Boom Mats, yea or nay?

[JohnKuthe]

I've purchased 3.5" and 4.5" deep Boom Mats. I've been experimenting with them on my Alpine SPR-69 speakers by contact cementing them around the back of the speakers' mounting rims, and cutting a small hole in the back where I pass the speaker wires. I think I had and used one 4.5" on my driver's door speaker and it interferes a little with the window up and down, but I know the 3.5" will work better on that as the Alpines are only 2 7/8" from back of magnet to mounting rim.

I'm second guessing using them at all. I checked the FAQ from this group and all I saw was an 8 or 9 tiered post seemingly mostly about crossover frequencies. What;s this group's wisdom about these Boom Mats?

John Kuthe...

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[dbjunior 10+ year member]

Cut out the bottom half of the unit keep the mounting ring and top half as an umbrella for the speaker as all doors get water in them. If you leave it sealed it may help clean up the up midrange but it will kill the midbass. If your worried about keeping the midrange clean there are lot of door treatments that will help that will not ruin midbass response.

 

[JohnKuthe]

Cut out the bottom half of the unit keep the mounting ring and top half as an umbrella for the speaker as all doors get water in them. If you leave it sealed it may help clean up the up midrange but it will kill the midbass. If your worried about keeping the midrange clean there are lot of door treatments that will help that will not ruin midbass response.

Interesting idea! I may do that since I am covering up the big holes in the inner door with sheets of easily formed aluminum covered with B-Quiet to emulate a speaker cabinet as best a Grand Caravan door can.

Thanks for the good idea!

John Kuthe...

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

If you haven't bought the deadening yet there is a huge thread on DIYMA with test and charts and graphs. You will love it. The winners where Knuconceptz 100mil and second skin.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

we already went over this in the other thread. Those boom mats are going to change your airspace down to nothing which kills midbass response vs having the whole door cavity. God you are dense.

 

[JohnKuthe]

we already went over this in the other thread. Those boom mats are going to change your airspace down to nothing which kills midbass response vs having the whole door cavity. God you are dense.

I learn slowly. I had a good suggestion, use the Boom Mats but cut out the whole back of them to use them as a kind of splash shield for the speaker while allowing for more full midbass response. That's the best suggestion I've heard plus putting on the speaker wires will be greatly simplified!

John Kuthe...

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

I learn slowly. I had a good suggestion, use the Boom Mats but cut out the whole back of them to use them as a kind of splash shield for the speaker while allowing for more full midbass response. That's the best suggestion I've heard plus putting on the speaker wires will be greatly simplified!
John Kuthe...

I'm pretty sure I already told you that. You act like you are the first person to do this. There's a giant industry built around it.

 

[JohnKuthe]

I'm pretty sure I already told you that. You act like you are the first person to do this. There's a giant industry built around it.

Yep! Popular opinion is nay. I think I wasted my money on them. I've had the stock head unit driving the speakers right now and while driving I really don't hear the door 6x9 as much as the 5.25" in the dash! I have the rear 6x9s in sans Boom Mats and THEY sound pretty good!

John Kuthe...

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Yep! Popular opinion is nay. I think I wasted my money on them. I've had the stock head unit driving the speakers right now and while driving I really don't hear the door 6x9 as much as the 5.25" in the dash! I have the rear 6x9s in sans Boom Mats and THEY sound pretty good!
John Kuthe...

So you want magical sound right? When you go to a live concert where is the band? I'll help you out, they are in front of you. Not in your rear doors, not the the back of the car. Music is recorded in 2.1. Left right and sub. Not left rear right rear.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Are those supposed to act as aperiodic membranes? Either way they may hurt the lower end of the spectrum you're trying to play with them. On the other hand, you can now easily test with and without and open up the back of them. Sealing with aluminum and deadening doors is a more proven method.

 

[JohnKuthe]

So you want magical sound right? When you go to a live concert where is the band? I'll help you out, they are in front of you. Not in your rear doors, not the the back of the car. Music is recorded in 2.1. Left right and sub. Not left rear right rear.

I'm thinking of going to JML and seeing if they will add on to a customer owned installed system, like building a speaker cabinet in the front of my 2006 Grand Caravan. Amp, maybe a sound processor like the Alpine PXA-H800 Digital sound processor at Crutchfield.com . New 100W x2 amp, speakers maybe 8" round (several?) and tweeters up there!

John Kuthe!

 

[Boomin_tahoe 5,000+ posts]

From the pics, they look like flower pots.

Like wasting $$ huh.

There's a reason a lot of people don't use them. That mfgr wants us to "think" we need them, which is why they're avail.

 

[JohnKuthe]

From the pics, they look like flower pots.
Like wasting $$ huh.

There's a reason a lot of people don't use them. That mfgr wants us to "think" we need them, which is why they're avail.

They were pretty cheap so I don't care, I chalk it up to failed experiment!

I've got to do something about the front two 5.25" speakers. Stock mounts are plastic and supporting each by only two opposing mounting holes! Nothing behind them! Cheap as crap! :-(

John Kuthe...

 

[Umbra]

The only time I used them as intended was when I has stock speakers in the rear deck that were being tossed around by the subs in the trunk. This protected them from the pressure at the expense of midbass. Filling them with pink fiberglass insulation helped counter that a little.

The second time I used them I'd cut them up and used them behind door speakers so they provided an awning to divert any rain that got in there away from the speakers.

Aside from those two applications I wouldn't recommend them. They're good for protection, but by significantly reducing airspace you're going to have very anemic bass.

 

[lovinloudbass 10+ year member]

I get headaches from these threads by Jon, if you can't take good advice then you are an idiot. Being an EE means crap when you have absolutly 0 knowledge in car audio. If I was you I would ask keep_Hope_Alive for help he is the man. Go check his build logs and learn some stuff ffs.