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Best roadbed
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Sorry...all this talk about roadbed and nails is getting me dizzy. Don Gibson is dead on...re-read his post. The type of roadbed has NOTHING to do with sound! Any GLUE that dries HARD will transmit the sound AROUND the roadbed to the subsurface (plywood?). If you want sound absorbancy then "adhere" your BALLAST with MATTE MEDIUM/GESSO (look in an art supply or craft store) NOT Elmer's. Matte Medium stays flexible yet holds for an eternity. It absorbs the sound because it stays flexible. <br /> <br />Second: Cork. The only bad thing said about it is that it "doesn't hold spikes". Once you "glue"/matte your ballast the spikes don't hold the track to the cork anyways. The solution again is "matte". <br /> <br />Third: What?? Sound in a room is a matter of absorbancy and reflections. Echos are caused by bouncing off of a hard surface. Quiet is created by absorbant materials. Loud sound from your on-board sound system is a combination of factors. One of which is the direction the speaker is pointed in. If it is pointed down then the roadbed (hard or flexible) will affect the volume. If it is pointed up then the roadbed and it's "matte" is NOT A FACTOR. <br /> <br />Last: ANY foam material is OUT. Foam or rubber products will degrade with time. Recently had to entirely redo a module because the foam had dissintegrated under the ballast. Like rotten wood, it was totally useless. The carpet underlayment is a recycled rubber product. It will dissintegrate with time. Homabed/Homasote is a good second to cork but moisture will make it puff up. This product is ok in humidity-non-sensitive geographic areas. I say these products are "dimensionally unstable".
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