room with square walls and nothing hanging on them. No echo....it just seems like the sound comes to your ears and your ears only. Very wonderful sound.

However.....is there a point of dimishing returns with the stuff? If you only do the trunk lid and the doors, will it make any difference at all?

 

[daghdha]

It does, but not as much as you would think...I think the order in effectiveness goes:

door
trunk
firewall
floor
roof

 

[slvrphish]

However.....is there a point of dimishing returns with the stuff? If you only do the trunk lid and the doors, will it make any difference at all?

Rob, indeed. That has been the question that I am wrestling with. After surfing around last night doing some reading. What I think I am going to do is the front doors and maybe the trunk. I know in the vehicles that I have been in that were Dynamatted (or whatever flavor it was) there was a HUGE difference as you said. However, they were bumper to bumper and floor to roof installs. (If I am not mistaken one even had an extra-think "rubber" coating sprayed on the underside of the car. I don't know what difference this made, but it looked the part.)

After looking around last night the best deals I found on door kits were Cascade DK-1 Door Kit [$49.50] and Dynamat Xtreme Door Kit [$49.99]. For Trunk kits it was the Cascade TK-1 Trunk Kit [$69.85]and the Dynamat Trunk Kit [$79.99]. At first I thought I would go with the Cascade products, but then I remembered about The Zeb carrying Dynamat. The pricing being just about the same I think I will go with the Dynamat. I have applied the Xtreme before (not in cars) and it is very easy to apply. The back end screw driver (hard round plastic variety) worked as well as the roller did. And as I think it is pretty pointless to order such things from two different locations if I order a trunk kit I will order it from The Zeb also.

Just my two bits.

 

[CloNeGTS]

Thanks for the links. Those are great. If you end up installing either anytime soon, be sure to post up how it went.

 

[turbs]

So I take it this is a kind of sound proofing?

 

[BIG3ETR]

I suggest to use Ebay. There you will find the lowest prices around. I just found this...http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3031752375&category=1498

Jim

 

[4MLA1FN]

just had my stereo installed. i took some pics of the doors in case anyone might find it useful. the third one shows the dynamat'd rear door. (that's dynamat extreme.) note the speaker hole on the rear door had to be cut to accept my alpine 136a 5.25" speakers.

btw, my tech (henry @ tweeters in manassas, va) used two door kits and there was some left over.

 

[CloNeGTS]

How does it sound? Can you notice any diff from past cars w/o the mat?

 

[Hispanics]

I don't like the idea of cutting sheet metal on my new STI!!

 

[4MLA1FN]

I don't like the idea of cutting sheet metal on my new STI!!

sounds like you'll be putting 4" speakers back then. joking aside. that sheet metal is probably 1/16" thick. i was amazed at how thin. as as little as he had to take off, i don't think it makes the least bit of difference.

 

[4MLA1FN]

How does it sound? Can you notice any diff from past cars w/o the mat?

the stereo sounds very good to me. (with the 9815, there's so much tweaking you can do, and i've done none of it yet.) it is difficult/unfair to do a comparison to my previous cars since i have no recollection of what my old cars sounded like when they were 3weeks and 4days old. i do have second thoughts, but *only* because i went purely on their recommendation and not based on any objective data. at the very least, the physics of it makes sense, so i figured it was better to be safe than sorry. finally, the dynamat and its installation "only" cost 10% of all the equipment i had installed. from this perspective, it seems a reasonable cost to protect a bigger investment.

 

[CloNeGTS]

Well good to hear. Keep up informed as you 'tweak'.

 

[slvrphish]

I don't like the idea of cutting sheet metal on my new STI!!

Hispanics nor am I. I don't think,however, that the amount that would be cut would amount to much as far as the structural integrity goes. It is just the principal.

However, I do believe there is a solution. East Coast WRX makes and sales speaker adapters for the front and rear doors; as well as tweeter brackets. You can take a look at his STi installation document [in rar format] for more info.

I have mine and am just waiting to install them. Stephen is an extremely helpful individual, and I am sure he would be willing to answer any questions you might have.

 

[CloNeGTS]

Pics would be nice.....

I'm trying to figure how he made those adapters. Without pictures, I'm guessing he just make a plate to raise the speaker out of the hole a ways. How much room do you have to raise the speaker out though?