Amigo Sound Dampening Page
Because it got so big, it needed it's own page.

Sound Dampening:  The Amigo/Rodeo Sport is not a quiet vehicle...especially if you have a 1st Gen Amigo with the 1st Gen tops, then do some custom modifications like headers, exhaust, etc.  On thing I noticed is that many of the products are exact copies of other products...ex:  the butyl rubber on aluminum is found in Cascade VMAZ, DynaMat, BeaverTail, etc.....complete with the same industry Acoustic Loss Factor via ASTM E765 specs.  (Except for Cascade, which just claims every product is has is "twice as good.")
    For some of the products, if the descriptions are exactly the same, if the dampening factors are the same, it's probably the same thing made by one materials company and marketed by many.  Buy the cheapest!  For other products, you have to judge for yourself.

Notes on all the Soundproofing Claims

I e-mailed both Cascade and DynaMat.  Cascade responded with this (more to come later, e-mails changed to prevent spam)

Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 10:40:56 -0800
From: "Paul M. Messett" <Bounce@hwy97.net>
To: sanaghan@no-spam.com

Thank you for contacting Cascade Audio Engineering. Our VB2 and VB2HD vinyl damping sheets have been engineered to convert vibration/mechanical energy into low level heat through friction. There is no question that this type of material (viscoelastic) is more efficient than a product of mass loading design. The technical specifications you've requested are currently being gathered and will be e-mailed to you when ready. The Geiger Plate Decay Rate test is no longer the industry standard, however when the materials were tested, it was. I will provide the OB test results in the next few days, you'll be amazed at how they compare to Dynamic Control products. We feel our materials are of much higher quality than those of our competitors, much lighter weight, easier to install, odor-free and far more effective by design. No one in the car audio industry has tested the products head to head simply because they don't know how. It's not the same as testing a speaker or amplifier, all they can do is base a judgment on installation and general impression. As for your noise problem in the Amigo, a vibration damper is not recommended. Please review the VB3 and VB4 products, both of which are specialized floor barriers for application like yours. They are designed to reflect airborne sound energy like exhaust noise. You would require many layers of a damper to equal the effectiveness of a barrier.
Please don't hesitate to contact us with any further questions or comments regarding the installation or application of the VBLOK sound control products.
Regards,
Paul M. Messett
Technical Services Manager