What type of wood is really used in Commercial Speaker?

[hifimaker]

I'm pretty new to speaker building, and had a question about materials.

What type of wood is really used in commercial speakers that cost $2-3000 usd?

I'm guessing MDF or particleboard with a veneer. I can see baltic birch used in very expensive speakers, but what is common in the better mid-price range?

-David

[AndrewT]

Hi,
very few use wood.
Some Italian models major on the fact that wood is used and they look great.
Almost all speakers use some kind of manufactured board and a few use exotics like aluminium and GRP/CRP.
The commonly used boards are: particle board, M&HDF, plywood.

[SpeakerScott]

Originally posted by dw8083
I'm pretty new to speaker building, and had a question about materials.

What type of wood is really used in commercial speakers that cost $2-3000 usd?

I'm guessing MDF or particleboard with a veneer. I can see baltic birch used in very expensive speakers, but what is common in the better mid-price range?

-David

In that price range most will be MDF with veneer.

Scott

[hifimaker]

You guys have been helpful. Thank you.

At what price range are real plywood panels or boxes seen?

Also, I know that particleboard is structurally stronger. In terms of audio performance is particleboard better than MDF?

-David

[SpeakerScott]

Originally posted by dw8083
You guys have been helpful. Thank you.

At what price range are real plywood panels or boxes seen?

Also, I know that particleboard is structurally stronger. In terms of audio performance is particleboard better than MDF?

-David

When I had my company...I never considered plywood, because veneering to it reliably was difficult for us, especially at the end grain of the cuts.

At the very high end, people tend to go with composite materials similar to corian.

Particleboard is typically used in only the cheapest boxes....

Well braced, structurally sound boxes can be made of very many materials.

Scott

[craigwalsh]

Baltic birch is typically found on professional boxes because it is very durable and can withstand the rigors and stresses of touring. It is also less likely to fall apart when "flown" by rigging than MDF.

MDF is thought to be superior for speaker cabinets because it has reduced resonance compared to plywood and solid wood. Although fine musical instruments are made from expensive hardwoods due to their resonant properties, speaker cabinets should be as non-resonant as possible. The speaker cabinet should not color the sound that the drivers produce.

As for speaker prices, I don't really think the type of wood used in cabinet construction is necessarily a factor. Of course, those expensive hand crafted solid wood models from Italy are an exception. I think you will find most mid- to high-end cabinets will be made of MDF. Of course, the veneers used themselves can be very expensive and that can contribute to the hefty price tag of some.

[AndrewT]

Originally posted by dw8083
I know that particleboard is structurally stronger. In terms of audio performance is particleboard better than MDF?

no.
good quality plywood will be stronger. Particle board is probably the weakest of the boards and probably also the most variable.
Before MDF most speakers were made from particle board or plywood.
All the boards will sound different. This can be used to voice a speaker, but will take a large development budget.

[Scottmoose]

Agreed.

Without wishing to stir up a 'this is better than that' storm, a few general thoughts.

1) MDF is generally used in commercial hifi speakers (even some very expensive ones) because it's cheap & easily worked by moderate - large companies with CNC machines. Commerical hifi, like many other walks of life, is largely smoke & mirrors. They are businesses, ergo their goal is to maximise profits, not sonics.

2) Beware thinking that MDF is less resonant than other materials. It isn't, it's just different.

3) MDF is not an especially stiff material, typically 1 1/4 - 1 1/2in is needed to ~match the stiffness of 3/4in thick birch ply. Assuming equal thicknesses, being nominally a denser material, then on paper, and often in practice, MDF's natural resonance BW is at a lower frequency, and thus wider & of a higher amplitude than the ply equivalents & has a slower decay time. ROT therefore is that you will need to damp the stuff much more than particleboard (or chipboard as it's known here in the UK) or birch ply, or many solid hardwoods. This is generalised BTW -a host of other factors such as panel size naturally come into play in practice.

4) Erradication of panel resonance is a hiding to nothing. Best you can hope to do is push the resonant BW of the panels out of the cabinet's operating BW, to a place where it / they are less likely to be excited. Which you go for is down to preference, but raising it is often easier & will require less damping.

5) Despite being looked down upon these days, a good quality particleboard / chipboard (assuming you can find one) is a reasonable material for cabinets if it is used properly.

6) Solid woods (hard or soft) do not automatically resonate audibly in a cabinet's operating BW, and as many of them have an excellent stiffness-weight ratio, may be used very effectively if your carpentry is up to it, and if they are not going to be subject to sudden changes in temperature & humidity.

7) Combinations of materials can also be usefully employed; for e.g. a laminate of 1/2in particleboard with 1/4in MDF. And so on.

[Aengus]

Good summary. To this point:

6) Solid woods (hard or soft) do not automatically resonate audibly in a cabinet's operating BW, and as many of them have an excellent stiffness-weight ratio, may be used very effectively if your carpentry is up to it, and if they are not going to be subject to sudden changes in temperature & humidity.

I would add that all speakers, with the possible exception of those kept in museums, are subject to humidity changes, and whether these are sudden or not, will cause the wood to expand and contract. If you don't know what you are doing when you build boxes from it - be they speakers or highboys - the wood will split.

Exceptions: wood allowed to move by the construction techniques chosen (not too easy for speakers which need to be airtight); wood saturated with epoxy (WEST technique), which will also change the resonant character of the wood; small boxes made from highly stable (typically very oily) woods like teak.

Regards.

Aengus

[MJL21193]

Well said Aengus.