What to line the speaker cabinets with

[mark02131]

I am building a small pair of of speakers using a 5" Fostex driver F120A In a base reflex cabinet. I don't know what to use for "stuffing" or pading inside the cabinet?

I have seen things like Dacron, Deflex, Felt, Foam sheets ?? but have no idea what to use. any help would be useful

Thanks
Mark

[planet10]

Dacron (poly vbatting) fiberglass insulation, some foam, and my favorite -- cotton or wool felt will all work, Being a BR you only want to line the walls.

dave

[mark02131]

Thanks Dave.

You like Cotten or wool the best. ok... I will try that.

I will staple it to the inside of the cabinet and won't fill the cabinet with anything.

Mark

[TerryO]

Mark,

I'm not a big fan of stuffing a bass reflex cabinets, just for the record. However, it may be that some is called for, in order to reduce reflections back through the cone. I would suggest a felt "hat" glued to the magnet assembly as it usually seems to help.

Before you start stuffing the box, listen to your speaker for awhile just to get an idea of what it sounds like. Probably wouldn't hurt to let it brake in first and get an idea of what an unstuffed/ unlined unit sounds like, or maybe better yet, leave one speaker bare (unstuffed) and experiment on the other. Set them up side by side and then switch, while playing music (if you can, use a mono signal), from one to the other to determine what the effect of your changes are.

There's another hi-tech solution available, I first heard about it on the old Bass List years ago when Greg Monfort (GM) suggested using a 1.5 Volt battery and a momentary contact switch to use for the "Click Test". When the switch or button is momentarily pressed the cone should move foreward (polarity test) and will emit a click, bonk or bonnnngg. The fast recovery "click" sound with no overhang, echo or ringing is what you're shooting for. You can start at either end, adding stuffing to an empty box or removing stuffing from one already stuffed.
It's kinda fun to do and is very instructive, IMHO. Just keep one box unstuffed for your "control" unit. When you get to your best solution, just duplicate for the remaining speaker and you're done.
Good luck on your project and above all, remember to have fun!

Best Regards,
TerryO