Sound Deadening Doors with Stock Speakers

I do!

I have Prius 2012 with JBL Green Edge (but the sound is not famous), and I added some heavy damper STP Gold on outer skin of the doors.



My opinion: the sound becomes better as there is no more parasite sound (due to less vibration).
But it will not change the nature of your sound.

I add after a while a slim subwoofer Crunch GP800 and it really improve the bass response (I can now hear the resonance of guitare cord).

 

The JBL stereo is vaguely ok. If you don't have it, the generic prius speakers are so dreadful that I would replace them at once.
You don't have to spend a lot to vastly improve them. I paid $50 for some kenwood 3 ways from crutchfield.
I am likely to move up to 6x9 for the front door, but you will need to get adapters from somewhere other than crutchfield for those adapters.

The factory speakers are even significantly worse than the factory camry speakers.
Here weasel.com: 2012 Toyota Plug in Prius are pictures of the factory speakers for a 2012 prius and a 2002 camry.

Besides, the factory speakers are riveted in. By the time you remove the rivets, it is certainly time to upgrade.

There is a tiny piece of material in the door, about 4x4 inches which may be dampening material. Other than that, there is nothing.
Adding dampening material of any kind will help. Mass loaded vinyl is great stuff. Look at Total Sound Makeover - Sound Deadening, Speakers, Processor, Amp, and Subwoofer | PriusChat for a very professional install.

I just used peel and seal, which helped a lot.

 

I used the "2-door" Dynamat kit from Best Buy because I got the idea on a weekend and didn't feel like waiting for it to ship. I mainly wanted to get rid of the "trash can" sound when you slam the doors. But it does improve the audio quality of the *enclosure*. Makes it easier to hear how good/bad the stock speakers are. Now the only thing that rattles from (factory) bass is the door panels lol :/

 

There's cheaper alternative also you don't need to cover the full door panel
A small piece strategically placed will have the same result as a the full door panel.
Google Vw westfalia soundproofing.

 

I did this to all 4 of my doors and the OEM speakers sound great now.

 

I just had my old speakers ripped out and new ones installed. After looking at the old oem ones, I doubt that no matter how much money you spend on the audio system of the prius, the weakest like by far are the original speakers. I would take them out immediately and pull an "office space" on them in the middle of the grass field.

Here is my system at the moment:
My version of the ultimate stereo for the Prius | PriusChat

 

You definitely can get sonic improvement by properly sound proofing your doors even with oem gear.
I have done it for quite a few customers.
But it needs to be done properly. Atleast 50% coverage on outer skin then inner skin up holes.
I also use a special foam to help eliminate road noise.
Although I don't always agree with the exact materials on SDS the methodology is similar.
I just choose to use materials that I distribute. (STP)
If you need any thing I will give all forum members very good pricing

 

I have used peel & seal on my outer door skin, covering well over 505.
I used peel & seal on the inner door skin, covering quite a bit.
The stuff is really useful for removing resonant noise, just like sound deadening showroom says.
The reason I used so much on the inner door skin was to cover the clear plastic access panels.
I can't imagine that having them fluttering around could help the sound of the door speakers.

It isn't sound absorbing material. There is still lots of road noise, tire noise and the like.

The factory speakers are really dreadful. I have said so a few times. I am including pictures, just in case you are a bit unclear on the concept. Perhaps SDS meant that OEM speakers are ok if you have a Lexus or BMW. They didn't mean it for a Prius. I bought $50 kenwood 6.5" speakers for the front and rear doors. They made quite a big difference on the front doors, but less on the rear doors. I have now upgraded to 6x9 front door speakers. I don't have a picture of the kenwood speakers, but they are 3 way, not the 1 way OEM speakers. The magnet is perhaps 10 times bigger. The base is much better, the treble is much better.

I also have acquired some mass loaded vinyl. It is pretty much the only real sound deadening solution. I have some extra, which is also for sale. I haven't yet installed mine, but I did buy 2 big rolls. I don't think I will have a silent car after using it on the doors, but I do hope to cut down the outside road nouse.

Go and buy some decent speakers. I wouldn't spend hundreds on speakers, but if you spend
$30 - $50 on the dash speakers, and $50 - $100 on the front door speakers, you will get quite
a good band for your buck.