Very basic question.

When sd'ing doors, is the best option to cover holes in the door using mdf or similar?

The only reason I'm asking this is because splits were not designed to be in what effectively would be a sealed enclosure - wouldn't covering the doors effectively deteriorate the original principles that were considered when designing the splits?

I'm interested in what those that have scored high points in sq comps, etc have to say and what they're doing when it comes to SD.

128 posts, and havent met search yet?
http://www.caraudioaustralia.com/forums/in...act=Search&f=90

Doors are not sealed. Drainage holes, window seals, etc etc. When you seal the service holes, your seperating the front and rear planes of the speaker.

lots of faq's and questions... not enough technical discussion and opinions...

what are people with experience using in their cars?

when you sd/seal a door, the volume is still very large and won't have adverse effects on your speakers.

Cheers gooki - I might find some time soon to actually test this out and see what kind of effect it has on sound. I'm all for DIY just to say that I've been there and done that.

ATM, I have both inner and outer skins deadened w/ diffuser pads - no mdf covering holes in my door trims though and I'm interested to see if I can find any improvements by doing so.

Door is considered as an IB configuration for woofer. In IB you have to separate the front wave and back wave as liquidity said, if u don't do this, sure the speaker will move air but make no sound.

Here's a suggestion on how to do it

The grey stuff is what is used to seal tin roof sheeting. Sold at hardware stores

Very recommended to SD the front doors..I proved it myself, the mid bass hit more solid and do it when u have nothing to doat home took me couple of hours to do both doors fully deadened. I did it to the whole surface of the doors...unlike in Doug pic, where he deadened only around the splits.

I say its worth to spend some quality and pleasurable time with deadening, at the end u'll feel the diff

This may sound stupid, but what in gods name do you do if you actually have to USE the service holes? I think i'd be mighty disapointed if i had to rip it all out... haha

Thats why we recommend the tape method as shown in the tute
Check out the tutorial at
http://www.caraudioaustralia.com/content.php?contentID=19
And discussion on it at
http://www.caraudioaustralia.com/forums/in...showtopic=50295

This way, if you need to use the service holes, you can simply knife out the duct tape, and tap the mdf out. Easy as pie.

Some members who go absolutely all out, screw the mdf to the metal using self-tappers. They then just undo them when they need acccess.

When I read the tute on how to block holes in doors I thought it would be better to screw the MDF on. It would be easier to take them on and off and I've done it a dozen times already. Taping is good if you don’t have the tools, and they can be easily removed but you’d have to do it all again to put them back in. As you say Liquidity, use self tappers and just undo them when access is needed.

You have to be careful because the MDF will start to tear if there's too much tension on the screws. It's neccessary to cut the foam roughly to size, and also you need to paint the MDF, it's not waterproof. I have also put a screw in the middle so you can hold the MDF in place when re-attaching.

And also since this photo was taken I have SD the rest of the doors. I chose to post this pic because you can see the way I've blocked the holes off more easily.

Oh and by the way, after blocking the holes off, THE DIFFERENCE IS AMAZING

see ya


Doug

I used a varnish. Sets much tougher than paint.

I'll give the mdf a go - it will probably far from a sealed enclosure though and i'll hazard a guess here and say that it will most likely make my front stage a little more "boomier"... whether this is a good thing or not will have to be assessed.

Depends on your crossover, but it shouldn't sounds boomy, I can't get my front stage to sounds boomy, but i know someone who has a boomy mid caused by an unmatch crossover .

That's an interesting point that you raise. You see, the one thing that I'm puzzled about is, say everything is set up and running nicely... then you add the mdf panels into the equation - surely, having the mids in a quasi sealed panel is going to somehow affect what you hear in one way or another (IMO anyway).

I mean, after I had my inner and outer doors deadened, I could hear the difference - it would just be interesting to read on what people's perspectives on the effect of sd and mids performance.

I might be looking into this a bit too much, but it interests me all the same

not sure about mids, but midbass is definitely more controlled and accurate, extended low frequency response, reduced distortion and cancellation, wider dynamics and 'fuller' sound.

A couple of things

1) Juls recently blocked the service holes and found it made a lot of difference. He said at first it sounded like crap - until he re-adjusted his crossovers and EQ and then it sounded fantastic, or words to that effect. He runs an active setup, and if you have a look you might find that thread.

2) I've always had heaps of questions and there's various things I didn't want to waste my time on unless I knew for sure it was worth doing. Over time I just spent the time and did it anyway. My point being, if you're humming and harring about something, just do it, and if you find you don't like the effect, just undo it.

The time you spend thinking about things is wasted whereas the time you spend trying something out gives you a result - you like it or you don't like it. Of course if big money is involved that's not possible is it? Like I'm currently trying to decide between a $900 HU and a $2000 HU. The small cost of a few bits of MDF and tape or screws is minimal and it's not such a "crime" if you end up chucking it.

If you want, you can ask around at cabinet makers for offcuts of backing board. Generally around 3 to 4mm thick. Thicker board is better but something for free is always a good thing, ay?

see ya


Doug

Great advice, I think people often overlook that when it comes to spending large amounts of money on the best gear, it really comes down to the wonderful law of diminishing returns.

For example, I think people have more money than time and would rather buy Stinger Expert RCAs (for example) than really take the time to troubleshoot and fine tune their installation. I think when you hit the limit (limiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit) and walk along the razor's edge, that is when you start spending hundreds and thousands to find the smallest increment of advancement.

This has given me the inspiration to push it to the limit.

I pushed it to the limit (!!!) recently, and purchased some Stinger RCA cables. When I got to the store to purchase the cables, there were some gates. I crashed them.

craaasssshhhheeeddd the gates

This thread has pushed itself beyonds it's sq LIIIMMMMMIIIIIITTT

I think it's time to hit the wheel and double the stakes!

Well on the way to the store I had the throttle wide open like a bat out of hell.

Nothings gonna stop you!

Welcome to the limit.

tstevens I have much experience with the throttle wide open but it sounds like you're going for the back of beyond! Sounds to me like you're so close now you're nearly at the brink

i think my situation is a little more unique in that, when i lift my door trim off i have no metal there like all of you guys talk about...meaning i have no service holes....

so basically i lift my trim off and just look at my vacuum door lock device and thats about it...

also my car originally didnt come with speakers in the door, i got them fitted there....

and my car is an 80's mercedes i.e. the ones i think most of you are referring to after you SD your doors when you talk about a mercedes style door shut...it really is that good...

the problem is my splits have what i would regard as crapty mid bass because there are air gaps all around the trim of the door...

how do i fix this???

ps sorry for stealing your post

no probs, i found the answer a while ago

your door has absolutely no service holes? thats strange.

I went out with a girl with no service holes once, that relationship didn't last

Older mercedes has a better 'thud' compare to newer one .

oh yeah its a pretty f***ing loud thud it like echoes through out the car...because the car is like totally air tight it makes it hard to close the door...
in response to the no service holes im going to take pictures and start a new thread some time...