Second Skin Audio Review

[Godsmack]

Well as one of the winners of the 1st Steve Meade Designs contest, and one of the closest recipients of it, I got my kit this week on Thursday. Considering Ant had to send it twice beacuse of UPS fuckin up and sending it to him instead of me, thats pretty damn quick!!! Anyways on to the review

I got the box on friday

and opened it up to find these extra goodies (not in a modeling position though)

I started by popping the panel off my 2006 Xterra and well its a bitch. There are 3 screws holding it in and ALL of them are hidden throught the arm rest/door handel. This is what I discovered

These pics showing more detail to the screw holes

After ripping it off this is what I am faced with

After doing the inside and outside here is what the driver's side looked like (forgot mid way pics on this side)

Upon removing the passenger side panel I noticed how even though it is just a flip of the other door, it is a much bigger pain in the ass than the drivers and you can see why that is

Here you can see the passenger side is now complete and ready to have a panel again

This is what was originally the outer 'skin' so to sepak

Before the actual review a side note of thanks to Anthony for helping me discover something I was not aware of. The much beloved 'Rockford Fosgate' System is really nothing more than some Rockford amps a Rockford HU andas illustrated below, Clarion speakers.

Ok now for the review:

Upon opening the box I found the goodies Ant included for all the winners (thanks again) and was curious as to how good the cutter really was and how well the roller kept out the air pockets. They certainly did not dissapoint!! I used one blade for the whole install and its still sharp as all hell!! Now the top piece had slightly adheared its self to the side of the box, but with the Arizona heat and being in the garage for a day and a half I was not too surprised. Once the first piece came out, none of the others were stuck to the cardboard.

Now upon the first cut I noticed how easily the blade slid through the mateiral. Even with the rubbery texture that it was cutting, it slid through like a hot knife though butter. While all the cuts repeated this process and ease of cutting, the material itself had one very minor issue. When being used in a higher temperature location the paper is not cut wider than the material itself therefore occasionally making removal of the paper backing very difficult at times. This also is a blessing as it makes the material adhere to the panel reguardless of shape or form VERY VERY easily.

Upon the completion of the driver's side door I shut my truck and instantly noticed there was no longer a slight echo or 'pinging' sound to the door, but rather a 'thump' had taken its place. This is VERY impressive and I of course was eager to see what musical changed I might now find. I then proceeded to turn the back speakers off and use the balance control to see the difference between right and left sides of the truck. Let me tell you I found some newer details in the music I had not previously noticed, and the level the volume was needed to be turned up to before becoming what I consider a 'nice' level had decreased by 2. The product had really shown a change.

Next was the passenger door. Let me tell you, in this 2006 Nissan Xterra SE, there is not a shit ton of great things about the doors and their design, but here the flexability of the product really shined. With how easy the Damplifier Pro was able to curve almost in half it really allowed me easier access to the less easily reached parts of the inner door here. The roller fit into tight spaces rather well and was only reall hindered by the width of the wheel. The roller did get rid of the air budbbles with ease and make the material have a more flushed smoother look and feel.

Now with both doors complete I did the second to last test for me as of right now, and that was another loudness test. This simple test again proved how much the Damplifier increased the output of my at best par, factory stereo. I again went looking for the 'nice' level of loudness and noticed it was now attained at 3 levels lower than it was previously!!! This to me is one of the best results so far.

I had to take her out on the road to see how much road noise got blocked out. Man with the windows up and the radio off even at 30 MPH I sure could tell a difference and with the radio on and the windows down the difference was still present. Now with the back speakers included in the mix, I could EASILY tell the difference between the deadened doors and the non deadened doors!!!

This is an improvement that should be made to any car weither it be to block out road noise, or to incease the output from your car's stero system, factory or not. I would and will recommend this product to anyone with any sound issue in their car and no other brand. My thanks go out to Anthony or Ant from second skin audio, and Steve Meade for making this contest a reality. There is already another contest in the works, so hopefully others will get to try this product themselves!!!

www.secondskinaudio.com

www.stevemeadedesigns.com

Jordan Raiff

[SQMonte]

I did my SS install today too and thought my install was a mess but after seeing yours it doesn't look too bad, not that yours is bad but I just thought my job wasn't as good as it should be.

I too had my share of hurdles to overcome with my doors, but nothing I couldn't handle.

[Godsmack]

When its 105* inside your garage and you are DRENCHED in sweat, cleanliness doesn't matter. Effectiveness does.

J

[Anthony Collova]

Looks ok, but from the pics, it seems like a lot of the deadener is not connecting with the sheet metal.

If I am right, you are going to want to get in there and make sure the Damplifier Pro is in direct contact with the metal.

Any air bubbles, pockets or free flapping Damplifier is no good.

This is why the roller is a good tool to use.

Damplifier Pro only works by connecting with the sheet metal. It will absob the vibration in the metal and reduce unwanted structure borne noise.

if it is not touching metal, it is not doing anything.

ANT

[Godsmack]

I was trying to use it over the open holes in addition to on the sheet metal............I will see if maybe this weekend if I can roll over it again and smooth out some of those air pockets.

J