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Speaker Upgrade and Sound Deadening Build Log

73K views 98 replies 37 participants last post by  oliverz101 
#1 · (Edited)
I completed the speaker upgrade and sound deadening project... this post is for anyone who is interested in the same for their car, as well as anyone who is interested how the car is put together. I found out some interesting stuff along the way. This is a 2017 Touring.

To start, I subscribed to the Honda Service Express and downloaded everything possible on trim removal and the audio system. Crutchfield shipped a decent guide as well but the Honda instructions were better. I wanted to retain the stock amplifier and stock sub (for ANC) for this project, so I figured I'd do everything possible to make the car sound amazing with the stock amplifier (45x4) to new components. This is why I chose the infinity kappas over higher end, because they are lower ohms and have very high sensitivity. Better speakers (JL, Morel, etc.) would need an amp upgrade to sound decent which I am not interested in doing at this time.

The main process involved:

  • Replace mids and tweeters in all 4 doors
  • Add sound deadening to front doors
  • Add sound deadening to rear quarter panels and cargo floor
  • Add sound deadening to cargo door

Audio / Speaker Materials:

Sound Deadening Materials: All from Sound Deadener Showdown
  • 41.6 cu ft MLV
  • 27.2 cu ft CCF (three sheets)
  • 14 High Temperature, Vinyl Compatible, Velcro Strips
  • 70 CLD tiles
  • 1 32oz can HH-66 Vinyl Contact Cement
  • 1 package of butyl rope

Other tools

Here is the dimensions of the various panels I used for the Sound Deadening estimate from Don at SDS. It was the perfect amount.

  • Length and width of the cargo area floor: 42” x 33”
  • Depth and Diameter of spare tire well: 32”diameter x 7”deep
  • Height and width of the rear quarter panels: 40”w x 22.5”H
  • Height and width of cargo door exterior sheet metal: 53”W x 22”H
  • Height and width of cargo door interior trim panel: 42”W x 22”H
  • H & W front door exterior: 44”W x 37”H
  • H & W front door interior: 37”W x 28”H
  • H & W rear door exterior: 38”W x 37”H
  • H & W rear door interior: 31”W x 28”H

There was a lot of trial and error in this... the last time I took a car apart was 1996.

Stock door: Notice stock 3M Thinsulate and plastic vapor barrier held on with butyl rope. The butyl rope wasn't firmly seated to metal so after applying CLD tiles to outer door behind it, I ensured it was better sealed.
Vehicle Car Auto part Automotive lighting Automotive exterior


Weather stripping and silicone Caulk (and some profession crimping there!) around tweeters in sail panels.
Wire Cable Technology Electronics Electronic device


Treated door trim with CLD tiles (more stock thinsulate here)
Vehicle Car Auto part Toyota prius Compact car


Installing CLD behind vapor barrier - messy!
Vehicle Auto part Engine Car Automotive exterior


Wiring complete, tweeters installed, everything possible wrapped with tessa tape - almost done!
Vehicle Car Automotive exterior Auto part Vehicle door


Complete Door with MLV and speaker:
Vehicle Vehicle door Car Automotive exterior Auto part


Rear Door and Cargo area in next post.

EDIT:4/24/19 the software side of this project was adding the Viper4Android eq and FX module to the stock head unit. This is worth it. That process is documented here: https://www.crvownersclub.com/forum...-replace-eq-viper4android.html#/topics/197753
 
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6
#2 ·
Stock Speakers BTW:
Audio equipment Auto part Rim


Rear Cargo Door Before:
Car Automotive exterior Vehicle Auto part Bumper


Rear Cargo Door After:
Vehicle Automotive exterior Auto part Car Subcompact car


Rear door trim - more thinsulate.
Technology Vehicle


I drove the car around after just doing the cargo door... eliminating resonance with the CLD tiles (I didn't put MLV here) made a huge difference by itself in the stock sub sound.

Cargo Area with trim removed:
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Trunk Compact mpv


Behind the subwoofer. Notice daylight coming through the seam at the bottom where three panels meet. That black and white grid thing is an air vent to the outside, and it is stained with water. It is like this on both sides. I used the butyl rope to plug up the seam... this is a poor design flaw.
Auto part Vehicle Car
 
#3 · (Edited)
Treated Sub with CCF and put CLD tiles on the back. Also put CLD everywhere I could reach behind the sub.
Vehicle Auto part Car Engine Automotive exterior


The other side...
Vehicle Auto part Car Automotive exterior Engine


Both sides from the other direction. Notice the stock resonance prevention stuff on the bottom of the tire area.
Vehicle Car Auto part


Drivers Side trim panel. Having extra yellow and green clips were a lifesaver. More tessa everywhere!
Architecture Room Games


Pretty much complete. The stock fiber mat went back in the wheel well area and then everything was carefully put back together.
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Honda Trunk


Since I have one more photo, here's the stock tweeters as well:
Headphones Audio equipment Gadget Headset Technology


Depending on the road, I've measured an 8-10dB reduction in noise using a phone sound meter. 10dB is approximately equivalent to a 50% reduction in perceived noise level (Fechner's law ftw). The speakers sound fantastic as well, much, much higher clarity.

Not pictured, I used weather stripping on the doors behind the mids to prevent some backwaves from cancelling out the signals and to bridge the speakers to the door panels (like the sub)... this theoretically helps with mid-bass.

For next steps, I would swap out the awful Hankook tires, but they're not bothering me enough to not use them until they're done.

Overall a great project for a car I spend 1h/day commuting in. Let me know if you have any questions!
 
#7 · (Edited)
I completed the project in probably 35 hours over a month. That includes wiring the speakers twice because I wasn't confident with the first attempt (I went from 18ga/hand crimped to 14ga/ratcheting crimper).

Another thing that that would have sped it up: paying more money for some of the soundskins damplifier products which has CCF+MLV in one, and has adhesive backing. The SDS route is time consuming but reversible (installed with a few pieces of velcro) and SDS has higher quality materials. If you have to e.g. change your window motor, if you go with one of the all in one products, you're going to have to redo the work.
 
#8 ·
I saw those... good to know they work! I didn't see a part number so ended up getting the yellow clips from clipsandfasteners.com which I matched based on the part number. I didn't look too close at what is different, but there are both yellow and green clips in the trim panels, which have different dimensions.
 
#10 ·
Fantastic work and you where able to keep the ANC functioning properly, which is something I have not seen anybody else be able to do.

I would love to try something like this but 35 hours is more than enough time for my wife to file for a divorce. She has let me use 4 straight weekends doing mods to the CR-V, so I think I have reached my limit for now.

One question, what do you think is the most significant part of this upgrade in terms of the most improvement for the least amount of work. Would just changing out some of the speakers be worthwhile?


Rob
 
#11 ·
Fantastic work and you where able to keep the ANC functioning properly, which is something I have not seen anybody else be able to do.
Thank you! I didn't change out the stock amp or stock sub, just made them have to work less by reducing ambient noise. It's kindof like, you can reduce weight from your car by taking out the spare tire, or you can accomplish the same thing by losing the weight of a spare tire, lol.


I would love to try something like this but 35 hours is more than enough time for my wife to file for a divorce. She has let me use 4 straight weekends doing mods to the CR-V, so I think I have reached my limit for now. One question, what do you think is the most significant part of this upgrade in terms of the most improvement for the least amount of work. Would just changing out some of the speakers be worthwhile?

Rob
I understand... lol. I have a wife who travels occasionally so I get work done in spurts. Especially something like this where I took over the kitchen this past week!

I would prioritize the following:

Day 1, maybe 2 hours max: Upgrade the front door speakers and get some of those silver CLD tiles (skip the MLV). Put them where you can reach through the speaker hole on the outer door panel, as well on the back side of the plastic trim. Avoid going through the vapor barrier if you can, or just peel it back carefully like I did. Skip the tessa tape and just address rattles if you get any. Shift most of the sound to the front (you probably do anyway) to keep the sound stage in front of you. Rear speakers are really for passengers... and they don't like good sound as much as you do!

2. Deaden the cargo door area. This took 2 hours total, as all I did was CLD tiles. The cargo door trim is the easiest to take off of any of it. the stock sub will sound very different by doing this. a lot of the sub is lost to vibrating the rear door, vs. bouncing off the door and back up to you.

You could do both in a half day if you plan ahead... or even one door at a time to make it even less of a 'one big project' (though it will sound unbalanced, it won't hurt anything).
 
#13 ·
It wouldn't be terrible... If I didn't have a stock amp I would put a class D amp under the back seat like a previous poster here. I think you'd have to remove the door kick plates and run power, and pull the stereo from the dash. You could probably fish most of it.

But yes, a project!

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
#14 ·
Wow ! great job...well done
 
#19 ·
I doubt it. Maybe some. I bet you could find the r value of 1lb/sq ft MLV online (edit just looked, <1)

If money isn't a problem... Foil faced MLV (sound, radiant) plus Hydrophobic melamine foam or thinsulate (better) (sound, air trapping/thermal) plus cld tiles (resonance) and ccf (decoupler of mlv against metal). In headliner I'd put cld and hmf/thinsulate only due to weight. You're gutting the car at this point. But you could probably achieve a +5 or more r value.

People do crazy stuff like fill car cavities with house insulation... I would want something that doesn't hold water, because unlike your house, your car doesn't have a full vapor barrier and anything in it could absorb humidity easily.

Funny story, our house was built in New England in 1949 and it ONLY had foil faced Kraft paper in the walls. Needless to say it was inadequate insulation, but probably better than nothing. I'm guessing people were more used to bundling up inside back then, and oil was cheaper.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
#22 ·
Great DIY! If the car were my daily driver, and not my wife's, I would be totally doing this. And she would totally walk out into the garage, shake her head, and walk back into the house.
 
#27 ·
Hey mnestrud, if you are still monitoring this post, how easy was it to reinstall the door panels after you added the MLV to the doors?

I want to do the same to my new CRV, but when I did that on my '16 Pilot 2 years ago it was a tight fit getting a couple of the door panels back on. I pulled the CRV door panels today and my initial impression is that the clearance between the door and panel is a tad less than what I remember in the Pilot. But yet it looks like you were able to reinstall without issue. Like you , I used SDS MLV. Was wondering how that went for you. Thanks
 
#28 ·
Not terrible. Only issue is a quarter sized gap on the bottom side of the inside handle on both front doors. For the life of me I can't get it to clip flat. That piece of plastic has a lot of play the way it is mounted to the car.

I did have to cut some more mlv holes than say 'perfect' installs would have bc of the tight fit. I was reluctant also to pull the cord connecting the handle to the latch off and run it through the mlv which may be the problem with the handles.

It will take lots of trial and error. This was as my first time doing it too, if I did it again I would do a few things differently... Like run the latch cords correctly.



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#29 ·
Thanks. I've seen that gap you mentioned, even on vehicles not sound deadened. I wonder if it is due to the panel flexing when taken off and reinstalled more than the door handle. The CRV door panel is light weight. When I did the Pilot I ran the cord thru the MLV. Wasn't hard, just slit the material enough for the cord & handle to slip thru. The more I drive the Pilot, the happier I am that I did the deadening. Unfortunately my new CRV reminds me of what the Pilot sounded like before I did all that. :Darn:
 
#39 · (Edited)
Continuing the project, here's full floor sound deadening for the front of the car.

Like the cargo area, I went with CLD tiles, then CCF and finally MLV. There is plenty of room to do this.

Taking the seats and console out was time consuming but not terrible. I used instructions from Honda Tech Info. Had to get a T50 torx driver for the seats.

I didn't remove all the wiring harness to strip the car, I just worked around them. Not pictured, I also put CLD on the backside of all the plastic trim pieces. I also put a significant amount on the plastic air tubes that deliver air to the rear floor.

Underside of drivers side carpet. Passenger was similar. This area has the most stock sound deadening of anywhere.


Close up of passenger side.


Close up of driver side and under console.


Full view pre CCF/MLV.


Full view before putting everything back together.


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#41 ·
Bringing this back!

Im planning to embark on a similar endeavor myself, and i had one question, is there any reason not to use the material below, for the cargo area and rear wheel well cover? Im pretty sure this material is already in the spare tire area, why not use more? I dont plan to do MLV in the doors, and i defiantly would not use this, but do plan yo CLD and tessa tape the crap out of the doors.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/MP-Glob...ecycled-Fiber-Underlayment-INSUL100/100641168
 
#42 ·
You are correct, it is in the wheel well. Also under front seats in forward wheel well.

I adopted the sound deadener showdown philosophy completely so didn't consider the material.

I can't say that won't work but I would have to Google around to find differences between this and mlv. Keep us posted with what you end up doing with pictures.

You could always email Don @ SDS and ask him too.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
#45 ·
This below is too good to be true..


Depending on the road, I've measured an 8-10dB reduction in noise using a phone sound meter. 10dB is approximately equivalent to a 50% reduction in perceived noise level (Fechner's law ftw).

Sent from my LG-H700 using Tapatalk
 
#47 ·
Are you saying that you appreciate the outcome? Agreed, it was a lot of work.

Still have to finish one small area underneath the rear bench and floor behind front seats. Should help a tiny bit more.

Other large area is the firewall, which I don't know what to do to it without taking off the dash.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
#46 ·
That home depot stuff looks like it would be great as long as it's dry. Get it wet and you'll be pulling everything out to avoid mold.
The dynamat/cLD/CCF TYPE stuff, is waterproof. Makes a difference.
 
#51 ·
Just finished the front driver door, and the cargo area. Took 10 hours. But i also do not have a garage, and did the cargo panels in my living room (see below)

I gotta say, the CDL i used (Killmat) worked great, and after the 2 areas, i still have about half of a 36sf box left. I did not do a complete coverage of all panels with the material, but the driver door was about 90%-95% coverage, and the cargo area was about 25%.

The undercarpet material used for a MLV replacement SUCKED!! Was very difficult to cut without jamming up my scissors, and was not easily cut with a razor blade. My past experience with traditional MLV was very easy to cut with scissors or a razor. Also my MLV felt like fiberglass with how much dust and itchyness it created. Did it work? Yes. But i would not use it again in the future. Im not mad, only because it was 1/4 the price of MLV. But it was effective in dampening the cargo area. Also acted as a natural decoupler.

Only used about 1/2 of a single roll of tessa tape. there were many cables in the CRV that I felt would not rattle after I opened it up. The cables felt pretty damn taught, and were well isolated as is.

Unlike Mnestrud, i built the "MLV" on the plastic panel vs the body of the vehicle. For me it was simpler, and more comfortable. Working in my living room vs sitting in the cargo area of the car. But im sure either way would work. But with my past experience with the FIT, knowing where random bumps would be (Caused by bottle/storage holders etc.) was life saving working off the panel.

One lesson learned was the rear cargo area can handle more than 1 layer of 1/8" MLV. It could probably fit 2 or 3 layers if you really want to press the panel clips back on. But with one layer, it clipped on with no problem.

I did have a HUGE issue getting the cargo panels back on however! The rear seat attachment was a huge barrier of easily reinstalling the rear panels. Maybe im doing it wrong, but it took all my might, and pressing against the roof and opposite side of the car to get the plastic plane to pop back into place. Once the panel was past the seat latches, clipping it in was easy. Maybe im doing it wrong, but my god, it was a bitch.

Otherwise, i will continue with my passenger and rear doors when i get some time. So far the bass response is better, but only just. Not a huge difference, but im holding any judgement until i atleast get the front passenger door complete.
 
#52 ·
Just finished all of the doors, and the rear cargo area, and Ill say the mid-bass is defiantly more defined and feels more powerful. Feels slightly quieter, but most of the rough road noise is still noticeable. But this was pretty expected as its coming up through the floorboard.

All i have left is the trunk cover, but im waiting until i find some instruction on how to remove it because of how many clips there are in the middle, and i dont want to break my panel in half.

Overall, usage and tools I used are below.

36sf of CDL
1.5 rolls of tessa tape
100sf of "MLV" (still have plenty left)
Panel removal tools (Life saver)
#2 Phillips screw driver
1 roll of Velcro
91% alcohol
Paper towels
(2) Green clips
 
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