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Audio System Upgrade and Sound Damping in a 1998 Saab 900SET 5-door
AUDIO SYSTEM
For the 1994-1998 Saab 900, two stereo systems were available in the USA market. Both the standard and premium Saab stereo systems have 3.5" full range speakers in the dash and 6"X9" full range speakers in the rear parcel shelf area. These speakers are powered from the in-dash stereo with 20 watts maximum power x 4 speakers driven.
The front door speakers were fitted only on the premium stereo system, typically sold in the USA in the 900SE trim package. The premium stereo system adds the 6.5" mid-bass speakers in the front doors and a separate mid-bass amplifier to the standard stereo system. The separate mid-bass amplifier is located on the right side of the center console. The mid-bass amplifier supplies only frequencies below 200 Hz to the front door speakers. The amplifier is rated at 40 watts maximum power x 2 speakers driven.
The stock stereo system in my 1998 900SET has two 3.5 diameter dual cone dash speakers and two 6x 9 dual cone rear speakers (6.5 diameter rear speakers in convertibles) driven by the radio tuner/amplifier (20W Max. X 4). There are also two 6.5 diameter front door speakers driven by a separate mid-bass amplifier, handling only the frequencies below 200 HZ (40W Max. X 2). The stock speakers are of cheap paper and plastic construction and do not include separate tweeter elements.
I found the stock stereo system in my 1998 900SET 5-door to have very poor frequency response. The mid-bass is muddy, the mid-range is lacking, and the high frequencies are buzzy.
I upgraded the sound system by installing Infinity Kappa series aftermarket speakers. I kept the stock radio tuner/amplifier unit and the stock mid-bass amplifier. I simply replaced the stock speakers with the Infinity Kappa speakers (Infinity Kappa 32.1cf 3.5 2-way speakers in the dash, Infinity Kappa 693.1i 6x 9 3-way speakers in the rear parcel shelf (mounted from under the shelf for clearance), and Infinity Kappa 65.1mb 6.5 mid-bass speakers in the front doors). The Infinity Kappa speakers give much fuller response in the mid-bass and mid-range frequencies and clear definition in the high frequencies.
Infinity Kappa 32.1cf
3.5 2-way speakers
injection molded quartz polypropylene woofer with butyl rubber surround
ceramic composite (ceramic over cloth) dome tweeter
frequency response 95-20,000 Hz (+/- 1.5 dB)
recommended power range 2-30 watts RMS
peak power handling 60 watts
sensitivity 89 dB
4 ohm impedance
100µF bipolar capacitors wired in-line with the speakers to block frequencies below 400HZ
Infinity Kappa 693.1i
6x9 3-way speakers
injection molded quartz polypropylene woofer with butyl rubber surround
ceramic composite midrange (non-swiveling)
EMIT planar tweeter
frequency response 38-21,000 Hz (+/- 1.5 dB)
recommended power range 8-100 watts RMS
peak power handling 200 watts
sensitivity 89 dB
4 ohm impedance
Infinity Kappa 65.1mb
6.5 mid-bass speakers
injection molded quartz polypropylene woofer with butyl rubber surround
frequency response 40-2,500 Hz (+/- 1.5 dB)
recommended power range 4-50 watts RMS
peak power handling 100 watts
sensitivity 89 dB
4 ohm impedance
SOUND DAMPING
I mainly listen to jazz and blues and found the amount of road noise a bit too intrusive. So I decided to add sound damping and absorbing material where possible. The following details the current sound deadening material in the Saab NG900 5-door and what modifications I made.
Front Wheel Wells and Floor Boards:
Under the carpet is a .070 thick asphalt mat covered by an approx. .090 thick white closed cell foam mat with a strong synthetic rubber backing. These two materials cover the entire area from the behind the dash, down the firewall to the beginning of the front seats, and from front left wheel well to right front wheel well including the center console.
There was no need, or much room, to add anything in this area.
Front Doors:
The interior door panel is made of a good quality pressed composite board. There are two pieces of rigid foam glued to the back of the interior door panel. Under the interior door panel is a foamed synthetic rubber membrane covering the entire inside door skin. The membrane is adhered to the door skin along the bottom edge and along both sides. The top is not adhered. Under this membrane is a smaller rubber membrane with an adhesive backing that covers the electric window motor assembly. The exterior door skin (the sheet metal skin that makes up the exterior surface of the car) has a piece of .070 thick asphalt sheet approx. 4 by 18 applied to the lower portion of the door skin. There are three pieces of rigid foam wedged in to the door. Two pieces are wedged at the bottom of the door between the inner and outer door skins, and one piece is wedged as a stopper in the square opening of the inner door skin.
I added a piece of .060 thick Dynamat Super approx. 5 wide by the width of the door to the inside of the exterior door skin, just above the side collision reinforcing bar. I also added an 8 by 8 piece of Dynamat Super to the inside of the exterior door skin directly behind the door mounted mid-bass speaker. After replacing the factory rigid foam pieces, I then covered the lower half (approx. 12 high) of the interior door skin with Dynamat Premium. I then replaced the two factory rubber membranes and the interior door panel.
Rear Doors:
Like the front doors, the interior door panel is made of a good quality pressed composite board. There are two pieces of rigid foam glued to the back of the interior door panel. Under the interior door panel is a foamed synthetic rubber membrane covering the entire inside door skin. The membrane is adhered to the door skin along the bottom edge and along both sides. The top is not adhered. Under this membrane is a smaller rubber membrane with an adhesive backing that covers the electric window motor assembly. The exterior door skin (the sheet metal skin that makes up the exterior surface of the car) has a piece of .070 thick asphalt sheet approx. 4 by 18 applied to the lower portion of the door skin. There is one piece of rigid foam wedged at the bottom of the door between the inner and outer door skins. There is second piece of rigid foam glued to the inside surface of the exterior door skin.
I added a piece of .060 thick Dynamat Super approx. 5 wide by 14 long to the inside of the exterior door skin, just above the side collision reinforcing bar. After replacing the factory rigid foam piece, I then covered the lower half (approx. 12 high) of the interior door skin with Dynamat Premium. I then replaced the two factory rubber membranes and the interior door panel.
Rear Cargo Area:
I exposed the rear cargo area by removing the carpet covering the wheel wells on each side, cargo area carpet mat, spare tire, tools, etc. The rear wheel wells each have three small pieces of .070 asphalt mat applied to them. One at the front of the wheel well, one at the middle, and one at the rear of the wheel well. The inside surface of the exterior skin of each rear quarter panel has one piece of .070 asphalt mat approx. 4 by 18 attached to it. There is also an 8 by 24 piece of soft foam wrapped in plastic inserted between the inner and outer skins of the quarter panels on each side. There is a .070 asphalt mat covering the cargo floor above the rear muffler. The hatch lid has no sound damping material at all.
I covered the rear wheels wells with Dynamat Super. I also covered the exposed cargo floor on each side of the spare wheel well with Dynamat Super. I then covered the spare tire well with Dynamat Premium. I used some left over scraps of Dynamat Premium to cover the rear speaker shelves and to apply to the hatch lid. I also applied about 6 square feet of .75 thick Soundcoat sound absorbing foam (similar to Dynaliner by Dynamat) behind the carpet in the area around the rear speakers.
Conclusion:
The additional sound deadening seems to have reduced the road noise by about 10-25%. The doors close with a more vault like thunk. The mid-bass speakers seem to be a bit clearer, and there is less sympathetic vibration apparent in the door at loud volumes. There is definitely a lot less road noise from the rear cargo area of the car. I would guess that the Dynamat claim of a 3 dB reduction in the road noise level is about right. The sound damping in the rear wheel wells and cargo area is probably the most important aspect of this improvement. I would rate this experiment as $250 and 2 days well spent.
Additional Notes:
I used one 12 square foot sheet of Dynamat Super (a .060 thick rubberized material with a 5 mil aluminum foil covering on one side and pressure sensitive adhesive on the other side) and two 13 square foot sheets of Dynamat Premium (a .045 thick mineral filled rubberized material with pressure sensitive adhesive on one side). I purchased the material from Crutchfield (http://www.crutchfield.com). The total weight of the material added less than 15 lbs to the car. For product specifications see (http://www.dynamat.com). There are several comparable sound damping materials available at car stereo retailers (Cascade, Accumat, B-Quiet, etc.). An inexpensive source of sound deadening material can be found at McMaster (http://www.mcmaster-carr.com) searching under sound control.
The Saab Service Manual, Section 8.2 Interior Equipment, was very informative when it came to removing the interior door panels, rocker covers, etc. The Saab service manual is available at your Saab dealer for about $12.
While I had the door panels off, I added some Wurth Body Protection Spray (a clear rust proofing wax compound for door panels, doorsills, etc. Very thin when applied, it gets into all the crevices and dries to form a hard, protective wax coating). One spray can had more than enough material to all 4 doors and the hatch lid. Available from Car Care Specialties (http://www.carcareonline.com).
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