Speaker Baffles for M5 install

[beldecca]

So I picked up a set of Kenwood KFC-P680C's at a great price. Looked into using a second set of Kenwood 3-ways for the back. Went to crutchfield and the guy on chat recommended speaker baffles http://www.crutchfield.com/p_696B050370/Boom-Mat-6-x8-Speaker-Baffles-Regular-4-1-2-depth.html to help with the mini-van mounting location (his words). Any truth to this? I'm not very knowledgeable about car audio, especially in places like the M5. If it would make a good difference, I'm willing to give them a shot. But if don't want to waste $20 on snake oil.

Thanks for your 2 cents.

 

[1WICKED6]

Get them...they are worth it. I have them in my ZX2 and they work great. Its like having a woofer out of the box...it doesnt sound good til its in an enclosure...well that's sort of what the baffles do for your speakers in doors and other places...They are made of foam and they cup the speaker for crisper bass and sound...I think they are worth it...just my 2 cents

 

[southpawboston]

personally, i disagree with the entire premise of speaker baffles. what you are doing is essentially creating a baffle which is too small for the speakers they are being used with. car speakers are designed for an "infinite baffle", and that is essentially what the door panel provides-- a baffle between the front and rear faces of the driver cone, with an effective volume that approaches infinity (it doesn't really, because the door volume is finite, with some leakage, but for practical purposes it is considered "infinite". by contrast, those foam baffles provide a baffle volume of less than 1/2 cubic foot.

this is not to say that the baffles don't provide any benefit, they do-- they keep the woofer safe from water and moisture, and they prevent overexcursion, which means the bass notes can hit harder with less cone fatigue, but this may come at the expense of lower overall bass response.

in years of doing stereo installations in a prior life, i've never recommended those baffles except in situations where the customer had come in with speakers that had water problems.

 

[beldecca]

Two interesting view points. I think that I might go without them this point and see if it's "good enough" and then if it doesn't work out, I can always add them in latter.

I'm still curious if anyone else had any feedback.

 

[flcruising]

The reviews on their site seem to go both ways. Looks like you'd have to experiment.

Either way, I'd suggest dynomating the interior sheetmetal that you can reach inside the cavity. The flat areas are the best to hit.

 

[beldecca]

That's what I saw on the Cruchfield site - kinda wish the reviews were all one way or the other just so I'd know.

Talking about Dynomatting, did you do yours? Any idea how much it would need?

 

[flcruising]

Not on the 5. I used 'aluminum roll roofing' (flame on) on the doors of my daily driver and it made a nice difference on mids & lows. I basically lined the inside of the door metal just behind the cover. I don't anticipate doing any audio upgrades to the 5.

 

[southpawboston]

The reviews on their site seem to go both ways. Looks like you'd have to experiment.

Either way, I'd suggest dynomating the interior sheetmetal that you can reach inside the cavity. The flat areas are the best to hit.

i totally agree with this! whatever material is used to create the baffle (e.g., wood for home speakers, sheet metal for cars) should not contribute its own resonance. in the former example, wood is an excellent material since it is not very resonant. sheet metal, on the other hand, is horrible, and adding a high density, low resonance material to it improves its characteristics drastically.

Not on the 5. I used 'aluminum roll roofing' (flame on) on the doors of my daily driver and it made a nice difference on mids & lows. I basically lined the inside of the door metal just behind the cover. I don't anticipate doing any audio upgrades to the 5.

no flame from me! no need to play into marketing hype and use name-brand sound deadener such as dynomat and pay a huge premium! generic visco-elastic stuff such as that tar-like roofing stuff works 99% as well at a fraction of the cost. i will probably do the same on my 5 eventually.

car makers actually do this already, but in very limited places (for weight and cost savings), strategically placing the material based on readouts of where the most resonant noise contributions are made. it's often found in trunk areas, on floor and roof panels, and to a lesser extent, door panels. but it never hurts to add more, especially around speakers.

 

[flcruising]

I will tell you from experience now that I would use a butyl product like 'Grace Ultra' if I ever did it again. The aluminum faced roll roofing adhesive melts from the summer heat. I never experienced an odor like others have expressed, but the adhesive has steadily melted and dripped onto the door sills.

 

[southpawboston]

I will tell you from experience now that I would use a butyl product like 'Grace Ultra' if I ever did it again. The aluminum faced roll roofing adhesive melts from the summer heat. I never experienced an odor like others have expressed, but the adhesive has steadily melted and dripped onto the door sills.

oh, not good then... i've used generic deadener, which i've cut from large rolls, and never had this problem. if anything, the adhesive wasn't quite as good as what comes on dynomat, but it never peeled or melted away from the panels.

well, then, you've at least rust-proofed your car .

 

[beldecca]

I was looking at using eDead or Fatmat - both of which seem to come under the Dynomat price tag. Although at this point I'm tempted to just get the speakers in and run with it for a while. It looks like the sound deadening will add more $$$ than I have to spend at the moment.

 

[flcruising]

My description sounds worse than what it is. The product doesn't so much leave a puddle on the door sill, but just 1 quarter size dark slightly sticky spot. It's ok on my car, but I'd not use/recommend on the 5.

http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi

 

[jimp]

Don't do the "peel and seal" stuff, waste of $, spend a few bucks on any of the butyl based deadener, enough to do 2 or 4 doors and you'll get some good results with no drips,runs or mess.

 

[flcruising]

I don't think it was a waste of money at all. Waste of material, maybe. Now that I have some more knowledge on the matter, I'd use a butyl product for the 'constrained layer damper' and definitely not cover the whole bottom half of the car in it.

 

[Silentnoise713]

Im with the camp that speaker baffles are meant to protect speakers from water damage, particularly front doors, not for SQ enhancement. It would serve you better to save the $10 towards a better pair of speakers.
Btw, GLAD makes some pretty good and cheap baffels for 6.5" (nana)

If you look at the description, it reads as it should that it is meant to protect the speaker. The comment about sound improvement was thrown in there to enhance the sales pitch. The description about sound clarity is achieved by reducing panel vibration... they make no claims about improving SQ.

Boom Mat baffles protect your car's new speakers from moisture and dirt. Mounted behind the speaker, the baffle forms a mounting seal that also improves sound clarity by reducing panel vibration that could transfer to the speaker.
Details:
waterproof speaker baffles for 6"X8" car speakers
maximum speaker mounting depth: 4-1/2"
warranty: 30 days

 

[beldecca]

Do you recommend speaker harnesses? If so, does company matter much?

 

[flcruising]

Should be just a normal blade connector. If it's the same size (probably is), simply dismantle the OEM harness terminals from the connector and push the terminals directly onto the new speaker. Most terminals come out by inserting a test light probe into it to release a lock tab inside.

 

[beldecca]

Should be just a normal blade connector. If it's the same size (probably is), simply dismantle the OEM harness terminals from the connector and push the terminals directly onto the new speaker. Most terminals come out by inserting a test light probe into it to release a lock tab inside.

I was hoping it was just the blade type, but I see that Crutchfield offers the adapters, but no one else seems to have them. Makes me wonder.

- Hate to get into it and then find I'm missing a piece.