Back on topic with the thread to benefit members rather than egos:
The REAL interesting takeaway on his test here is that these three options actually perform
better than CCF -
- synthetic pillow stuffing
- Thinsulate
- Second Skin heatwave
I always suspected the thick felt-like material that you see behind lots of OEM car panels might be a better performer - I've heard it called "jute" so maybe it's exactly the same as Second Skin heatwave.
It's interesting that Second Skin
doesn't advertise it as a vibration barrier, but does advertise it as a noise barrier - something that would also increase it's appeal to me, or any installer looking for an effective noise barrier.
It's similarly noteworthy that literally EVERY composite product (3/4" Sonic Barrier and thicker, Cascade VB2 and VB4, Second Skin's own Luxury Liner) ALL use CCF as the vibration barrier - and not one of the three above. That's cause for pause.
Especially in my personal case with trying to keep weight down in a car (and not a little - we're talking about 50 pounds of difference, in 100 sq.ft. of material... about the equivalent of removing a front seat!), I'd love to see the noise barrier effectiveness of these two options compared:
- CCF with 1/8" MLV
- Heatwave with 1/16" MLV
Unfortunately, like the old Tootsie Roll pop commercial (not to show my age) - the world may never know. It's data we don't have.
I can compare the expense:
- Generic 10mm (1/2") CCF can be found for about $1/sq.ft.
- Second Skin Heatwave comes in at just over $3/sq.ft (it's currently on sale though, just under $3).
I made the point above about how spending more money for name-brand CCF is foolish over generic CCF.
In this case, however, it seems there's a tangible benefit of Heatwave over CCF. Is it worth 3x the expense? Maybe. Shame it's not 1.5x the cost, or less.
I'd again wonder why it's not used in the composite products.
I'd again worry about the validity and potential flaws in the one single test that shows it to perform superior in a vibration barrier application.
I'd wish that there were more tests that show it.
I'd wish that SecondSkin would put up a plot of noise-reduction-by-frequency, like all the MLV OEM's do (and their alternative competitors, like
this one which unfortunately performs lesser-than MLV).
Those things would make the decision easier.
In absence of data, or experimentation, the safest option is usually the tried-and-true traditional option - CCF.
I may have a reasonable way to do this experiment myself - what I don't currently have is 1/16" MLV. Maybe I'll pick some up just for this, to compare to 1/8", and do the comparison myself.
