Sound Dampening Coating
zingo
Posts: 11,258
I started a dampening project on my 4.1TLs with a little testing yesterday. I recently bought a can of Skid-No-More. It's labeled as a "rubberized, acrylic latex non-skid coating containing ground rubber" and the can also states that it dampens sound. It seemed like a good product to try at $17 per quart from the local hardware store.
When I got the product home, I shook it to mix, then popped the lid. The first thing I noticed was the smell; awful. It's not a normal paint smell, or even really an abnormal paint smell. But, as long as you are in a well ventilated area it's not a problem because it's just a bit of a stink. The color of the stuff is gray-blue, and is feels a little thinner than regular paint. Clean up is soap and water, and it just uses a regular brush, so that part is easy enough.
To test, I pulled the PRs from my Monitor 5Jrs; they were to be my test dummies. I figured that I could test the "paint" on something else first, but I'd just end up testing it on the Mon 5Jrs anyway, so I'd just start there. Directions say to clean and prime metal before application, but since this was a test, and I knew these weren't going to be abused anyway, I just painted it straight onto the basket of the PR. As thin as the Skid-No-More seemed, I'm impressed how well it said in play on the metal. As long as I didn't goop it on, the coating stayed right where I put it without any running or dripping; an important property if you are painting the open frame of drivers.
One coat took me about five minutes to get good coverage down to the lip of the basket. It took about one hour to dry to the touch and after a few hours, I wasn't even able to scrap the coating off easily with my finder nail. Giving the basket a flick with my finger, the basket rang a little less than without the coating in a side by side comparison. The dampening factor was as good as I had hoped for being a first, thin coat. My goal with be 3-4 coats and hopefully that will give me the full dampening I am looking for.
Now having some faith in this product and as long as the test come out well, after I am finished with the baskets of the drivers in my 4.1TLs, I will also be applying Skid-No-More to the inside of the cabinets. That should help make the cabinets less resonant and the bumpy texture may help with standing waves a well; may.
One of the reasons I was interested in a "brushable" product like this is because I know it works well in speaker cabinets. I figured if it works there, why not on baskets, and being brushable, it would be easier to place and less intrusive than a Dynamat type material.
As I continue this project this weekend, I will provide more information and pictures, as well as I will up load the pictures tonight from this previous session.
When I got the product home, I shook it to mix, then popped the lid. The first thing I noticed was the smell; awful. It's not a normal paint smell, or even really an abnormal paint smell. But, as long as you are in a well ventilated area it's not a problem because it's just a bit of a stink. The color of the stuff is gray-blue, and is feels a little thinner than regular paint. Clean up is soap and water, and it just uses a regular brush, so that part is easy enough.
To test, I pulled the PRs from my Monitor 5Jrs; they were to be my test dummies. I figured that I could test the "paint" on something else first, but I'd just end up testing it on the Mon 5Jrs anyway, so I'd just start there. Directions say to clean and prime metal before application, but since this was a test, and I knew these weren't going to be abused anyway, I just painted it straight onto the basket of the PR. As thin as the Skid-No-More seemed, I'm impressed how well it said in play on the metal. As long as I didn't goop it on, the coating stayed right where I put it without any running or dripping; an important property if you are painting the open frame of drivers.
One coat took me about five minutes to get good coverage down to the lip of the basket. It took about one hour to dry to the touch and after a few hours, I wasn't even able to scrap the coating off easily with my finder nail. Giving the basket a flick with my finger, the basket rang a little less than without the coating in a side by side comparison. The dampening factor was as good as I had hoped for being a first, thin coat. My goal with be 3-4 coats and hopefully that will give me the full dampening I am looking for.
Now having some faith in this product and as long as the test come out well, after I am finished with the baskets of the drivers in my 4.1TLs, I will also be applying Skid-No-More to the inside of the cabinets. That should help make the cabinets less resonant and the bumpy texture may help with standing waves a well; may.
One of the reasons I was interested in a "brushable" product like this is because I know it works well in speaker cabinets. I figured if it works there, why not on baskets, and being brushable, it would be easier to place and less intrusive than a Dynamat type material.
As I continue this project this weekend, I will provide more information and pictures, as well as I will up load the pictures tonight from this previous session.
Post edited by zingo on
Comments
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"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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Good for resonance, useless for standing waves/ absorption. I've used a similar product and yeah, it really does smell awful.Gallo Ref 3.1 : Bryston 4b SST : Musical fidelity CD Pre : VPI HW-19
Gallo Ref AV, Frankengallo Ref 3, LC60i : Bryston 9b SST : Meridian 565
Jordan JX92s : MF X-T100 : Xray v8
Backburner:Krell KAV-300i -
Do yo need to worry about any vapors it may put out inside a sealed cabinet?I like speakers that are bigger than a small refrigerator but smaller than a big refrigerator:D
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Once it's dried, I couldn't smell anything. My turntable isolation consists of a sand-filled MDF box (on spikes) covered in that dampening material. Had to open the garage & run a fan while it dried, but once it finished I couldn't notice anything.Gallo Ref 3.1 : Bryston 4b SST : Musical fidelity CD Pre : VPI HW-19
Gallo Ref AV, Frankengallo Ref 3, LC60i : Bryston 9b SST : Meridian 565
Jordan JX92s : MF X-T100 : Xray v8
Backburner:Krell KAV-300i -
Even after an hour, most of the smell was gone. I'll make sure to give all the drivers a good 24 hours of ventilated dry time before they get reinstalled.
As far as the standing waves, I might end up going with some batting or felt bonded to the last coat of the deadener. I'm still deciding... -
Standing waves are to be dealt with by design. You build a pyramid shaped box instead of a cube. If you're adding bracing, you can install it so that it's off center and even with an angle. Standing waves cause some frequencies to play louder than they should. Really, they cause the air involved to resonate.
Reflections can be tamed with stuffing. The thickness of the stuffing determines how low of a frequency you might be able to damp. Reflections can come back through the speaker cone and now it's considered distorted sound.
Resonance can be damped with mass. Nuff said.
Just wanted to say that. -
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Just a side note:
I am also changing out the binding posts to the Dayton Audio fully insulated gold binding post. They weigh a hefty 1.3g each and are a nice knock-off of the WBT Midline. -
it would be easier to place and less intrusive than a Dynamat type material.
Why do you think Dynamat is intrusive and hard to place?Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
I guess nothing is harder to place than something you have to paint on three coats...
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Promised pictures.
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I agree, it took 5 minutes to cover a SRS 2 Passive Radiator.Why do you think Dynamat is intrusive and hard to place?
Instead, it looks like you have mold growing on yours.
"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche -
"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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Just a side note:
I am also changing out the binding posts to the Dayton Audio fully insulated gold binding post. They weigh a hefty 1.3g each and are a nice knock-off of the WBT Midline.
Well zingo,it looks like you have the last pair of these Daytons,every place I have checked is "Currently Out Of Stock"...that suxs -
Why do you think Dynamat is intrusive and hard to place?
I gotta agree . . . I had no problem placing the Dynamat on my MW and PR baskets. As far as intrusive goes, non-existent. -
Mike Reeter wrote: »Well zingo,it looks like you have the last pair of these Daytons,every place I have checked is "Currently Out Of Stock"...that suxs
I just checked PE and they expect them in at the end of the month. They are great binding posts, and I think they are about the best binding post at their price point. -
hearingimpared wrote: »I gotta agree . . . I had no problem placing the Dynamat on my MW and PR baskets. As far as intrusive goes, non-existent.
Alright, alright; I got carried away.
The Skid-No-More worked pretty well and was a fun test that kept me busy. However, applying 3-4 coats per driver was a fair amount of work and drips were always a threat. Next time I do it, I'll be using Dynamat because it's much easier and works well. :rolleyes: -
I just checked PE and they expect them in at the end of the month. They are great binding posts, and I think they are about the best binding post at their price point.
I saw that also,It's just that I want em' now:D -
You could get a pair of the nickle ones, or are you a gold man?
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You could get a pair of the nickle ones, or are you a gold man?
I'm on the Gold Standard:D...getting ready to do some work on some CRS's..will just have to bide my time until the end of the month.
