Srinath_seshadri
New Member
I have owned and played with several 100 makes and models of speakers. So I thought I'd post about my favorite materials to build speakers out of as well as what I found opening up 1000's of speakers.
1. MDF - AKA particle board. This is nearly what 90% of speakers are made out of. This is a manufacturers dream. MDF is cheap, dimensionally stable machinable, void free, sonically dead and easy to fasten with glue. Its also f-uglllly - and they slap wood grained vinyl over it. Which oddly looks - well fake. For the customer though, its alright, its got toxic glue in the material, but usually you only touch that vinyl covering, and it works fine. Just dont even mention water near the thing. And its not really very strong. But no one expects their speakers to carry some load, like my coffee table sub woofer idea. 95+% of home speakers are made from MDF. Now in the US, at retail prices, MDF is almost as the same price as finished Ply wood. Plus it needs a vinyl cover over it. So its more $$ effectively.
2. Plywood. First there was "Void free plywood". Cos air pockets have a ringing when you hit em with their resonance freq, and if there is multiple voids you get many freq's they ring in. The material is sonically almost dead. It is far stronger than MDF, resists water a lot better, can be stained and sealed and looks pretty good. It however needs to be screwed together, not glued, and its not as perfectly machinable. It has a grain. However 99% of commercial gear is made with plywood. Further, most of the "Big" home speakers from nearly all manufacturers are made of plywood. Altec, Klipsch, EV and every other manufacturer use plywood. And here is the kicker. Not all of it is void free. Its finished plywood, not void free plywood. How do they keep it from ringing. Easy. They are stuffed to the gills with fiberglass, foam or carpet or something, so the sound almost never hits the void to allow it to ring. Excellent material. Works great for big speakers, and I actually loosely define big as anything with a 10" woofer or bigger. LOL, EV's and altec's have that same definition.
3. Wood. Its far more expensive @ retail level, but you can go to a wood mill and buy quantity for close to the same price as plywood. But it is far better and combines the advantages of MDF and plywood and none of the disadvantages. Beautiful looks to boot. If someone showed up with blank check for me to build speakers - I'll be on my way to the wood mill before they left my house. Its a dream material, but your $$ may be the limit.
4. Metal. I have plenty of book shelves. Bang and olufsen, optimus, RCA all of these made speakers out of aluminum. Realistic minimus was made from steel. Great material.
5. Plastic. Not bad, sonically dead, and cheap. Looks like - well plastic, but it does work alright. I guess its water proof. I have an infinity center made of plastic. Pretty decent.
6. Masonite. Yea, its heavy, dimensionally stable, sonically dead. But also $$$ and hard to work with. I have seen a Jamo set made from this.
So that's what I have noticed. Feel free to add to this or to correct me.
Cool.
Srinath.
1. MDF - AKA particle board. This is nearly what 90% of speakers are made out of. This is a manufacturers dream. MDF is cheap, dimensionally stable machinable, void free, sonically dead and easy to fasten with glue. Its also f-uglllly - and they slap wood grained vinyl over it. Which oddly looks - well fake. For the customer though, its alright, its got toxic glue in the material, but usually you only touch that vinyl covering, and it works fine. Just dont even mention water near the thing. And its not really very strong. But no one expects their speakers to carry some load, like my coffee table sub woofer idea. 95+% of home speakers are made from MDF. Now in the US, at retail prices, MDF is almost as the same price as finished Ply wood. Plus it needs a vinyl cover over it. So its more $$ effectively.
2. Plywood. First there was "Void free plywood". Cos air pockets have a ringing when you hit em with their resonance freq, and if there is multiple voids you get many freq's they ring in. The material is sonically almost dead. It is far stronger than MDF, resists water a lot better, can be stained and sealed and looks pretty good. It however needs to be screwed together, not glued, and its not as perfectly machinable. It has a grain. However 99% of commercial gear is made with plywood. Further, most of the "Big" home speakers from nearly all manufacturers are made of plywood. Altec, Klipsch, EV and every other manufacturer use plywood. And here is the kicker. Not all of it is void free. Its finished plywood, not void free plywood. How do they keep it from ringing. Easy. They are stuffed to the gills with fiberglass, foam or carpet or something, so the sound almost never hits the void to allow it to ring. Excellent material. Works great for big speakers, and I actually loosely define big as anything with a 10" woofer or bigger. LOL, EV's and altec's have that same definition.
3. Wood. Its far more expensive @ retail level, but you can go to a wood mill and buy quantity for close to the same price as plywood. But it is far better and combines the advantages of MDF and plywood and none of the disadvantages. Beautiful looks to boot. If someone showed up with blank check for me to build speakers - I'll be on my way to the wood mill before they left my house. Its a dream material, but your $$ may be the limit.
4. Metal. I have plenty of book shelves. Bang and olufsen, optimus, RCA all of these made speakers out of aluminum. Realistic minimus was made from steel. Great material.
5. Plastic. Not bad, sonically dead, and cheap. Looks like - well plastic, but it does work alright. I guess its water proof. I have an infinity center made of plastic. Pretty decent.
6. Masonite. Yea, its heavy, dimensionally stable, sonically dead. But also $$$ and hard to work with. I have seen a Jamo set made from this.
So that's what I have noticed. Feel free to add to this or to correct me.
Cool.
Srinath.