Use of Lead (Pb) as damping material in loudspeaker cabinet

[nannoo]

Just wondered if anyone had tried this/thought of this and what the results were?

I'm considering an 'exotic' composite baffle (silicone-alu-silic-lead-silic-Alu-silic)

silicone 1mm, lead 1.8mm, alu 3mm, approx 12mm total thickness, but hopefully a lot stiffer than 36mm wood (need to calculate that!) and better damping properties (again needs to be calculated, but pretty damn sure!)

 

[chrisb]

There are other methods / material combinations available to achieve the type of constrained layer damping I think you're hoping for - including many that would be much lower in mass and avoid the use of toxic metal

Then of course there's the question of attaching / isolating the composite baffle from the rest of the enclosure, the material composition which is not mentioned above.

It probably comes down to which of several philosophies of enclosure design you follow - I'd be very surprised to see consensus on this question.

But you already knew that from your earlier related thread

 

[SyBorg]

Back in the early 1980s. Bill Gross (GNP Speakers) in Pasadena CA had lead-lined enclosures.

 

[Andrew Eckhardt]

If you Must have sheet and absolute maximum density, lead can't be beat. However, steel shot cast in rubber is cheap and effective.

 

[IntheBatCave]

If you know anyone that works for a hospital/healthcare facility you might want to contact them if you are looking for some lead sheets.

I work in a hospital engineering department and we usually have spare lead sheeting kicking around for patching holes in x-ray rooms, where something needs to be hung in a lead lined wall. It would be even better if they are remodeling their radiology department. Picture a 1/8" sheet of lead, behind pretty much every sheet of drywall.

 

[Charles Darwin]

Instead of lead I would use something like this:
Acoustistop 1.2Mx3M Sound Blocking Sheet at Studiospares

It's non-poisonous and since it is quite rubbery it might actually work better than lead as a constrained layer adding a mechanical dimension to the dampening effect.

 

[Erkki Rasanen]

Here is an example of using lead with MDF as composite.

If you're looking for absolute rigidity and good enough density, I would like to recommend carbon/glassfibre/epoxy and epoxy/sand structures.

 

[picowallspeaker]

The cabinet should be as stiff as possible : rigid !
So any combination of materials you want, the best being metal ones...and thick otherwise transmission of sound and resonances ...

I would stress more the use of composite materials in stuffing...that's more interesting.

 

[Cal Weldon]

You can also use lead sheet suspended in the cabinet with battens top and bottom and many V's cut into the lead so you can push them open them and allow some sound to pass through. I did it one time with just holes instead of the V flaps. All I know is that considering the weight and a lack of reference, I have no idea how effective it was, I just like to experiment all those years ago. As in the 70's...