I just installed dynamat in my front two doors... Not only did the rattle/buzz go away....but my system sounds LOUDER!!!!???? Is that possible? Dynamat is good stuff.

 

Did you have it put on the interior door panel as well as on the exterior metalwork?

 

Just on the metal and around the speaker. Also put some in the seam where the panel meets the metal of the door. Then, after closing it all back up took and X-Acto knife and trimmed the excess off.

 

How much did u buy? I'm thinking about it but would wnat to know how much i need to spend... since u said u put it around the speaker and the metal of the door...

did u use the 10X10 pieces for the around the speaker part and bought extra for the metal parts of the door?

Thanks

 

Dynamat is great! Check out dynamat.com for more info. on the type of
Dynamat product is best for your MINI.

The price of the Dynamat Extreme product for two doors retails around $89 and this is 4 times better than the "original dynamat" product.

 

Hey Pooky,

When you say "$89 for two doors", do you mean that you cover the whole door, or just the area around the speakers? Also, do you have to cover the whole door (under the interior trim) to get the proper benefit?

Thanks for your 2 cents.

Spike

 

>>Hey Pooky,
>>
>>When you say "$89 for two doors", do you mean that you cover the whole door, or just the area around the speakers? Also, do you have to cover the whole door (under the interior trim) to get the proper benefit?
>>
>>Thanks for your 2 cents.
>>
>>Spike


Oh, the Dynamat Extreme Door Kit is for 2 Doors. This $89 package contains 4 pieces that equal 12sq. ft. of material enough to cover both side door panels completely.

Using 2 pieces per door panel is enough to go around the tweeter and mid speakers, the inner cut out, and most of the bare metal surfaces. My installer put it on 90% of the visible areas of both doors.

The wesite (dynamat.com) states that putting this product on the speaker locations only, makes a significant difference in the sound quality produced in the interior.

Trust me, the stuff is great and my system sounds almost like a recording studio room.

 

I went to my pro audio shop to ask about installing Dynamat extreme in my MINI.
They said they liked something else better and recommended it for me-
http://www.cascadeaudio.com/prod/doorkit.html
It's called Cascade Audio VB-2
14 sq ft for $69.95
Or they have a performance Plus kit using VB-2HD 1.3 sq ft for $44.95

They also like Deflex behind the front speakers
http://www.cascadeaudio.com/prod/deflex.html

Deflex Power Pads are a revolutionary new waterproof damping pad, specially designed to prevent speaker cone break-up due to standing waves and enclosure resonance. This allows higher sound volumes with a minimum of distortion.

Deflex Power Pads are made of an advanced polymer on the verge of becoming a liquid. The material, being an excellent shock absorber combined with a spherical, concave surface eliminates enclosure standing waves. Basically the material deflects and fragments the speaker back wave instead of converting it to heat like Dacron or fiberglass. The result is high output with greatly minimized cone distortion and break-up. The audible benefit is greater control and increased detail.

The Deflex Power Pads are ideally suited behind any mid range to low frequency speaker. They replace existing fiberfill or foam absorbers. Enclosures that are shallow and have a rear wall that is parallel to the speaker benefit the most from a power pad application. This also includes in-wall speaker applications. Vehicle doors are also ideally suited for treatment, especially since foams or fiberfill can not be used due to water exposure.

Deflex Power Pads need to be roughly the same diameter or larger than the speaker cone. The following sizes are available. 5", 7",9",8"x11" pairs and 13" singles.
sample price: DPP5 2 @ 5" diamater $ 21.95

I might give these products a try with material placed on both sides of each front door. I have the Deflex already installed. It works OK and helps my front speakers handle a bit more bass.

 

I just got back from my audio shop.
I had installed 14 square feet of Cascade Audio VB Max material to the doors only in my MINI.
Cost of materials was $140 ($20 per sheet x 7 pieces) and labor was about 2.5 hours (two people).

VB Max is like Dynamat Extreme. It has a deadening/dampening surface over a thin metal sheet and then an adhesive layer that can be cut shaped and pressed onto anything. It can also be removed and is easy to work with. My shop said the most important place to apply it is in the doors to help keep out the noise and help the front speakers with bass and keep the rattling down.

The doors. Remove the interior door panel- take off the door reflector (white for the MCS, red for the MC) and take out the short screw, and then remove the three screws from the door pull oval, then remove the door handle trim/tweeter trim. Pull the bottom of the panel straight back toward your chest and then pull the top half of the panel straight to your chest not up.

There are three places they added the material. One is deep inside the interior of the door against the metal facing the exterior of the car. There is already a slight amount of material opposite the stock speakers. You can place Deflex from casade audio directly behind the magnets of the front midrange/woofers to provide dampening. http://www.cascadeaudio.com/prod/deflex.html

VB-max material was placed right over all of the door panel facing the exterior of the car but from the inside and through the oval door opening. Next the metal door that faced the interior with the oval cut out in it was covered in VB-Max- this is the panel that has the front speakers mounted in it. Next the panel itself which is like a large heavy plastic board was covered from the inside-facing the metal part of the doors with VB-Max esp the large deep oval which could resonate like a drum with bass vibrations. So three distint layers of material and in the deep door area even a double layer on VB-Max. So it came to 14 sq feet of material used in 2 front doors only.

The results are good. Heavy solid closing door. Reduced interior noise levels. Better bass, can play it louder with less distortion in the fronts. Helps the midrange as well. Very nice complement to an audio upgrade. Definitely do it yourself job. There are many grades of quality of materials. VB max and Dynamat Extreme are the more costly versions.

 

If you want Dynamat Xtreme, check ebay. I got a box of 9 sheets, total of 36 sq ft, for $99 + shipping. That's more than you need to cover everything you want to in the doors and leaves you plenty for the area around the rears and to deaden some other areas as well. The larger sheets also make it easier to tailor the stuff to the area rather than picking and choosing which areas to cover with the skimpy smaller sheets.

Wherever you get it, just make sure you know what you're getting before you order it. Like Pooky says, check out the Dynamat website so you know about the different products before you troll anyplace like ebay.

_________________
'02 IB/IB MC (name=ZIPPY) w/ assorted factory extras + SSR Comps (17&quot w/ B-stone Potenza S-03s + RDR rear swaybar + B&M short shifter + HSport ARCAs + Racing Dynamics strut brace + RSpeed exhaust + PiperCross Viper CAI......etc

 

Does this material (Dynamat or VB-max) add a significant amount of overall weight to the car? Any estimate on how much it weighs per square foot?

 

The sound deadening material is heavy. My VB-max had a layer of heavy but thin metal. My installation took 7 full sheets which is 14 sq. feet. Maybe 6 pounds? Try contacting Cascade Audio and ask them how much 14 sq feet would weigh? The weight issue is partly the reason (and total cost of materials and installation) why I did not do more than just the front doors on my MINI. You can do the rear boot door and the rear fenders and quarter panels and while it does help it might not help as much as doing the front doors helps.

I would assume that if I had just as much material of the Dynamat extreme I could use about 12-14 sq ft of it to cover the areas I did cover- essentially three different levels of application not just multiple layers on one surface.

 

I just called my audio shop and I got the details.
They say they used to carry Dynamat but the results they got from VB-max were better.
Each bulk sheet of VB-max they use is 13"x30" with a paper backing that is torn off.
They used 7 sheets for my install in the two doors. That totals 7"x390"=2730"
The front door of the MINI measures 22"x35"=770 so 1540" total.
Each sheet weighs a little under 8 ounces so for me it added about 3.4 pounds or so.
Not bad. I don't really feel that the door is that heavy and is harder to close from inside the car.
It does feel solid on closing. Although it also did sound pretty solid before I added the material.
In the case of VB-Max, due to the sticky backing of the material, I can peel off the material and place it in other areas as I need. No heat was used to apply it. Just cut it and place on a flat surface. Additional foam was placed around the outer edge of my midrange speakers to keep any sound from entering the doors in the gap between the speaker surface and the speaker grilles.

 

Thanks for all the detail and advice, minihune!

 

I'll vouch for the deflex pads. My Focal Polykevlars had great bass before I installed them but they did seem to get much tighter after putting it in. Perhaps it's just illusion but I think it made a noticable difference. Very easy install. Use superglue to stick it on the door just behind your speaker. I used 9" pads @ $33 a pair.

Also check out FATMAT. It is about equal to Dynamat original for damping, but it is MUCH cheaper - I got 100 sq ft for $99 on ebay. It is also very easy to apply. Peel and stick. No heat gun required. The inside of your vehicle does smell like tar for a couple days after install though. With 100 sq ft. you can basically coat the entire interior of your car. It'll make it alot quiter inside - which is as good as getting extra db out of your stereo.

 

weight depends on the product. I buy some offbrand stuff from the local audio shop for $20.00 enough to do one door. I'd guestimate I've added about 5 pounds to my car, but the difference is night and day. It also cuts down on road noise as well, making your motoring that much more enjoyable