Dashmats - their beauty and their ugliness

[geolemon]

So I'm waiting for the sub-zero (Celsius, anyway ) temps to break...
Finishing my fabrication, getting things ready to go in - and also taking a step back to consider if there's more details to consider.

So what's to consider?
Let's start with "I have a midrange, two sets of wideband drivers, and a tweeter ALL playing above the dash... And it's a Civic, with a cheap plastic dash. And the dash is huge."

Translated: "I have a lot of drivers all firing directly into an acoustically reflective space, right in front of my face where my imaging is supposed to happen."


Not good - acoustically.

For years, companies made dash mats made of carpet - not really to solve this acoustic issue but to stop UV rays from cracking dashboards. They were ugly and tacky.
But for their acoustical benefit... I reluctantly searched for one.

I was surprised to find this one - so I bought it. It showed up yesterday and I'm really impressed so far- I took this pic in front of a window to show a few things:


I bought it in part because it's not carpet - it's faux suede. It not only looks way better than old school dash carpets, it actually looks nice - real stitching around the borders. Faux suede looks good. Foam middle layer should be great, acoustically. The bottom has a grip texture printed on that seems promising, and it came with some mounting tape squares probably for the tricky and floppy areas.

I haven't tried it in the car yet, and don't want to until a warm spring day - or even unrolled it fully yet, to keep it clean - but the pics are promising. With a little careful fitting, I'm sure I can match this:


Has anyone used any form of dash mat before, for any reason? What's your story?

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[BigAl205]

That looks awesome, but I don't see how it could help, acoustically. Maybe it would be better if it was perforated with some absorbing material underneath. Let us know how it works out

[geolemon]

It's a little like walking into a really echo-ey room. You put a throw rug down, and even just that can remove that unnatural acoustical feeling. A sofa, chairs, set of curtains and a painting or two - and your room suddenly feels and sounds normal, right?
So with a dash- especially a long one like mine from the raked windshield, and a very plasticky dash like mine, it's also rife with reflections.

Like a room rug, a dash mat can help attenuate reflections. Give it a try in your car - take a towel out there, toss it on the dash, fold and spread it out so it's a couple layers, and listen - then take it away. It'll change the sound - even if your speakers aren't up there. That's all just attenuating some reflections.

So this isn't too thick but similar, maybe not like a loop pile old school dash mat - but acoustically this actually has three layers:

• faux suede - actually a thick microfiber. Like alcantera. Or like that faux-suede furniture that's all over.
• foam - there's a few millimeter thick foam of some sort inside.
• Backing - don't know what this is but it's also a pretty thick fabric, with those rubber gripper spots printed onto it in a pattern.

They do sell carpet ones too, still - but I definitely prefer the way this one looks, so we'll try this first.

I don't even necessarily know if I truly have an issue up there - but with all the drivers up there, I want it to treat it like an acoustical environment.

And they are cheap - this was like $25 on Amazon. If it doesn't work out, can try a different one.

[TheTodd]

In my experience they work. I bought a very cheap one from Rock Auto… actually 2 as my dash & interior is 2-tone and I wanted it to match. I’ll be honest, mine looks ugly and cheap but my imaging went from scattered with a wandering center image to pinpoint accuracy just putting it in. I can get a picture tomorrow when it’s light out but it really is nothing fancy. Like you, I bought a cheap one to try and if it didn’t work I wasn’t out a ton of money. I’ve just been too lazy to order a nicer one. It literally looks like the type of carpet you get at Pep Boys. My install consists of a 2.5” mid and tweet in a-pillar pods pointed at the opposite seating position but my instrument cluster is fairly large which really messed with the left side drivers. Even my 15yr old son (from the passenger side) asked what I did different. When I asked what I meant he said “it just sounds different… better different”, and that’s coming from a hearing impaired kid who wears hearing aids and couldn’t care less about car audio.

Any chance you have a link to that one you got? It looks nicer than mine and it was actually cheaper. If you find it works I just may get one.

[Whiterabbit]

I'm the only person who strongly prefers the look of carpet on the dash. WAY better looking than suede or any material that changes look/color/sheen based on the way it is brushed.

[geolemon]

I'm the only person who strongly prefers the look of carpet on the dash. WAY better looking than suede or any material that changes look/color/sheen based on the way it is brushed.

I suppose I can see that argument. I've just seen some cheesy ones.

In my experience they work. I bought a very cheap one from Rock Auto… actually 2 as my dash & interior is 2-tone and I wanted it to match. I’ll be honest, mine looks ugly and cheap but my imaging went from scattered with a wandering center image to pinpoint accuracy just putting it in. I can get a picture tomorrow when it’s light out but it really is nothing fancy. Like you, I bought a cheap one to try and if it didn’t work I wasn’t out a ton of money. I’ve just been too lazy to order a nicer one. It literally looks like the type of carpet you get at Pep Boys. My install consists of a 2.5” mid and tweet in a-pillar pods pointed at the opposite seating position but my instrument cluster is fairly large which really messed with the left side drivers. Even my 15yr old son (from the passenger side) asked what I did different. When I asked what I meant he said “it just sounds different… better different”, and that’s coming from a hearing impaired kid who wears hearing aids and couldn’t care less about car audio.

Any chance you have a link to that one you got? It looks nicer than mine and it was actually cheaper. If you find it works I just may get one.

This is the cheap one I bought but it's Civic specific:
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B08736XS...ing=UTF8&psc=1

If you have a Civic you're in luck. If not Amazon has a way to filter the list to your vehicle - maybe this non-brand exists for other cars too.

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[Hillbilly SQ]

I've run a dash mat for over 10 years. They work and I think most of them are hideous. I get a new one with every vehicle and the one in my truck now is 3 years old and faded but I don't care. Long as it does what I need it to do I'm OK with it. More than once I've joked with my car audio peers about using shag carpet as a dash mat.

[geolemon]

I hope this one will be as acoustically effective as a carpet one. I much prefer the look of this faux suede...

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