Date: 211012003
Written by: Ted-o
Review of: Second Skin Damplifier Extreme
Price: located on web site
Provided by ANT, Second Skin Audio
Introduction: Now, I have never applied any type of dampening material before, as I was going to get around to doing it and the opportunity came up to test and review some dampening material called DAMPX. Thanks to ANT who offered me a sample to test. I really did not know what exactly dampening material does. I did know some myths that I picked up over time. One of them was that when you properly apply damping material to your vehicle, it would improve SPL by 10-20% I don’t know if that is true but that’s what I have in my head. I heard that dampening material would stop vibrations and rattles. I also heard that it will isolate noises from inside out and out side in, being bass stays more in to vehicle and less road noise coming inside the vehicle. When I opened the box, I was greeted with the smell of tar; you know that smell of when they repave your street. Stinky but not too bad. The product was heavy as I anticipated it to be and when I examined to roll notice that there was more that I though there was to put into my vehicle. Since I have never used any type of dampening material I really did not have anything to compare to it. I did however have a small sample of the regular Damplifier that I could compare to the DAMPX. The original is about 1/32 of an inch and has a shiny foil side and an adhesive side that was a tar substance. The DAMPX was very very thick compared to the original. The DAMPX is about 3/16 of an inch and has a painted foil side (black) and most of the thickness from the tar/adhesive. Very thick
Installation: When I started the installation I noticed how extremely stick the adhesive on the product is and how think it is. It was at first very hard to work with but I got used to it. I cleaned the surface areas of where I was going to install it with paint thinner. I unrolled the product to start to warm up and found that it was easier to cut as I was notified that it was hard to cut. I would cut small pieces about 12”x12” and apply them to the vehicle and smooth them out. My trusty friend Sean help me out with smoothing the DAMPX down to make sure their where not air gaps. Since this was my first time I tried to do my best job on it but I’m sure I could have done better. It went down good, as I did not run into any problems. Total install time 2hours. I was able to do most of my hatch area, well most of my problem areas being the way back where the lights and hatch and donut/jack where located. I found that I did have plenty but could have used A LOT more. I finished with very sore back and very cut up hands
Aftermath: I was not really prepared on what my system was going to sound like. The first time I listened to vehicles sound system after the installation of DAMPX I was not impressed. I did not hear any difference at all. Wait, this was my first time and I thought that there would have been a significant different in the sound quality and noise factor. I was disappointed at first but then came to realize that adding a dampening material to my vehicle would not make that much of a significant difference. Not what I thought it would sound like. After about 5 days of listening and other responses I can safely say that DAMPX made a difference. Not much but enough over time to notice a difference. I noticed that the dampening made the bass a little clearer and a little tighter inside my vehicle. I was told that the rattling out side my vehicle was reduce and I can not hear the rattling of my car when I'm in traffic or next to a wall (echoes). I do still have a noise problem with other parts of the vehicle like the spoiler. ANT told me that I would notice that rattling would be reduced but I would notice other things rattling in other areas. I would really like some more to put into my vehicle. I would say that DAMPX improved sound quality and dampened my car; it did what it is supposed to do. I would recommend DAMPX for people who are in need of dampening material. I will use Dampifier in all of my next installs.
In the Ted-o meter, I would say an 84% out of 100%
Pros:
-Depends vibrations, stopped a lot of the rattles
-Made bass more defined and clearer
-Does what is supposed to do
-Very sticky, will stick to anything
-Thick and Black
Cons
-Very very stick, will stick to anything
-Hard to work with
-Sharp edges, you will get cut
Thanks to: ANT from www.caraudioforums.com, Second Skin Audio and my good friend Sean.
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