Car Sound Deadening

[MrBoat]

Highly recommended. One of the most audible, passive sound treatments one can apply. Before the treatment, I had to turn the bass from my door speakers all the way down and it still made that sort of bass 'farting' sound between the panels. In my case, I could tap on the exterior panels with my fingertips and could sense that another layer would help suppress that 'tinny' sound. You can hear it resonate to the point of almost ringing. The other tell tale if sound deadening would work is, when closing the doors. The difference perhaps, between *crash* sound or a more solid sound that leans more towards a "thud" sound.

Noico is the brand I used and it is 80mils thick and the kit I got was heavy in the box. It was more than enough to do 2 doors, on the inside of the exterior panel, and on the metal that the upholstered panel covers attach to. I also sound deadened behind the walls and rear speakers of my xtracab portion of the truck. There are plastic inserts that house the speakers and they even benefitted from the treatment. Took me about 5 hrs at a casual pace, including washing/drying all surfaces.

Next will be adding the amps (already have these items) and subwoofer but this made enough of a difference that I could have done without for awhile. I was able to add a reasonable amount of bass, and it plays clearer, with the ability to play it much louder than before. Louder in the way of headroom, in my case, because it now plays much clearer in the range I generally listen at.

 

[Alex2507]

The Noico and 50x4 Alpine is already on my wish list. Now I need a head unit and a truck with waaaaaaaaaay less rust on it. In my case, fixing a few holes with metal and a roofing product that comes in a 6" roll that is 25' long got me adding extra to the passenger side floor. I had the seat and seat belts undone to pull up the rug so I burned up that 25' roll. If my doors weren't so rusted out I would be all over this bit of road noise suppression.

Maybe for the girl's car. She drives it daily but for me it's The Sunday Car. Like you said though, it's still a project, especially if you're like me and only pull door panels once every 10 years when the door lock actuator breaks. That was horrible to do, I was bleeding everywhere,

 

[MrBoat]

The Noico and 50x4 Alpine is already on my wish list. Now I need a head unit and a truck with waaaaaaaaaay less rust on it. In my case, fixing a few holes with metal and a roofing product that comes in a 6" roll that is 25' long got me adding extra to the passenger side floor. I had the seat and seat belts undone to pull up the rug so I burned up that 25' roll. If my doors weren't so rusted out I would be all over this bit of road noise suppression.

Maybe for the girl's car. She drives it daily but for me it's The Sunday Car. Like you said though, it's still a project, especially if you're like me and only pull door panels once every 10 years when the door lock actuator breaks. That was horrible to do, I was bleeding everywhere,

The Alpine head unit (CDA-9825) came with the truck and the speakers were actually not too bad. I have found out that they would have been a lot better with this treatment. I got to do a lot of before/after thru this project, from one side to the other, etc. It was so different, in fact, that it was throwing the balance off from left to right between the treated, and untreated side.

I also closed off the gaping holes that are in the inner door, with the largest being about 8 x 10'ish and two others you could get your arms into to work on the inside. Big difference in mid bass, which is about the limit I will allow in the door speakers anyway so, I am pleased that the enhancement is most noticeable in that range.

I was also able to check the window workings and wiring while I was in there, And yes, I managed to get a little banged up hands/arms here and there in the process.

I checked the sound of the doors on my boss's 2018 F350 and his doors sound as if they have already been treated at the factory, comparatively. Not the same tinny sound that my doors had so, MMV. My vehicle was very noisy with it's sheet metal. Vibration rattling and all. I would not have been able to stand it like that beyond low-average SPL.

 

[MrBoat]

Ended up using the older Alpine (CDA-9825) head unit, 4 new Infinity 6532ex 6.5" speakers in the doors and rear walls, a Rockville (read cheap) 8" slim subwoofer under the seat, and an Alpine MRV-F300 4-Channel Car Amplifier, 50 Watts RMS x 4. I also used the 4 Infinity speakers without amp or sub and it was 'ok' for decent listening levels, at average sound quality.

Adding the amp and sub, however, really improved the sound, also allowing me to turn the head unit's on board amps off, for an additional improvement. The sound quality improvements would not have been nearly as easy without the sound deadening treatment. The empty doors and interior panels were struggling with mid-bass and bass, even with no amplification. After the acoustic treatment, even the speakers on their own was noticeably improved in the bass region. The difference being, you could now sense a need for more power, whereas before, perhaps, cringing at the thought.

Now, my truck (xtra-cab) is one of my favorite listening spaces. As a system designed for sound quality over quantity, it is not missing much, and is louder than I can stand before distortion sets in. But the mid-bass and sub bass is, nothing short of excellent. I was not expecting much from coaxial speakers but my listening tactics seem to vary from the mainstream by about 180 degrees. I like the majority of the sound coming from the rear or, more accurately described as, "full cabin sound." In this manor, the coaxials in the lower positions on the doors by my legs, play more of an ambient fill roll and it ends up as a complimentary addition. It also gives me the impression that I would not care (or need) for remote tweeters pointed at my head.

If I was going to improve any one thing, it would be to add a more comprehensive EQ, which may yet reside in the head unit that I have not yet fully explored, and this tends to be more about genre or, recording quality specifics/issues. Well recorded material is just fine without any help.