Second Skin vs Sound Deadener Showdown

[jorscrivens 0]

Hey guys. I'm looking to deaden my Jeep Cherokee the right way. But just like anyone else, I still want a quality product for a good price. I have heard tons of good things about quality and price of Second Skin, But I also found this site: http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/products/cld very useful. I Understand the fundamentals of sound deadening and only want to do this one time with the greatest results possible. Please no arguing about asphalt or using low quality products or any of that other stuff they do on lame forums.

My questions:

1. According to Sound Deadener Showdown, more than 25% coverage is a waste. I don't want to waste anything whether is be time or money! Is this a trustworthy enough site to believe? Has anyone proved this?

2. On Second Skins site, why is it that Alpha Damp is thinner and more expensive than Damplifier Pro but still claimed to be the BEST?

Right now I'm leaning towards Sound Deadening Showdown, any input you guys have would be greatly appreciated!

Edited December 8, 2011 by jorscrivens

[ssh 924]

The owner of Sound Deadener Showdown is often times on the ssa forum, he goes by the username rudeboy.

He is extremely knowledgeable and won't sell you more product then you need.

In my opinion Second Skin is just overpriced.

I've used all the products from SDS and loved them. I've used some of damplifier pro from Second Skin and it was much thinner then the cld tiles from SDS.

Just my two cents.

[S.DeYoung 968]

SDS. I fully treated my doors and the results are amazing.

[S.DeYoung 968]

Plus Don is the most helpful guy with his products. He answered all my questions very fast.

[jorscrivens 0]

SDS. I fully treated my doors and the results are amazing.

When you say "fully treated" do you mean you only did 25% coverage like it says? Or did you cover the whole door?

[Duran 387]

Don is one if the very few people who know how to property dampen a vehicle, I trust his knowledge more than anyone else's.

[Ohjay 116]

Don is one if the very few people who know how to property dampen a vehicle, I trust his knowledge more than anyone else's.

X2 I plan on using SDS for all my future dampening projects.

[hatch216 2]

Im glad he asked because I was trying to determine what company to use

[S.DeYoung 968]

SDS. I fully treated my doors and the results are amazing.

When you say "fully treated" do you mean you only did 25% coverage like it says? Or did you cover the whole door?

By fully treated I mean I followed Dons techniques for sound deadening. This includes 25% coverage with the cld tiles and lining the door with mlv and ccf.

[Infinite913 381]

I have my 2001 astro that I needed deadened and was contacting Don for a while he was great with his responses and very quick to respond. When I had some confusion on my end he called and talked with me.

I came across a deal with the Second Skin Alpha damp that was just to good to pass up. Being that its the thickest tile on the market I figured why not give it a try. WELL I AM GLAD THAT I DID! I bought one box and that was able to stretch to do my whole entire van.....all my doors.... my roof.... sides and some floor and I still have a sheet left over that I use to take to shows and show people how incredible this product really is.

In my opinion your best bet is to go with either one of these companies but Second Skin is all I use at 913 Customs.

I am located in michigan if you are local to the detroit area I would love to show you what Second Skin product can do as I have two vehicles that are completely SECOND SKIN PRODUCT!

[jorscrivens 0]

I have my 2001 astro that I needed deadened and was contacting Don for a while he was great with his responses and very quick to respond. When I had some confusion on my end he called and talked with me.

I came across a deal with the Second Skin Alpha damp that was just to good to pass up. Being that its the thickest tile on the market I figured why not give it a try. WELL I AM GLAD THAT I DID! I bought one box and that was able to stretch to do my whole entire van.....all my doors.... my roof.... sides and some floor and I still have a sheet left over that I use to take to shows and show people how incredible this product really is.

In my opinion your best bet is to go with either one of these companies but Second Skin is all I use at 913 Customs.

I am located in michigan if you are local to the detroit area I would love to show you what Second Skin product can do as I have two vehicles that are completely SECOND SKIN PRODUCT!

I would love to! I work in Novi, MI. Pretty close to D town

[sefugi 166]

If you havn't seen it here is a link to an install of SDS products. Very usefull. I have spoken with Don by e-mail a few times and he is very helpfull. I will be using his products on my next personal build.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

If you havn't seen it here is a link to an install of SDS products. Very usefull. I have spoken with Don by e-mail a few times and he is very helpfull. I will be using his products on my next personal build.

Thanks for posting that link.

[sefugi 166]

If you havn't seen it here is a link to an install of SDS products. Very usefull. I have spoken with Don by e-mail a few times and he is very helpfull. I will be using his products on my next personal build.

Thanks for posting that link.

No thanks needed, but Thank You!!

[Tirefryr 1,742]

I have never used SDS, but I've used every other deadener available. IMO, Don has revolutionized the industry. How many others have the done the research and product development Don has? None. How many have posted this information on their website and been so giving on the forums? None. How many have been happy to sell you less product to do the same job? None. As I see it, the only man in the industry who truly knows how to properly treat an automobile it Don. The "experts" at Dynamat can't tell you half of what Don knows and they are supposed to be the standard for all others. Second Skin, while good, and I don't know the new owners, but if they only know what Ant knew, well. . . . I have yet to see anything different from that changeover that would sway me their way. Plain and simple, Don is the man.

[Shogen 325]

I can and always will vouch for SDS... I haven't completed the sound deadening on my car but just the CLD tiles alone from him are stiffer than the dynamat and SS I have seen/used... Will do more work in the spring...

[kirill007 52]

Hey guys. I'm looking to deaden my Jeep Cherokee the right way. But just like anyone else, I still want a quality product for a good price. I have heard tons of good things about quality and price of Second Skin, But I also found this site: http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/products/cld very useful. I Understand the fundamentals of sound deadening and only want to do this one time with the greatest results possible. Please no arguing about asphalt or using low quality products or any of that other stuff they do on lame forums.

My questions:

1. According to Sound Deadener Showdown, more than 25% coverage is a waste. I don't want to waste anything whether is be time or money! Is this a trustworthy enough site to believe? Has anyone proved this?

2. On Second Skins site, why is it that Alpha Damp is thinner and more expensive than Damplifier Pro but still claimed to be the BEST?

Right now I'm leaning towards Sound Deadening Showdown, any input you guys have would be greatly appreciated!

From testing , if you do 50% coverage instead of 25% coverage, it will be at most 3db's better.

If you do 100% coverage instead of 25% coverage, it wil only help for at most 5db's.

But in a lot of cases 25% coverage is enough, if you want to have less sound get in the car you have to use soundbarriers.

Alpha damp is better then damplifier pro because alpha damp has a thicker layer of metal then damplifier.

It's lighter but much stronger damplifier pro is already quite solid, but alpha damp feels almost twice as solid.

I don't know anything about SDS as i have never used those products. But even second skin damplifier is already a lot stiffer then the best dynamat.

Someone said SS is overpriced, although in my opinion their price is very competitive. The quality is great at a decent price.(but i live in Europe so prices are different, if i could buy everything at the price you guys have in the US i could buy a lot more things.)

[jonbearsmt 919]

i have never used SDS ... but my homeboy Steve mead swears by it.

i like my second skin, it works great, its easy to apply and it has not fallen or pealed,

and i have also gained DB's from just doing my trunk lid alone, with damp pro,

i also used damp pro in my doors, along with luxury liner pro, that helped me gain more mid bass, and also stop road noise,

the guys at second skin are easy to deal with now that they are under new ownership, and i have a local friend that has had amazing results with stopping his resonant sound from his Honda's loud muffler

[Second Skin 120]

2. On Second Skins site, why is it that Alpha Damp is thinner and more expensive than Damplifier Pro but still claimed to be the BEST?

Alpha Damp is overall 25% thinner than Damplifier Pro(our thickest CLD) but the foil is much thicker. while Damplifier and Damplifier Pro have 6.5 mil foil(for those who don't know, the foil is the "Constrained Layer" and a very important part of a CLD mat.) the Alpha Damp has a 10 mil foil, which is why it is more effective than the other two.

Max

Edit: It seems i overlooked Kirill007's post stating more or less the same thing haha. Sorry abou that!

Edited December 8, 2011 by Second Skin

[Rudeboy 152]

Do I have to sit here and take this?

j/k

BTW - Second Skin sells very high quality products.

[Infinite913 381]

2. On Second Skins site, why is it that Alpha Damp is thinner and more expensive than Damplifier Pro but still claimed to be the BEST?

Alpha Damp is overall 25% thinner than Damplifier Pro(our thickest CLD) but the foil is much thicker. while Damplifier and Damplifier Pro have 6.5 mil foil(for those who don't know, the foil is the "Constrained Layer" and a very important part of a CLD mat.) the Alpha Damp has a 10 mil foil, which is why it is more effective than the other two.

Max

Edit: It seems i overlooked Kirill007's post stating more or less the same thing haha. Sorry abou that!

Do I have to sit here and take this?

j/k

BTW - Second Skin sells very high quality products.

Great Products! Great GUYS! you two just made it more difficult im sure for this poor guy to decide Either way there is no wrong choice in this debate!

[Impious 1,476]

I would personally recommend SDS. Don is quite easily one of the most knowledgeable and helpful individuals in the sound deadening industry, and on top of that offers some of the best products in the industry. Those two reasons combined make him and his business the best place to spend your hard earned money, in my humble opinion. He'll be able to assist you in purchasing the products that best meet your goals instead of the products that make him the most profit.

[Freshh 11]

Agreed, Don was great to me when I bought my materials from him. Very highly recommend him.

[Julian 641]

Great cs, bought a pack and forgot to get a roller, don sent me a free roller!

[kirill007 52]

Weird, someone clicked the minus at my post. Kind of weird since no one said i was wrong or anything like that.

But like i have said before, SS is a good product and the performance per dollar is great.