[carologist]

Hello Every One
Getting a new car soon and looking to get a 07 Escape Limited. I work at a stereo shop and i can get this equipment at a very reasonable price, although i am not set on it, but for the money i think i would be dumb not to(unless it is garbage).

HU: Kenwood DNX-6140
with HD radio add-on unit
Amps (2) Exile Xi800.4
Speakers (2m pair) Exile XT65
Subs (2) Exile XT10 10" Subs
Moniters (2) Head rest setups for the kids

Sound Deadening
The store i work for has their own deadener made in .060" thick and .180" thick (like Dynamat extreme).
So a layer of the .180" on the floor and wheel wells and firewall and the thinner stuff every where else.

Then a layer or two of CCF from RAAMaudio.
questioning if i need to do a layer of mass loaded layer or not or just in particular areas.

Layout

Want to do a complete stealth install with the two 10"'s at/near the factory sub location. the two 10" subs will need 1.2cubic feet of space. Considering one 12" sub instead of the two 10"s

the XT65's are convertible and will be come coax's in the rear doors and up front will be a separate setup

Amps in an amp rack in place of the plastic spacer in the rear cargo area.

Looking for feed back and suggestions on sound deadening

 

[Strejcek]

Welcome to the Forum!!

You can't go wrong with Kenwood or Pioneer. I have a one year old KW DNX-5120 and love it. It kicks with no speaker or amp mods.

As far as sound deadening, be careful about hanging the stuff on vertical surfaces, especially on dark vehicles. I have heard horror stories of the asphalt melting and puddling in the car. I wouldn't think you would have any problems with a floor install. I personally have never used the stuff but it seems pretty easy to work with.

Good luck with the install; take pictures!!

 

[kkreit01]

Sounds like a good plan. The XT10s get great reviews. I was considering them as well, but don't have a local dealer. Take pics, and let us know how everything turns out.

You might want to learn more about this mystery "deadener". Find more specs: foil thickness, weight per sq ft, what material, temp, etc.? I made the mistake of buying some (not much thankfully) edead before I knew. There appears to be a lot of crappy "knock-offs" out there. I've since used SoundDeadenerShowdown, and really like his product. Second Skin also is a favorite, but I have not tried them. If doing true/complete deadening, you will want MLV as well. Raamat seems to do real well on a budget (which most of us are on).

 

[fourthmeal]

Hey there!

Nice plan so far, btw and welcome to the forum.

I don't know what the XT10 sounds like but Exile is usually a great product for the money. Are you planning a false-floor system sort of like my #2 build? If so, also consider the Stereo Integrity BM, which is finishing prototype stage and should be available in a few weeks or less. It has received very good prelim reviews so far, and fits in places that most shouldn't fit.

I would not suggest worrying about the rears, only focus on front stage and use rears as fills. With kiddos and rear fill, why not just use 5x7 or 6.5" round coaxials? Point-source speakers have their place, and that place is behind you typically. I am not 100% familiar with the head unit you are after but I have to assume it doesn't have active processing. I also noticed you didn't put one in your system plan. Remember the vehicle we are working on here has severe pathlength differences between your head and these speaker locations. You will end up with a non-coherent sound stage if you go without processing. I highly recommend active processing and active crossover control to handle this issue. Spending hundreds on front components can suck pretty bad if they are horribly time-aligned, and I can pretty much guarantee that will be your issue in this vehicle. I covered this in great detail in other threads, so check them out and we can cover it in more detail. The rears need not be time aligned as they should not add to the coherent stage in front. Rear fill is exactly what they are to the front driver and passenger, and of course they are the primary sound for the kids or rear passengers.

MLV is definitely recommended, especially if you are going all-out on deadening which is sounds like you are. I second everything said by kkreit01 and would follow the sounddeadenershowdown path to a "T".

 

[carologist]

As far as those xt65 they are a convertible speaker setup (plan on running them as point source in the rear)and i have two children and with that head unit i plan on have a duel zone setup.

kkreit01 - i can have some sent to you if you would like to pm with shipping zip and some details and i can see what i can do.

My boss has named his deadener "Love Mat" weird but what ever.

The Thinner Deadner is identical to Dynomat Extreme ("according to the boss") the thiker stuff is the same just thicker butal layer (.180" instead of .060") Aluminum is 4 mils thick don't know type or quality . The .060" i believe is .49 lbs/foot and .180 is 1.4lbs/foot.(use instead of multiple layers of thinner stuff and floor).

I work at a stereo shop and can get very good pricing on this equipment. I have talked with the Exile guys and let just say i have used many of the products that have produced under a different company("PG").

Fourth Meal - yes the plan is 100% stealth install minus tweeters upfront(maybe) and the Aftermarket head Unit.

I am curious if i could use either of the dampers as a substitute for MLV?
And unsure if i would use mvl every where or mostly wheel wells, fire wall and floor?
I don't have any clue on how much or each material to order/buy?

As far as a processor what would you recommend?
Here is a link to Head Unit for reference
http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Car_Entertain ... on/DNX6140
I am open to suggestions on a better head unit.

The exile folks seem to think that a line driver might help me out some but i am hesitant to add that as i know that 125 of rms per front channel should be plenty, not to mention that i plan on running the amps easy to have a nice amount of head room, cleaner power and long life of the equipment.

Fourth Meal - Is it possible to conceal a 12" sub in the area ( i use the term loosely) or the factory sub location.
considering running a Image Dynamic IDQ 12" instead of the to XT10's?

I am hoping to have this car and setup for some time. I have a few other ideas and mods that I planning but starting with Audio and car security.

 

[kkreit01]

Thanks much for the offer on the Exile equipment. I just bought an Earthquake 12" shallow on the real cheap. I'll keep you in mind in the future. I've read a lot of good things on the XT10s.

 

[fourthmeal]

Sounds like you got it all well-sorted, but don't misconstrue a deadener for a barrier. The deadening mat your guy sells and Secondskin, SDS, and good 'ol Dynamat Xtreme is all CLD tile. Constrained Layer Damper. It should be used roughly on 25% of the metal in the car, flat plain parts that will resonate when tapped. Once you lay a layer down (and a thicker single layer beats multiple thin layers) at roughly 25% coverage, then you can install CCF Closed-Cell Foam and MLV Mass-Loaded Vinyl in that order for an effective solution. CCF is used in places MLV can't be, like the headliner, some parts of the door, etc. MLV should be used in the trunk, doors, and perhaps the floor if there is space, and you want the strongest effect. Slapping the whole car down with deadener will not do the same trick and will weigh you down unnecessarily. From experience I'm speaking of this,...I have done it the "wrong" way before and while it sorta works it doesn't do what a multi-layer plan will do for the money and weight.