As part of the ongoing investigation as to weak points in the overall stereo in the MY07 Lib GT-B (McIntosh 14 speaker thing), I've been gradually changing parts and then living with the change to see what's a useful upgrade and what isn't.
Over the last month I've sound deadened the doors in the 07 Lib GT-B to see if there's much improvement to be had, here's a brief blurb on what I've found.
What was used: Dynamat Xtreme, Dynaxorb deflex pads (behind woofers) Just under $300 total, delivered.
What was done: Front doors (outer skin/panel and inner metal skin), Rear doors (outer skin/panel, around rear speaker mount only)
What's not done: Parcel shelf, pending C-Pillar removal pics.
Front Door
Back Door - Yes, they're not stock speakers in the rear.
What was expected:
1. Lower road noise floor
2. Clearer audio
3. More bass
4. More mid-bass
5. 'cleaner' sound
What was ACTUALLY achieved:
1. Lower road noise floor (pretty much the same at 110kph as at 30kph) - ie: you don't need to adjust the volume up when cruising.
2. Clearer audio - voices/instruments are much more precise and are easier to hear. Better definition.
3. Same or LESS Bass - I put this down to creating a sealed cabinet in the door that's stopped massive resonant frequencies in the door cavity under the arm rest/elbow area of the door panel. Sound now comes from the speakers, not the 'doors'.
4. HUGE Mid-bass improvement! Vocals and mid range stuff is hugely improved. Band pass test from low to high freq is now MUCH smoother/consistent. Music is much easier to listen to now as vocals are stronger and smoother.
5. Much cleaner sound.
I really didn't expect to see huge speaker/sound quality improvements given that the standard cones, cabling, amp and HU are in place, but for the price of the upgrade ($300 + my time) it has certainly improved the sound to the point I'm happy with it for the majority of daily music activities. It actually sounds 'good' (well acceptable) now!! (which is saying something for a audio fussy bastard)
The mid-bass improvement has really blown me away, I didn't think it'd come up that well. It's also highlighted that the speakers have been picked with specific goals but no doubt done-so in a sound box/speaker or some type of enclosure. It's not that they're bad, it's just their environment is bad.
The top end of the spectrum is still rather lacking, but it's not so bad that you can't listen to it, it's actually quite good still for a car system.
My current settings are Treble +1, Bass +1 and otherwise flat. It's improved the car that much. Previously I was Bass +4, Mid +2 and Treble +3 to help show what I mean.
All in all, it's a really worthwhile upgrade, albeit a bit hard on your arms and fingers during the install.
It's slowed down the progress of my 'must upgrade' approach for the stereo to the point that I'm now re-assessing the need to change some of the bits until a later date.
The amp and front stage will be changed (just looking at some yummy 3-ways for the front so I can keep the 7"/3"/1" speaker sizing mix for strong mid staging) but at this stage, I'm happy to search and save as the current setup isn't bad enough to force me to change it. It's now more than acceptable for ~2hrs listening a day during commute.
