Sonic Barrier, Black Hole 5, Acoustic Foam Help Please!

teekay0007

Soon, I'll be cracking into my SDA 2Bs for the very first time to do some tweaks/mods. I've read about adding some of the acoustic damping foam "to control unwanted sound reflections and absorb extraneous acoustic energy" and thought that while I'm in there, "What the heck? Might as well give that a try too." :idea:

Started looking into it - prices of the Black Hole 5 and No Rez...:eek: vs. the "egg crate" pattern foam stuff and the Sonic Barrier - more tolerable. So, I got some of the Sonic Barrier on its way.

Now, the issue: Of all the threads that I could find where people had used any of these products, they had at first pretty much lined the entire (back, sides and top) inside of their speaker cabinets. Or, at least, the entire cabinets above the PRs were lined with the foam. Some threads showed nice pics of this. Then, on each and every thread, everybody seemed to think they had overdone it and said that they had reduced the amount of foam used. However, that's where the problem lies: Nobody showed pics or gave good descriptions of what worked well for them. Can some of you who have tried this tweak, with or without success, give some (very detailed) advice as to what worked and didn't work for you? And any good PICS would be great too!

Also, what about the Polk factory polyfil that I'm assuming I'll find in there -leave it there? -remove it? -how is it supposed to be held in place and where (ie. inside of the 2Bs) is it supposed to be?

Thanks for any guidance anyone can give. :cool:

F1nut

The general conscience is that Sonic Barrier is inferior to Black Hole 5 and No Rez. You should return it and spend the extra money to do it right the first time.

Try a 2" or 3" wide, 6" long strip behind each of your mid-drivers.

Put the polyfil back after you finish. It should be completely above the PR area. It's held in place by its own volume. You can put a staple or two thru it if it makes you feel better.

drumminman

My experience with Black Hole is consistent with F1's advice. Here's a quote from a post I wrote about installing it:

"Then it was on to the Black Hole. I read of TF66's and others experience with using too much of this stuff. Apparently too much kills the sound, makes it flat and dull. I used a utility knife and heavy duty scissors to cut four 3" wide x 27" long strips, which I installed vertically on the inside back panel directly behind each bank of MW's. [two strips per cabinet] Then I installed six 3.5" wide strips behind each tweeter [three per cabinet]; these were long enough to form a "bridge between the two verticals (think H pattern or ladder). It's pretty easy to install as it has a strong PSA (pressure sensitive adhesive) that really grabbed. I did clean the back panel with a damp cloth just to be sure there wasn't any dust or loose particles that might affect the bond. I used a little less than one sheet, which is good sense Black Hole is a little pricey, even with the 20% discount I got during Sonicraft's sale."

Here's a link to the full review: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?128159-Black-Hole&highlight=drumminman

I believe TF66 has used both sonic barrier and BH and found the BH to be superior without question.