Resonix CLD Squares Review!

Hello everyone, I'm here to review a product that I've had the opportunity of testing in my personal car (2015 Kia Optima Build log here).


I'd like to mention a few disclaimers first:
1) I have been working in the car audio industry for about 1 year. I am currently an installer.
2) I have no brand affiliation with Resonix Sound Solutions. I just know about their products from online.


The majority of my vehicle was already treated with Second Skin's Damplifier Pro (which did its job), but I was in search of an even more effective brand of CLD. I reached out to Nick (SkizeR) about using Resonix CLD tiles on my vehicle.


Over the summer, I installed two Acoustic Elegance IB15AU subwoofers mounted to my rear deck. Even with a double-layered baffle of 3/4inch birch, the sheer amount of mass and air movement caused some serious resonance issues throughout my car. I noticed that when playing midbass notes (60-100Hz) my interior would ring like a congo drum. I could easily detect the location of my subs (bad thing for up front bass). I tackled the largest, flattest panel in my car: the roof.


Here was the OEM roof, with some pieces of recycled cotton (which did absolutely nothing in terms of resonance control):

https://i.imgur.com/WzKwNsq.jpg?3



After applying Resonix CLD Squares:


https://i.imgur.com/dYNPS8W.jpg?1


One thing that stood out about Resonix was how rigid the aluminum layer felt as I tapped it with my finger. I hadn't experienced this before in other brands. Also, the butyl layer had no noxious odor. My car smelled exactly the same, even after 16 squares of this stuff. I used a heat gun to tack up the surface of the butyl to ensure maximum adhesion to the sheet metal. Interestingly, it took far longer to heat up the adhesive than the other CLDs I install at work. This could mean Resonix does better in terms of temperature control in the vehicle cabin. There's something different about the composition of the butyl...


The results were interesting. I played some bass-heavy music, and noticed that the congo drum effect was drastically reduced. What I thought was midbass coming from the subwoofers was actually panel resonance from my roof. The reduction in resonance was so significant that I will need to remeasure the sub response and EQ again for changes in 50Hz and up. I'm happy that I didn't drop my headliner in vain :).


To be honest, I used to believe that selling sound deadening products were partial scams in order to grow the ticket price of an install. They made dubious claims of road noise reduction and rattle prevention (which CLD is not designed to do). I felt guilty selling pounds and pounds of deadener that wouldn't live up to customer expectations. With my recent experience with Resonix, that has changed. If you are looking for the best performing sound deadening product on the market, it is my honest experience that Resonix is just that. I could just as easily promote the brand of CLD that we sell at my shop, but as an enthusiast myself, I only settle for the best.


Thanks for reading my honest review of Resonix. If you need more information, visit their website at https://resonixsoundsolutions.com/

Glad it worked out for you Matt. So the reason ResoNix works as well as it does is for a few reasons. You mentioned the aluminum layer feeling different than other brands of CLD aluminum. Some of you may be aware, but there are many different kinds of aluminum. Just at my local Tractor Supply, they sell 6 different kinds. The type of aluminum matters believe it or not. Its thickness matters as well, but people seem to think that this is the only aspect to consider when it comes to the aluminum layer on a CLD.. It is not, and it’s not even the most important aspect. At 4mil, ResoNix Squares aluminum isn’t even that thick. It’s thicker than most brands, but is only half as thick as what SDS used to offer on their CLD Tiles. But even then, were not done with the aluminum layer.. The thickness ratio of butyl to aluminum also comes into consideration. There is more to this than most could fathom. More than i can even grasp tbh. The other thing is of course the butyl formula. This is the most important aspect. We went with a higher end butyl formula that still made sense cost wise (we could have gone with a formula that was one step up, but price would have nearly double).. But, with what we have I’m still confident that we have the best CLD on the North American market (i only say that because I’m not sure what else is in other parts of the world) and i wasn’t kidding when i said i would not sell a product that wasn’t better than what the best used to be..

Nice review Mattkim, I knew this stuff was going to start gaining traction because Nick didn’t skimp on quality and went through some interesting testing to say the least in order to find the right manufacturer. I remember when my favorite CLD product from SDS closed their doors and he stepped up, took on the risk of starting a new brand that benefits us all, and delivered what may be an even better product at a good price.

Kudos to Nick for having the balls to be a real entrepreneur.

and yes I bought some.