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.

• Biggest-name:   Cascade     DynaMat  (These are the most commonly found, not necessarily cheapest or best)
• Other suppliers:
  • Accumat
  • B-Quiet (Supplies their own brand, plus Dynamat BrownBead and BeaverTail)
  • SoundDeadening com
  • Ram Audi with their RamMat (Asphalt based)  One stereo installer swears by it.
  • PyroTek Paint.
• Industrial Supplier:  McMaster-Carr  had a sound dampening product that is supposed to be the same as the old original Dynamat at 20% of the cost (~$12/sheet versus ~$80 sheet).  Go to the McMaster-Carr web page, use search box and enter acoustical insulation, the old Dynamat is supposed to be the high temperature mastic on the first page.  It says asphalt based.  McMaster also has PVC based dampeners that are rated higher and of course, cost more, but are still cheaper than either DynaMat or Cascade.  (Higher Damping Loss Factor is better).  Their PVC and aluminum dampener is about the same price.  Houlster tried/reviewed the high-temp asphalt based product from McMaster and said it smelled noticeably.

• Spreadsheet Comparison:  I put together a spreadsheet of manufacturers (DynaMat, Cascade, and McMaster) and prices, with price/square foot.  Sound dampening ability and any potential smell are NOT evaluated.  Now I'm hearing some make the car smell like plastic.  I will document this where I can.
• Install:  Wade Ripkowski has a review of his DynaMat install.

• Cascade claims theirs is better and cheaper than asphalt brands...but Dynamat's page says it's rubber based.  In fact, Cascade's VMAX and BeaverTail are both made of "Butylene rubber bonded to aluminum" while DynaMat Extreme is made of "elastomeric butyl and aluminum constrained" and ...aka same thing.  A Google search on Sound Dampening will pull up many dealers of both products (and one store that uses many different web names!).
• On Dynamat's page, they list their soundproofing using the Damping Coefficient as defined in what they say is the industry standard Oberst test.
• Cascade doesn't list the dampening ability for VB-2 and VB-2HD (used in the door kits), only that it's "Twice as good as asphalt based."  They do list VMAX information...but say VMAX is a cut-to-shape pad on the top of the spec sheet, then say the sound dampening ability is "twice as good" again (so top of the line expensive VMAX is only as good as their bottom of the line VB-2?), then they close out the spec sheet by listing the specs for some liquid form with a dampening rate as 68dBa/sec. @ 72 deg. F. - 160Hz.  HuH?
• The McMaster page uses Dampening Loss Factor, but doesn't really explain it except to say its measured by qualified laboratories.
• There is a website that has an "independent review" but I noticed it was from a British magazine...and surprisingly, the product that scored perfect in every category was the only one made in England (BrownBead).

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