Question about mounting woofer in enclosure

[rct]

I have a pair of 3/4" thick MDF and plywood enclosures and I am replacing the woofers. The old woofers were mounted/sealed in the enclosures with silicone caulk only and they were sealed really well. The new woofers are heavier (15 pounds, 12" diameter) and I'm wondering if these can also be mounted with silicone caulk as I'm leary of using screws but not sure with the extra weight. I want to make sure I get this right so any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance

 

[hydrovac]

I have a pair of 3/4" thick MDF and plywood enclosures and I am replacing the woofers. The old woofers were mounted/sealed in the enclosures with silicone caulk only and they were sealed really well. The new woofers are heavier (15 pounds, 12" diameter) and I'm wondering if these can also be mounted with silicone caulk as I'm leary of using screws but not sure with the extra weight. I want to make sure I get this right so any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance

I have never seen drivers that were just stuck to a baffle with caulk.
What makes you feel leery about using screws...
Using gasket and screws is the standard mounting practice, at least with large woofers.

 

[Fantastic]

I second that view. It looks impossible to hold a heavy driver with just caulk.
Did you just pry the old driver free ? Sounds impossible.
The driver would be fixed in place with screws and the caulk would be used to make it an air tight seal. Even bass reflex enclosures would use some sort of seal ( a gasket of some sort) between the driver and the cabinet.
You can also use thin closed pore plastic foam sheet as a gasket material. Normally you use T-nuts to fix the driver. It's a machine screw with a nut that has a flange with spikes on them. So when it is tightened it digs into the wood from the inside. Remember that woofers usually require tightening of screws after a few years of use ! In some systems they seem to be reasonably tight ( or locked with glue?) but often they will be slightly loose as the cabinet material compresses with age.

 

[rct]

I am going to try Cast Frame #10-32 Speaker Mounting Kit screws, thanks. I'm assuming I must drill a pilot hole at each location?

 

[Fantastic]

I am going to try Cast Frame #10-32 Speaker Mounting Kit screws, thanks. I'm assuming I must drill a pilot hole at each location?

Yes ! Check the root diameter of the screw ( without the threads). I use that figure or slightly under to make a pilot hole.