Rebuilding the A4

By: Ben Vollmer Car Audio Nationals / Team SoundDomain

After having a competition audio system in my Audi A4 for about 4 years, I've decided it is time for a refresh. There are some parts of the system that I love, and some parts that have driven me nuts. And then to top it off, I blew a couple of the caps in my ancient Phoenix Gold MS Series amps. So instead of patching the system together, the decision was to redo the majority of the system but remain competitive in the classes that the car competes in.

Since my family moved recently, taking it back to Benchmark Audio in Upstate NY wasn't practical. It went from a 6 hour drive to a 15 hour drive, which just isn't going to happen.

So after looking at a ton of shops, the decision was made to take the car to Acoustic Images in Mooresville, NC.  The crew at AI employs a number of veteran competitors including Bryan Wilkinson, Jason Syner, Mark Worell and other well known industry installers.

I also got a little help from some great manufacturers: JL Audio, Second Skin and AudioControl have all helped out with the project. We will be covering each of those sponsor's products usage in the rebuilt system.

The goals of the system were pretty easy:

1. Run the front stage 100% Active, getting rid of the Alpine F#1 Passive Crossover Networks
2. Install New Subwoofers
3. Replace Existing Sound Dampening Materials

Over the next couple of weeks we'll post up pictures of the trunk being redone, the kicks and doors being rebuilt, and some general rebuilding of the car. It's going to be quite a process, but I'm really looking forward to the results. Stay tuned!

Dead To Me: Isolating Your Feet From The Floor

Team SoundDomain's Andy Jones just posted up a great how-to for custom floormats that also work to isolate floorboard vibration and road noise. And the best part? They're pretty simple to make and not too expensive! Now, he can't take all the credit, he acutally got the idea from fellow Team SoundDomain member Rick Sellers. Props to both for a great idea! What are you waiting for? Get Dead!

Silencing the Smart Car Pt. 1

By Ryan Porter, Smart Car Dork

Anyone who has been in smart car can tell you that the 3-cylinder engine sounds almost like a diesel. At first it’s cute, and yeah it sounds like a car from The Jetsons, but after a while I wanted a car that was quiet. Sean from SoundDomain suggested I look into sound deadening the interior to cut down on the vibrations caused by the loud 3-cylinder engine, and to cut down on the noise making it into the car through the plastic door skins.

To start the project off we loaded up on a number of products from Second Skin Automotive Insulation. Everything from Damplifier Pro, Spectrum Sludge, Luxury Liner Pro, OverKill Pro, and Heat Wave. At the beginning of this project I didn’t know what a single one of these things was meant for, but after reading some simple tutorials and throwing on some work clothes, I was ready to go. I decided to start with deadening the floorpan and trunk/engine area. Check out my ride page to see how my Damplifier Pro install went.

Get Dead: Silencing A Wrangler Pt.2

In part two of Silencing the Wrangler, Anthony steps up to the interior of the Jeep, stripping the interior of every panel, carpet, and the sound system and lays down Damplifier Pro and other goodies. The process used in this series is designed to reduce road noise and quiet the interior of the Wrangler, not an easy task for a vehicle designed without a proper roof, doors, or any real factory sound deadening. By reducing road noise, Anthony ensures his drive will be quieter on the inside, which means any audio components he's installed won't have to work as hard to seem as loud as they were before the deadening install. Check out Part 2:

Get Dead: Silencing A Wrangler Pt.1

Second Skin's owner, Anthony Colova, decided to make his Jeep Wrangler a little quieter using the full spectrum of Second Skin products, and he also decided to show us the step-by-step process! In part one, Anthony explains what they're going to add to the Wrangler and start the project in the wheel wells....