Ok decided that all 4 standard speakers are going in the bin shortly (even my other half tells me they sound flat!!) so whilst looking on Crutchfield I saw something about Dynamat.

Now I know what Dynamat does, but I also saw speaker baffles at Crutchfield. So which of the 2 things has a better effect on the sound of the speakers? Dynamat (the speaker kit) or getting speaker baffles? Do the baffles do much on their own at all? is it worth getting both baffles and dynamat?

Thanks.

 

i use dynomat

Matt

 

They both serve different purposes. The Dynamat gets affixed to the thin metal panels to absorb noise and dampen excess vehicle noise, so the music from the speakers is not drowned out by the excess noise. For example, find an empty metal gas can and thump it hard. Then firmly hold one hand on the side of the can and thump it with the other. You should notice a much less noisy response. I put a similar material on the doors of my '78 F150. Those doors make a lot of noise when cruising down the highway or riding on the rough roads. After the noise dampening material was installed I heard a lot less outside noise and was able to clearly hear my 6.5" speakers much more clearly.

Now the baffles are more for protection of the speakers from the elements, for longevity. They are just a soft foam type material. Crutchfields claim for more bass response sounds kinda iffy'. It would be hard to get more bass response from the vast space inside of a door panel without building a box that can be sturdy and not flex and be air tight. To keep my 6.5" components protected from the elements, I took the thin sheets of soft white foam padding from my home DVD player box and cut a circle large enough to surround the back of the speaker and then screwed the speakers to the doors and the white foam sheet padding was held tight between the door frame and speaker.

 

I have also done it both ways
like cigarxtc said the baffles serve for protection of the speaker
in areas they may get wet or dirty. they do dampen and do help eliminate vibrations in the door-- but I have had trouble using the baffles with high power components- where the baffles would actually flex and producing a buzzing sound

In my opinion and experience good ole sound deadening is the way to go
g/l

 

I tried the foam baffels on my 5x7 JL Audio 2-ways and it made a big difference, in a BAD way (for me). It really did increase the bass response and that is not what I wanted, I was going for the added protection. I already have more than enough bass from my 2 10's under the rear bench, so I took the baffles out. I put the "extreme" dynamat 2'x2' sheets on the front doors (my brother had it and wasn't gonna use it) and it didn't make any difference. You would probably need to do the whole door.