hello all...

so for someone like me who is extremely cramped for space in my x because of work equipment in there during the week... what's do you guys think would be a good solution to lack of bass?

Please don't say sub and amp, there's not room... I need a solution that fits in the factory locations. I removed my 1000watt amp, and my huge vented 12" box months ago to put tools in the truck...

Here's what I'm toying with. 4 channel amp under the passenger seat to run all of the speakers. 6.5" components up front. keep 6x9's out back, thinking about buying a good set of component 6x9's and just using the woofers from them... then run the rear channel of the amp through a low pass crossover so all I have is bass in the 6x9's. any suggestions??? I know it's not going to be like 10's and certainly not like the 12 I got rid of, but It should suffice, and sound pretty good over all... bass may not be dramatic...

I also want to get some sound damping material and line the outer door skins, and the inner door skins, as well as the hatch, and rear side panels. I want to seal up the holes in the door skins with some metal fill panels glued in with silicone (that way they can be cut free easily) before I do the outer layer of acoustic mat... should make for a nice sealed enclosure for the components... and a nice quiet ride for me, at least when the tunes are low...

What have others experiences been with sound damping materials? what works the best, and how dramatic was the before/after difference? in other words is it worth the time and money to do it???

By the way, right now i'm running an old Sony CDX-FW700 head unit. I have sony xplod 6.5's up front and pioneer 6x9s out back, I remember I had a really hard time finding 6x9's that would fit and allow the interior trim to fit back in, I can't remember the depth either... I have the wiring still there for the amp, but no amp installed right now.

opinions anyone?

I had Memphis 6.5's all around in one of my civics and with a small amp (can't remember the wattage), it produced a good sound even without cancelling the highs to the rears. I was really pleased with the sound quality from the Memphis sets.

Dynamat for your sound dampening material. I've heard it works really well and will also cut down on road noise.

Well that sounds like a pretty good plan to me. I'd try crutchfeild for a goos source of equipment, they also sell dynamat there as well. I personally have infinity speakers in my X and they sound great... Good luck!

I have an old Alpine Flex-5 amp Velcro'd under that passenger seat, a component set up front (decent Pioneers) and I have a set of Alpine 6X9s that sound great.

The dynamat is what I used for the sound competitions and it did add a coule decibals. even did the roof and to not hear the clanking of rain sounds nice

if you can spare 6 inches (depth) of trunk space.....MTX makes a shallow sub but that houses two tens....just throwing that out there

Drake, I had forgotten about memphis... shame on me, I had memphis speakers in an Escort I had a few years ago, and they were awesome speakers. I'll have to check them out again and see what they have now. I know infinity is good quality too, as well as the alpines also suggested.

As for the MTX shallow box, that's a good idea, thanks, however I've got tools in the back, as well as in the back seat so... what I really need to do is just get a trailer for all the tools, but the truck alone is working for now and not costing any extra, so as long as it's just me I don't see the need... I'll just unload the crap if I need to carry people or other stuff...

modxterra, did the dynamat actually make a noticeable difference in road noise? Man I rode in a friends 08 buick enclave last weekend and let me tell you that thing is silent, you can hear the engine a little on acceleration but cruising is absolutely silent. I want my x to be like that on the road... can't spend green like that for an enclave, so any improvements to the x are a plus.

Thanks for the suggestions.

yea it did make a difference. i did all the doors, hatch, roof and the floor. they do make a under the hood kit that cuts all the engine noise but then it would trap the heat under there. If you can get dynamat cheap from somewhere then just grab a few trunk kits and get to work on it

I've sound deadened hundreds of cars and it makes a huge difference. There are many different companies that sell it. I personally use DexDamp, but that's just me, I like it the best. The Dynamat Xtreme is good, Second skin is good, Rattle trap is good if you're on a budget. Some cost more than others (cough, cough, Dynamat), some is thicker than others. It comes down to how much you can cover within your budget.

Just whatever you do, do not get anything that has an asphalt base! Make sure it is a butyl base with the aluminum.

Yeah don't go cheap the asphalt stuff stinks up the cab. I went the Second Skin route I'd say it was high quality mat. It killed a lot of road noise. You don't really notice it after applying it. I didn't at least as I did it one door at a time. But, have drove a few different cars over the week while my X was in the shop. Then going back to the X all I have to say is wow what a difference. The X is just so much more quiet them my moms CR-v and I'm rocking huge A/t treads. It's not so much quieter as it is just more dampened. I don't hear wind and rocks getting tossed.

Just whatever you do, do not get anything that has an asphalt base! Make sure it is a butyl base with the aluminum.

Thanks for the tip, I wouldn't have known that. Actually I think one of the ones I was looking at was asphalt based, so it's good I asked... wouldn't want to stink up the truck...

Probably going to find some dynamat extreme on ebay and start with just the front doors and rear sides... after I run new speaker wires of course for future addition of an amp... then later I'll get some more and do the rest, floors, rear doors, and hatch... probably not doing the roof...

Anyone know if herculiner will dampen noise?

:wink-big:

It will help a little, but nothing like the real deal.

I agree with most of the posts so far...sound dampening the doors is worth it. The roof will require a ton of product and you will not benefit from it so I would pass there. Also think about getting some foam product (2-3inch laminated) and putting that in the doors as well... basically filling the space between the dynamat and plastic... it will take the rattle out of the door plastic and not add that much weight. Also consider putting shims in between plastic parts to take out the vibrations. Don't use house sealer (expanding foam) as it just makes a mess and can keep expanding, ripping out your panels. As for which product to use... dynamat is the standard but there are alot of good products out there. Stay away from the ashfalt style as they do stink. I perfer hushmat... it's not expensive and works like a dream.

As for your sub question... does your head unit have High and Low pass filters? if you are running components in the front you might be able to tune your rear 6x9 to give more bass. Unless you are running a sub you will never get the same thump. Have you thought about hiding a small box on the floor behind the center console? maybe put a shallow depth 10inch in there? They require just under a cubic foot of space to work properly... then just bannana clip it with a quick release latch so you can remove in a pinch. I've seen it done before and you will find you can leave it in for more than you think.
Jer

I agree with most of the posts so far...sound dampening the doors is worth it. The roof will require a ton of product and you will not benefit from it so I would pass there. Also think about getting some foam product (2-3inch laminated) and putting that in the doors as well... basically filling the space between the dynamat and plastic... it will take the rattle out of the door plastic and not add that much weight. Also consider putting shims in between plastic parts to take out the vibrations. Don't use house sealer (expanding foam) as it just makes a mess and can keep expanding, ripping out your panels. As for which product to use... dynamat is the standard but there are alot of good products out there. Stay away from the ashfalt style as they do stink. I perfer hushmat... it's not expensive and works like a dream.

As for your sub question... does your head unit have High and Low pass filters? if you are running components in the front you might be able to tune your rear 6x9 to give more bass. Unless you are running a sub you will never get the same thump. Have you thought about hiding a small box on the floor behind the center console? maybe put a shallow depth 10inch in there? They require just under a cubic foot of space to work properly... then just bannana clip it with a quick release latch so you can remove in a pinch. I've seen it done before and you will find you can leave it in for more than you think.
Jer

Would it be possible to by a semi thick mattress pad say from wal mart and shove that in the hatch pannel and side pannels to cancel and rattling in the panels and hatch?

That could work. What you want to do is take the rattle out of the panels but not add too much weight. I'm sure those blue camping matts would work in a pinch.
I will find out the name of the stuff in my panels and let you know.
Jer

One thing to remember with dynamat and similar soundproofing is that you have to heat it's adhesive to apply it properly so invest in a good heat gun. One bad thing I noticed with dynamat is that in extreme hot temps over time, some dynamat sections would unpeel since the ambient temp got so hot even when it was professionally applied. This was in Hawaii mind you where humidity and heat can get up there so keep that in mind when considering your application.

Also, an engineer once told me that when you get rattles you have reached those parts' resonant frequencies. What dynamat does is add weight to change the resonant frequency so that it takes more power (vibration) to get that part to move (vibrate). In essence, you can add anything heavy, say for example, a heavy speaker magnet to a rattling sheet metal panel and achieve the same effect. It is not practical but achieves the same effect. Try it if you don't believe me.

If it was any other vehicle, i'd add dynamat but since i got my X to enjoy the outdoors alot more, i kinda like the road noise.

I've been a huge fan of second skin audio for a few years now really snuffed the sound in the X. I'm ordering more supplies to do the floor and remaining doors.

www.secondskinaudio.com

well, I finally got around to doing something with it.

I saw somewhere that you could use diy door/window/roof flashing tape from lowes/home depot as a cheap solution to dampen vibration. well, I went to lowes and back in the roofing section they have 33' x 6" rolls of it, it's aluminum backed butyl rubber tape (same material as dynamat xtreme, just not as thick, and about 1/4 the cost). you can also get a 9" wide roll if you want to do your floors. the 6" wide roll is perfect to work with inside the doors.

I put a double layer on the front doors. did the inside of the door, as well as the outer metal just behind the door panel.

I also did the rears as well. to have only spent $31 the difference was phenomenal! my door speakers sound awesome and the panels no longer rattle.

so there ya go, a cheap solution. and NO it is not dynamat by any means, but it does work. also stay away from the ones with plastic backing or paper backing, o0nly use aluminum backed ones. The type with aluminum backing doesn't seem to put off any odor once installed. so if you're on a tight budget like me, and want some sound damping material, this is the way to go!

well, I finally got around to doing something with it.

I saw somewhere that you could use diy door/window/roof flashing tape from lowes/home depot as a cheap solution to dampen vibration. well, I went to lowes and back in the roofing section they have 33' x 6" rolls of it, it's aluminum backed, and you can also get a 9" wide roll as well if you want to do your floors. the 6" wide roll is perfect to work with inside the doors.

I put a double layer on the front doors. did the inside of the door, as well as the outer metal just behind the door panel.

I also did the rears as well. to have only spent $31 the difference was phenomenal! my door speakers sound awesome and the panels no longer rattle.

so there ya go, a cheap solution. and NO it is not dynamat by any means, but it does work. also stay away from the ones with plastic backing or paper backing, o0nly use aluminum backed ones. The type with aluminum backing doesn't seem to put off any odor once installed. so if you're on a tight budget like me, and want some sound damping material, this is the way to go!

Good deal im definetly gonna try that cuz im a college with almost zero dollars. Glad this worked for you im gonna try it soon!

Funny thing I just saw that stuff the other day and thought it looked similar to the dampeners under the rear cargo mat and uder the floor carpet. That is a really great idea and cost -effective too. i might try that as well.

I havnt looked into it but you could try modifying the storage space under the floor in the back.(not sure if the 01 has this) Theres a possibility that you could fit a shallow mount 10'' or 12'' in there

the 01's don't have enough space under the floor liner for a sub...barely big enough for the tiny jack that goes underneath it!!! I wish it was though!!!

I know this is and old thread but I thought I'd resurrect it.

I'm thinking of building a custom box to go across the rear seat floor board, and mount two Kicker CVR 8"s, or any other relatively shallow depth sub, that fire down back there and mount the amp under the passenger's seat.

I think that if it's done correctly it would work out great, and not take up much needed cargo space, plus I could still use my back seat.

has anybody done anything like that?

im not sure about the 01 model, but you might be able to get the stock rockford sub to fit. it doesnt take up alot of room. IDK if the early models had it though.

I think one would fit, not sure if the screw holes would line up with anything. I just found one on ebay from an '04. no trim panel though just the sub.

did they run it off of the head unit, or did they have an amp for those?

The price was reasonable, i may consider that.

im pretty sure it came stock with a small amp and they can run off any head unit. But if you have your own amp you could probably wire it up like a regular sub.