using 'steel wool' as box stuffing

[terry j]

from an old copy of the audio critic comes this excerpt (regarding getting more bass from smaller boxes, this time with the explanation of how and why stuffing works)

arrgh, can't copy and paste from the pdf....http://www.theaudiocritic.com/back_i...ritic_17_r.pdf

he talks about the stuffing absorbing heat upon compression and releasing it later, and again upon rarefraction the opposite, the net result being that the woofer moves more freely. (pdf page twenty in the section of acoustic suspension boxes of s/one can copy and paste for me)

That is for me a good description, well one I can understand, of why stuffing a box makes it seem larger to the woofer.

It makes me think of a regenerator in a stirling motor, and led me to wonder what the results may be if we used a metal, say steel wool of sufficient thinness instead of fibreglass.

It will more readily heat and cool than fibreglass no?, therefore would we see a 'bigger box' for the woofer?

Leaving aside any electrical contact and shortciruits (not hard to overcome) or any magnetic induction (surely not a real world problem or hard to overcome) but purely based on the ability to store heat and release it quickly, would not fine steel wool work better than equivalently sized fibreglass?

[Mooly]

Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. Any strands of steel WILL be attracted to the pole pieces on the speakers and will cause the voice coil to rub. Don't even go there

[terry j]

not thinking of trying it, just curious about the aspects outlined, the better (presumably) ability to store and release heat, which seems to be the reason for stuffing.

for the sake of a 'mind experiment', lets say any practical problems can be overcome, which surely would not be hard to do. Not hard to keep any steel wool away from unwanted areas. let's say a manufacturer could easily overcome those problems, if they could would there be any 'market' advantages in terms of better performance?

[Spraiski]

There are non-magnetic metal wools out there - search for 'metal wool' on McMaster-Carr's website.