I'm mainly wondering what people have done to adequately insulate their doors for better sound reinforcement - dynamat, baffles, whatever. What have you done personally in your car, Todd?
I always replace speakers. I also don’t have people in the rear seats.… probably been years since I have. This lets me get away with just front soundstage and a sub. I sold a B4 about 6 months ago that had a decent, modest system in it. Pioneer BT HU was the only new purchase. Everything else was from older installs. Diamond Audio Hex components (later replaced with MB Quart), MTX, etc.. Some of this stuff was decades old. The Hex were absolutely amazing, but one of the woofers blew. I couldn’t find a spare that didn’t cost too much.
Back in the day, those brands were pretty expensive. Now that everything has gone to China, they’re reasonably priced. I still occasionally look online for the old Canton made Hex stuff. Big market for old school equipment.
I kinda stopped running separates, to avoid trying to hide the passive crossovers. I only buy amps with built in crossovers…. no more stand alone active crossovers. I’ll usually get a 4 channel and and run it 3 way. Sometimes less is more.
As for sound deadening, I remember when Dynamat came out… I bought the original bitumen product. Nowadays, I only buy 100% butyl. Dynamat Extreme is an excellent product, but I’ve also used other brands with excellent results. Noico is one of them, but it seems their costs have risen since people got familiar with the name.
If a plastic panel rattles, cover 20% of the back with deadening. it’s easy to go overboard, but it’s been proven to not be needed. Anything over 20% is the point of diminishing gains. If you’re hearing plastic or metal to metal vibration or squeaking, cover the flange with material to separate the two. VW did this since the 80s and they also covered wiring harnesses in foam, for a reason… to keep noise down.
Don’t use the adhesive backed felt from the hobby store… the same stuff people use on their blend doors. It’s garbage. I bought some to replace the VW flange felt and it lets go in the heat and leaves a sticky mess. Use felt and contact adhesive that’s heat rated. I think the foam insulation tape they sell in the ductwork section of HD would work. It’s got a very aggressive acrylic adhesive and it’s designed for HVAC.
Honestly, the sheet metal doesn’t need a lot of attention… there aren’t many flat areas. Most steel panels have bends or stamping in them to keep the part rigid. The plastic needs attention. Most of the metal clips had felt on them from VW. They had the right idea. Be sure all your clips are intact, too. If it’s not secure, it’ll rattle.
Tracking down noises can be a lot of work. The door panels don’t seem to rattle much since they’re cardboard, Keep junk out of your map pockets. If I use those pockets, there’s a microfiber towel in it to stop rattles.
Now that I’ve sold the sedan, the wagen needs some attention in the rear. There are some big plastic pieces back there…
Theres so much to do, it’d be impossible for me to document it all.
The stock radio sounds much better but they have no features and are hard to find. I'm not looking to spend a ton of money on something but do want it to sound good. What can you recommend?
Weren’t you having speaker issues, where they weren’t playing sound? Most of today’s HUs have built in EQs with preset and custom curves. Stuff I had years ago had these, time delays, etc. built in. I’d think you could tailor the sound to your liking.
Personally, I’ve never heard a stock B4 radio, so I can’t compare it to anything aftermarket. The last two HUs I purchased were Pioneer, although I’m a big fan of Alpine HUs. The wagon has a double din and the sedan got a single din. The single din sounded a lot better, but it’s not a fair comparison, since it had an amp and 12” sub. The BT connection in the single was way better, although they’re not too far apart in age. These were purchased 5-10 years ago, so my recommendations wouldn’t be current. Technology has changed so much, it’s almost like learning new.
I was in Philly and heard an audio system, in the street. It was incredibly loud, had a ton of bass and sounded incredible… coming from a touring cycle. The amps in these things are tiny. I first saw these tiny amps in the 90s (Blade was one brand) but they were very expensive and went away. They’re back. These are incredibly easy to hide.
When I mentioned the powered sub, it was for the wagen. I thought about placing it behind the driver seat, since I keep the rear seats folded down. I’m running cheap Infinity coaxials in the front and rear doors off the HU power. Sounds ok, but they’re running full range… these should probably be upgraded One thing you want to do for the doors is run the absolutely largest speaker you can. You may be able to get a 7” in the fronts. You want to seal the front wave from the rear wave, and you also want to channel all the sound into the cabin. The way the stock setup is theres at least .5-1” of open area from the speaker front to the speaker grill. Sound gets lost behind the panel.
They now sell baffles/rings to help channel this sound. I did the same with wide, adhesive foam weatherstrip in the sedan, before I saw them for sale.
I’m hoping to get rid of a ‘03 Jetta this weekend, but the stereo sound pretty damn good! Pioneer HU (came with the car) and I have no clue what’s in the doors. No sub or amp that I saw. Very good lows, which is surprising. I’m curious how much of this system is OE. Perhaps there is an amp and unsure if the doors have passive radiators, etc.. Sounds too good to just be HU power and door speakers, but I’m not taking anything apart to get a looksee.
-Todd
