Sound Proofing 2

Did sound proofing at Elegance Auto (Kelana Jaya) this afternoon. A friend and I bought 8 large sheets of Accumat.

We paid the retail price (RM850) for the sheets, 4 for her City (front doors, dual layers) and 4 for me. I did front doors (single layer) and under the rear seats.

The sound proofing took about 3 hours, and Elegance Auto (Kelana Jaya), did a very good and responsible job. However, their staff keeps asking me to buy this, buy that.

Pics:

1. The driver door with panel removed. Its quite solid by itself, with no gaping "holes". I decided not to sound proof this area, as it has 2 rubber lids which can be sealed / opened (holes). Look at pic 2 and 3 for the close ups of the rubber lids.




2. The original speaker and 1st rubber lid (closed)




3. The 2nd Rubber lid (opened)




4. Rubber lids opened




5. Original speaker. It felt quite solid / heavy, compared to the original City speakers, which are terrible. Wifey didn't allow upgrade... so will have to stick to this one, for now.




6. The (solid) inner panel removed, revealing the outer panel, which has got a safety bar going across the door:




7. The accumat sheet:




8. The sheet was cut in two. Putting up the first piece:




9. After the doors were done, then the back seat.




10. Originally, there was some sound proofing done, but only a portion on the back seat.

Subbie Pics & Review (2)

My previous car had an Alpine HU and front components, with a Blaupunkt 2x8" all-in-one sub (Class D amp with crossover built-in). Also had a Tru Technology 4x65W amp to drive the components for a while, but sold it due to $$$ constraints. For 4 years, I had a pretty decent sound system in the car, so with the X20, it was just a matter of time...

The X20 comes with component set in the front, and some mid speakers on the rear door panels. I don't have the specs for the speakers, but the original setup sounded quite decent. For the components, the high frequencies are a little harsh, with a weak mid-range. The rear speakers provide the lower end sounds. I've always wondered how a "real" sub will improve the sound stage.

I've sat (auditioned) quite a few good sounding subs in the market. A few notable ones are:
- 2 x JL audio W7, dual voice coil with 2 monoblock class-D amps driving it in a wira (andrew)
- 1 x 12 Peerless sub, in a city (simple and effective)
- 1 x 12 RS sub in a jazz, very nice and tight
- 1 x 10" Seas Lotus in Uncle's camry with Tru Tech amps driving them... omg, pure joy

...and many others, some i cannot remember with details.

So... I thought with my experience in ICE, getting that nice, tight, sub sound should be quite simple. Wrong.

I ended up buying a Kenwood Amp and Kenwood Sub from Brothers (*sigh*) due to their wide range of selection, audition available, and promotions that they were running. Also the sales guy sounded "quite" knowledgeable about what he was talking about. The specs are already linked up, a few postings below, so go to their website for more info.

This is what happened:
- Scratches on my car dash (WTH!)
- No rubber insulation was installed for +ve and -ve terminals on the amp. The rubber insulator was tucked in a plastic bag and given to me with the warranty card. Another accessory shop offer to fixed it in for me FOC.
- The power and grounding cables were not clipped and terminated professionally. I feel it will shortcircuit any moment and fry the wiring in the car.
- The box they gave me was too small, and had to remove the "free" fancy cover. I asked for a custom made enclosure, but after the sales guy consulted the installation guys, they said,"this one can already..."
- After installation, the whole boot was rattling really badly. I asked if they did sound proofing and they said:

• No we don't do sound proofing

• Even if you did did the sound proofing, it won't help. The boot will still rattle, due to the metal there. (WTH?!!!!!)

This is my last installation with Brothers. I left feeling terrible, and drove around looking to do sound proofing and ended at Brother Peter at DU. After sound proofing, the sound improved tremendously. However, I still had to put in a damper to prevent the 3rd brake light from hitting the rear glass. :)

Subbie Pics & Review

Subbie!

It happened all so fast. Here's whats new:

- Kenwood Class-D 1800W Monoblock amp



- Kenwood 12" Double voicecoil, double magnet subwoofer (the website shows the 10" version)



Installed in a small but solid, ported box. The box had a fancy cover, but it didn't fit the huge sub. After installation, I auditioned the sub, and I was quite disappointed with the sound.

It was boomy. The boot and 3rd brake light was rattling continuously. The sound just didn't blend. I asked the technician to reduce the bass and drove off, looking for boot sound proofing.