Sound Proofing

[Guy]

i'm pretty sure that to do your car you could find dynamat for £250

i did my whole boot (mk3) and under rear seats for about £75 - worked a treat

[Len]

Its not really the weight but to stop metal panels resonating. Its down to harmonics really. metal panels all vibrating at different frequencies.
If you deaden them less background sound gets created.

Sound proofing is done with absorbant material, like felt type matting.

Best place for a starting point is under the back seat! On most models there is nothing under there!
The other most important place is the doors. Best on outer skin.

depends if you are talking about sound deadening or proofing. being in the audio section I was assuming deadening.

If you want cheap sound proofing then the stuff you will want are carrymats. They are used for camping and are thin and made of foam. They work wonders and are apparently identical to the more expensive dedicated soundproofing you can buy.

I have used carrymats to make surfboards! (bodyboards)

Yea in a car situation its not really proofing but deadening.

[tommk3cab]

Its not really the weight but to stop metal panels resonating. Its down to harmonics really. metal panels all vibrating at different frequencies.
If you deaden them less background sound gets created.

Sound proofing is done with absorbant material, like felt type matting.

Best place for a starting point is under the back seat! On most models there is nothing under there!
The other most important place is the doors. Best on outer skin.

depends if you are talking about sound deadening or proofing. being in the audio section I was assuming deadening.

If you want cheap sound proofing then the stuff you will want are carrymats. They are used for camping and are thin and made of foam. They work wonders and are apparently identical to the more expensive dedicated soundproofing you can buy.

I have used carrymats to make surfboards! (bodyboards)

Yea in a car situation its not really proofing but deadening.

Proofing and deadening have 2 different aims and 2 different materials are used to achieve these aims.

Proofing uses ( normally) a closed cell foam, or OEM its normally that horrid felty stuff. A cheap way to upgrade or add to the standard proofing is..http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120270656481&cguid=be2e882411f0a0aad2457765fece4594#ebayphotohosting. you will need to flatten them before hand though.


Deadening is adding weight to certain areas with a product similar to dynamat which is heavy, normally it will have a high bitumen content and be very similar to a solid version of tar ( the stuff used to lay tarmac). A cheap version of this is flashing tape.. http://www.screwfix.com/prods/72438/Sealants-Adhesives/Tapes/Insulating-Sealing-Tape/Flashing-Tape-225mm-x-10m?cm_re=SEARCHPROMO-_-FLASHING%20TAPE-_-72438

There is nothing stopping you doing both of the above but to put it simply proofing is keeping unwanted sound out and deadening is keeping wanted sound in.

Ideal places to proof are wheelarches.
Ideal places to deaden is anywhere there is speakers, especially in your doors.

[Josho]

Is it true that it slows the car down siginifantly on smaller engines?

[Ben Lessani]

Depends on what you put in. I loaded mine up with 2 packs - probably about 30kgs.

So its like driving round with a small child. Hardly noticeable.

[garfayliu]

I did a load of research a couple of years back and concluded that second skin was the best.
http://www.secondskinaudio.co.uk/ and slgihtly cheaper than dynamat too.

I'll try to find the webpage that compared all the sound proofing products avail, inc dynamat, second skin, flashing tape, etc...

[madmanluke]

I did a load of research a couple of years back and concluded that second skin was the best.
http://www.secondskinaudio.co.uk/ and slgihtly cheaper than dynamat too.

I'll try to find the webpage that compared all the sound proofing products avail, inc dynamat, second skin, flashing tape, etc...

That stuff looks like what im after, the entry level stuff. + at £87 for 40sq ft its not, cheap, yet its not majorly over expensive in my view.
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/second-skin-damplifier-bulk-p-5503.html

i think i have been sugesed by a friend that although brown bread is the cheaper stuff, it does that job ok. has any one had any experiance with that at all? id like to obviously keep the costs down to a minimum as we all know how much we have to spend in upkeep to keep the bloody cars going!
Thanks for all the help guys

[tommk3cab]

second skin was the best.

Its not far off, you would be hard pushed to beat it. There is some stuff from the states which is pretty much unbeatable, I can't remember its name.
I am not sure it is meant to be used as sound deadening, I mean I think it had another use originally.

[upfront84]

If you pop over to talkaudio you may be able to acquire some magic mat which has been highly rated by a lot of people, you wont get it in your local shop though.

A budget of 250 should be plenty to do most of the car.

There are cheaper ways to reduce lost sound and cut down on rattles, some cheap methods i;ve used before have included expanding foam sprayed behind panels where they are too awkward to put deadening sheets onto, this works better than you would expect and is great at reducing the vibration noises that annoy so much.

If you want to make the most of your budget put in the places it will make the most difference, i.e behind your door speakers and murder your boot with it.

To be honest with your budget you could easily get a load of dynamat extreme and do most of the car - if its still not enough save up some more and add it to the places you need.

[Mew]

If you want cheap sound proofing then the stuff you will want are carrymats. They are used for camping and are thin and made of foam. They work wonders and are apparently identical to the more expensive dedicated soundproofing you can buy.

B&Q laminate flooring underlay is what i used a while ago. sh!t loads for about a fiver iirc