insulation as damping? (1 Viewer)

[David Giesbrecht]

Can you use standard insulation as damping for your sub, if so are their any disadvantages.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I wouldn't use the stuff in a vented sub, due to the fibers being sent through the port and into the air. No one needs their sub to make them itchy.
For a sealed sub, I guess it'd be okay, but still not my first choice (pillow polyfill is good enough, and available at places like JoAnn's, Wal-Mart, etc).
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PatCave; HT Pix; Gear; DIY Mains; DIY CC; Sunosub I + II + III; DVDs; Link Removed

 

[Brian Bunge]

Patrick,
I've wondered about that myself, but it appears that SVS is using standard insulation from a picture I saw a while back. I know Chris Artman used it in his Black Hole subs.
I also thought I heard somewhere that the fibers can be damaging to the speaker driver itself, but I don't know what the issues were exactly.
Brian
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[Greg Monfort]

FWIW, in the good old days before the current crop of sub drivers became available, huge cabs (15+ft) were required to get 20Hz performance, and I lined them all either with R-19 fiberglass with the paper backing removed, or the backless version used to line large air ducts.
After reading Pat's response, it made me curious enough to remove the cloth cover on a reflex vent that's been in place since I built it back in '69, and can't see any obvious FG particle residue.
That said, if you use FG to stuff a reflex (which I don't recommend), it can literally be blown out the vent so a cloth cover is mandatory IMO. Or you can do as many have done with Aperiodic designs which is to hang a 'blanket' of FG from the top of the cab.
WRT damaging the driver, I've loosely stapled a 'blanket' directly over the back of many drivers to lower their Q with no damage AFAIK. Indeed, this was the published standard for the final 'critically damping' of a reflex in the past.
For smaller cab volumes where lining the walls with FG tend to overdamp them, I use 1/2" felt carpet padding.
If handling it is a major issue for you, there's always Miraflex, which seems to work just as well, and in some cases more so since it's rated R-25.
GM
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Loud is beautiful, if it's clean