Quote:
Originally Posted by Vman455
In my Prius, I've started by putting vibration damping mat on the outside door skins, sealing up the access holes with acrylic panels with Damplifier on them, then a layer of acoustical foam to decouple a layer of mass-loaded vinyl, both of which cover the entire door with holes only for the speaker, lock switch cables, and window wiring harness. From there, I'll move on to the floor and hatch with the same layering approach. The car will end up weighing about as much as a Plug-in Prius when I'm done.
|
There's the key!
Decoupling and getting a 2-leaf system going is a HUGE difference in ridding of noise. Adding mass (a part of what sound dampening materials will do) can only do so much.
In my studio, we have a 2-leaf system. It can be 110db inside the live room through the entire frequency spectrum and, on the outside, a whisper at most.
By getting that "air spring" (foam) between the two layers (car's metal body/chassis and your MLV layer), it's going to absolutely kill a majority of the noise. Down side is, it adds weight, installation complexity, and cost.
If I ever get a car that I care a lot about again, I'll probably have to really put the time and money into it. After going active 4-way in my house with MiniDSP, there's a small part of me that would love to do it in a vehicle!