deflex pads, cabniet dampening, and getting rid of standing waves

[bdubs767]

Deflex pads, what do you guys think of them? Actually work or just BS?

What other cost effective materials, have you guys found help getting rid of rear waves from woofers? I've heard simple instalation you can picked up at loews or HD works decently.

Do you guys deaden your cabinets? I'm thinking about picking up a gallon of this http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshow...Number=268-256

[ThomasW]

All that does is add mass. It's primarily for damping sheet metal car surfaces.

So if you make your cabinets out of sheetmetal it's worth using, otherwise save your money...

[Bent]

I found this funny in an odd sort of way.

[Hank]

Okay, I am guilty of using the round Deflex pads behind mid-woofs on a pair of towers. The back of the cabinet was dead - put your hand on it and feel no vibrations. Was it the Deflex or the PE vinyl dampening sheet underneath it? Dunno. I use lots of braces which I think goes a long way towards producing a dead cabinet.

[Deward Hastings]

You have, perhaps inadvertently, asked two different questions. For “getting rid of rear waves” from any open-back driver there is nothing better than the appropriate weight and thickness of “703” style “rigid” fiberglass panel. It works as a “treatment” on (listening room) walls, in bass traps, and in speaker boxes. I use the “rock wool” variant almost exclusively because it is much cheaper and just as effective as the glass. With proper placement you can get almost complete absorption down to 100 Hz. and below. And absorbing the sound before it gets to them of course reduces transmission through and resonance in cabinet walls.

But for stopping transmission and panel vibration there are better tools . . . loaded vinyl, as in Auralex SheetBlock, is the preeminent transmission blocker, either glued to one side or (better) in a constrained layer, and nothing works better for stopping panel resonance than lots of bracing placed at angles that prevent formation of standing waves (resonances) in the cabinet wall.

Thomas is absolutely correct about the spray-on goop . . . I can only add that I’ve seen it used effectively in deadening the bottom of stainless steel sinks.

[JonP]

Good advice above...

Search around, there are many good threads, here and on other sites, that deal with the subject.

[rc white]

deflex?

I looked at an ad for Deflex pads and I must say it falls into the category of one of those implying that they have found a new physical principle heretofore unheard of, very suspicious.
rcw

[TacoD]

I used Deflex pads it is not that heavy. It sounds, compared to felt or Pritex a tat more neutral, no big difference though.