Dampening Material for My Loudspeaker?

[coxy1214]

Hey everyone,

I recently constructed two speaker enclosures with a friend and now we just need to dampen them. The speakers are sealed and going to primarily be used for vocals. I work at StewMac and saw this item today, and I am wondering if this could be an ideal material for dampening the inside of our enclosures. Otherwise, please recommend any other specific materials I could use.

Thanks!

[AllenB]

It is useful, but the damping material wants some thickness. This is so it can intersect a larger portion of the wave that travels through it. You would generally want to lightly stuff the enclosure if it is sealed. A good material for that is dacron pillow stuffing but I prefer to use something like fibreglass batts.

[Mazeppa]

Originally Posted by AllenB

It is useful, but the damping material wants some thickness. This is so it can intersect a larger portion of the wave that travels through it. You would generally want to lightly stuff the enclosure if it is sealed. A good material for that is dacron pillow stuffing but I prefer to use something like fibreglass batts.

Ditto. Fiberglass batts are the way to go. Enclosure lightly stuffed for starters. I prefer fibreglass for sealed speaker enclosures over rock wool, pillow stuffing, Parts Express stuffing or foam blocks. I don't have experience with any other materials.

Get some R19 batts, cut the fiberglass into blocks without cutting through the backing then peel the fiberglass from the paper backing. Block size is not critical, just make it easy to get them in the enclosure. I advise attaching coarse screen material, or some such over the driver basket openings to keep whatever stuffing material you use from making contact with the back of the cone.

Professor Google knows loads about this, should you choose to consult him for in depth study.

Good luck with your project.

[coxy1214]

Alright! I will look into the fiberglass batts.. Thanks guys!

[zman01]

Coxy 1214,

By damping you are referring to lining the cabinets or stuffing them?

From the choice of your material following the link you provided, it looked to me like you are thinking of lining the inside walls. If that is he case you might look up Ultratouch recycled denim insulation. I have not used it but read it works well.

[planet10]

Originally Posted by Mazeppa

Ditto. Fiberglass batts are the way to go.

Even better than fiberglass for this application is Bonded Logic UltraTouch recycled cotton insulation. In the US can be bought in small quantites at Home Despot.

dave

[Mazeppa]

Originally Posted by planet10

Even better than fiberglass for this application is Bonded Logic UltraTouch recycled cotton insulation. In the US can be bought in small quantites at Home Despot.

dave

Never tried it before, but I will should the opportunity present itself. Handling fiberglass has obvious drawbacks, so the recycled cotton would only have to be as good as fiberglass to replace it my stuffing pantheon. Better is always, well, better to boot.

Home Despot

Hadn't noticed this one before. Reminds me of the old song, wherein it is written: "Ya load 16 tons, and whaddaya get. Another day older, and deeper in debt."

[Bespoke]

Linoleum is great for deadening. Stick it in with no more nails.

'fluff' or wadding also works but be very careful, especially on sealed enclosures. If your box has tight tolerances on internal volume then the wadding can cause problems. Wadding will make the woofer behave as if it were in a larger box as it slows the air flow between the woofer and walls of the enclosure.

[Dave Jones]

Does one remove the foil backing from the Bonded Logic UltraTouch recycled cotton insulation? Are you recommending it as stuffing or wall liner?

[WithTarragon]

Originally Posted by zman01

Coxy 1214,

By damping you are referring to lining the cabinets or stuffing them?

........

The term "dampening" is used pretty loosely around here.

You should probably answer the above question first. Otherwise much of the advice given will be off the mark.