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Originally Posted by Leoshashi Finally, the much awaited post on Sound Insulation of my XL6. This post got delayed due to multiple reasons. Firstly my Phone got damaged and barely managed to recover the pics. Secondly, it was done in two stages. |
I have been following Shashi’s post since the time he mentioned he is working on exclusive damping project, it will be one of a kind. True to his words it is one of a kind. I can’t imagine the world of difference this mod has made to his car.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Leoshashi Miscellaneous points regarding Stage 1: -The doors close with a nice thud now. -External noise with windows closed is completely gone, love how everything outside feels muted now. Horns are audible, and that's it! Even cars costing thrice as much feel lacking in this department now. Have turned XL6's weakness into it's strong point. A new Ertiga/XL6 or even my Crysta feels so basic now in terms of NVH. -Also took this opportunity to get rid of stock speakers at a good value, and chose JBL Coaxials from MGA. I plan to get a proper audio setup done later when I visit Delhi or Bangalore, hence didn't spend too much on something unknown. The JBLs are nothing great, but much better than the stock speakers.
Regards,
Shashi |
I have executed a miniature version of this damping effort which covers only most essential or if you would like to call it as critically required to make a difference.
Why I wanted damping?
I wanted to upgrade the stock speakers to improve the sound quality, Not that I was unhappy with the current setup but it definitely lacked clarity and punch.
What were the consideration?
-Tight budget below 25k All Inclusive including of Speakers!
-Complete DIY (Regretted and Happy)
-Everything needs to be done in stock condition.
(No alteration to wiring harness our mount point at all)
Disclaimer and Warning!
I carried out this DIY completely alone. Though I carried this out under complete supervision of Shashi, still it was exhaustive, stressful and frustrating (more on it later) So if you do not have the time and patience and expertise do not try to do this. It took me 5 days to complete this!
Starting with the list of items I kept ready before embarking on this DIY.
Now let me tell you sound is very subjective and personal, and choosing a right set of speakers was the most challenging task for me. Specially no access to sampling and Youtube videos don’t do justice.
So I just had to go by review by fellow Bhpian @Chiranjitp and thanks to him it surpassed my expectation and I was supper happy. I love balanced sound with tight bass and balanced high’s (Bass is important only when I'm listening to foot tapping music) otherwise I listen to all kind of music. The pair of Avatar speakers just delivered that really well.
So here is the list -
Pair of Avatar Components
Pair of Avatar Co-axials
2 Pairs of Rain Guards, and Speaker spacers.
STP 1.5 mm 15 pc pack Sound Dampeners
Vibrofiltr 5 sheets (Should have ordered 6)
MGA Hinge wax
Roller to roll the damping sheets.
IP Bottles
Extra plastic clips / fasteners
Sharp Knife (Amazon Basics)
Lots and lots of patience.
Now I did this DIY with a bit of personalisation as per my requirement, and this is not the most ideal way to do. My OCD always gets in way. For example usually Damping sheets are applied on the outer metal sheet completely, but I choose to customise and not apply areas were there are nuts and bolts which may require access during component failure (usually don’t). I also believe in ‘law-of-diminishing-return’ which mean you don’t need to cover the entire sheet metal to get the desired result, as less as 20% does the job but I did almost 70%.
I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking as there is nothing much to talk about the steps I took as it was "follow the instruction from the master".
The result surpassed all my expectation, the car is quieter, less external noise, no ratels even with heavy bass. Everything seems tight.
What went wrong?
Well nothing but I could not anticipate that this is going to be so labour intensive!! At one point I was like "Why the hell did I went the DIY route" but I am cent percent sure no one would pay the effort I did. Specially installing the speakers on factory mount, most shops end up drilling holes using screws. Also the I did not splice any wire used the factory socket with clips to connect the aftermarket speakers. Used 3M double sided tapes to install the Crossover.
The only time I got frustrated, when I failed to identify the speaker wire polarity, it was that moment that left me so frustrated and unhappy that I was on the verge of reverting everything back to stock. It was then Shashi helped me with the correct wiring and after fitting everything back, the sound just bought a big smile. I forgot all the body pains and frustrations.
This would not be possible without help of Shashi, and I cannot thank him enough for his selfless willingness to help always. You owe one for this Bro!