Avoid the cheap stuff. If you have to do 2x the amount of coverage to only get 70% of the results then at the end of the day are you really saving money ? (the answer is no, cost is about the same and result is a lower quality product and extra weight on your car).
The whole budget deadner just promotes the stupid meathead narrative of deadner blocks sound which it doesn't. A large majority of people I have encounter of the years that have bought it over more expensive options do it becaues "I can get full coverage of noico/fatmat for the same price as 40% coverage of dynamat extreme, more soundproofing and better sound blocking" which is NOT true.
Deadner just prevents the panel from resonating, your not actually blocking sound from coming it. The end result is more weight added to your car with argueable worst deadening properties and the potential for toxic smells/melting. If you want actual sound blocking you need something like mass loaded vinyl with a decoupling layer underneath (usually CCF).
I remember STP (which is the parent company of Noico) posted a test result on there facebook page of there lowest/budget line (STP Silver) and it was 4 decibels better than Noico which is a ton, especially considering STP silver is there lowest line. You can't jip the system when it comes to deadner, you really do get what you pay for
Agreed. I never understood the logic of potentially ruining a $10k+ car just because you wanted to save 50 dollars.
The install itself (sound treatment, EQ tuning, custom box) should be the 3 things that you DON'T skimp on
While I definitely agree with most of what you said, I would like to point out 2 things.
1. I decided at the beginning of this project to do full coverage of whatever damper or blocking products I chose. My car is a 4 cyl turbo with a manual transmission and basically solid motor mounts. Vibration reduction and killing any rattles was my main goal. I didn't just treat doors. I did the whole interior of the car, including trim panels, dash panels, expanding foam inside the body cavities, whole shebang. If you are only doing front doors, Yea go get the best performing deadener on the market, it's going to be worth it. But for me, paying the premium for 300+ SQ feet wasn't worth the cost. I wasn't going to be selective so high efficiency wasn't needed, I was carpet bombing the car so I needed a good product that fit my budget for full coverage. If I had gone with second skin, resonix, or another top tier brand, I would have spent nearly $1500 on deadener alone, not even including the CCF and MLV.
2. Weight is almost the entire point of deadener. You are adding mass to a panel to make if resonate at a lower frequency and resonate less. Theoretically, you could glue a 1 inch cube of tungsten to each panel and have those panels resonate at a drastically lower frequency. If you are only doing 25 percent center panel coverage, you need as much mass and "dampening" from a product as possible to grt the best results. When you cover 100 percent, you can afford to have a less premium level product.
Deadener is only the first part of the process. There are 3 steps. Deaden(add mass), isolate(usually done with some type of foam, usually closed-cell foam), and block(mass-loaded vinyl). I chose to do 100 percent coverage of both deadener and CCF for my application. Mass loaded vinyl is a different beast all together and takes a bit of finesse to Install properly. My floor has mass loaded vinyl on it, but I haven't done doors or firewall yet.
For the record, I would have loved to spring for second skin damplifier pro and luxury liner pro. It is a phenomenal product, and I have used it in a few friends' installs. But I'm working on a set budget, and for the price I paid I'm more than happy with the results. I was able to accomplish what I wanted, and had more cash available for the rest of my install, including buying a router and a new jigsaw.
