I often see recomdendations for building TQWP's and similar constructions in birch-plywoood.
Here in Sweden the price of pine-plywood is much cheaper than birch. Apart from the looks, any other difference?
Has anyone here any experience from building speaker enclosures (preferably TQWP) in pine-plywood?
Here in Sweden the price of pine-plywood is much cheaper than birch. Apart from the looks, any other difference?
Has anyone here any experience from building speaker enclosures (preferably TQWP) in pine-plywood?
Thats strikes me as kinda strange. 
I'm in the USA and it was my understanding that baltic birch came from Norway or somewhere close to you. I would think it would be cheaper there. I wouldn't think it would matter if you used pine in place of birch. The reason for the baltic birch recommendations is it is assembled with more plys than standard hardwood plywood. It slips my mind at the moment as to what the actual number of ply difference is.
Mark
I'm in the USA and it was my understanding that baltic birch came from Norway or somewhere close to you. I would think it would be cheaper there. I wouldn't think it would matter if you used pine in place of birch. The reason for the baltic birch recommendations is it is assembled with more plys than standard hardwood plywood. It slips my mind at the moment as to what the actual number of ply difference is.Mark
The more layers the better
THe main reason for the reccomendations are that the birch plywoods are in layers of about 1mm. This makes for a very stable and stiff plywood. Birch is also almost twice as stiff as pine. That being said there is nothing wrong with using pine plywood and applying appropriate panel braces in the box construction.
Mark
THe main reason for the reccomendations are that the birch plywoods are in layers of about 1mm. This makes for a very stable and stiff plywood. Birch is also almost twice as stiff as pine. That being said there is nothing wrong with using pine plywood and applying appropriate panel braces in the box construction.
Mark
We use it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Pineplywood it is then! With some internal braces, any recomendations on quantity and placement?
The birch is probably cheaper here, closer to the source, but the pine is even less so, about half the price of birchplywood.
Lovely speakers Timn8ter, that's the construction and looks I'm after.
The Fostex FE166ES-R drivers arrived today from Japan, so the construction will begin shortly.
Did some test sweeps and some music "Miles Davis" - Kind of Blue. Amazing details in the cymbals, BIG midrange, nonexistent bass of course. Flat on the floor no box or baffle. Very promising. Will restart my old thread when there is something to show or I get stuck
The birch is probably cheaper here, closer to the source, but the pine is even less so, about half the price of birchplywood.
Lovely speakers Timn8ter, that's the construction and looks I'm after.
The Fostex FE166ES-R drivers arrived today from Japan, so the construction will begin shortly.
Did some test sweeps and some music "Miles Davis" - Kind of Blue. Amazing details in the cymbals, BIG midrange, nonexistent bass of course. Flat on the floor no box or baffle. Very promising. Will restart my old thread when there is something to show or I get stuck
I ain't touching this
Do you think it may have more to do with the stiffness of the product??
Remember that plywood is made up of layers of veneer that are laid perpendicular to each other in a bid to minimise or better said equalise normal expansion and contraction.
The lamination of the layers of veneer are virtually the same using similar glues and pressures to create a thicker product. The use of 1mm thick plys in the birch help to even out the stresses in the laid up sheet. There can be more tendency in a 5 or 7 ply sheet to warp due to the thicker plys of veneer. The thicker the ply the more stress that it can exert on the next ply. But there being no voids is not really in the mix.
Mark
Do you think it may have more to do with the stiffness of the product??
Remember that plywood is made up of layers of veneer that are laid perpendicular to each other in a bid to minimise or better said equalise normal expansion and contraction.
The lamination of the layers of veneer are virtually the same using similar glues and pressures to create a thicker product. The use of 1mm thick plys in the birch help to even out the stresses in the laid up sheet. There can be more tendency in a 5 or 7 ply sheet to warp due to the thicker plys of veneer. The thicker the ply the more stress that it can exert on the next ply. But there being no voids is not really in the mix.
Mark
Re: Memory MAy be Faulty!!
nicely said
BB is lighter than say MDF or PB, but it's not necessarily solely the mass of the material that determines its effect on the sonics.
FWIW, the Baltic Birch plywood available from my 2 local wholesale suppliers, as well as a small retail chain ( ie NOT Home Depot), come in a crate labelled "made in Russia"
you can't get more baltic than that
oh yeah, after my first experiment with BD's bipole TQWPs a couple of years ago, I've stopped using MDF for anything but base plates and mass loads.
Nothing personal Tim / Scott, I'm just not a fan of pine for speaker boxes - great for deck chairs.
mwmkravchenko said:
Mark
nicely said
BB is lighter than say MDF or PB, but it's not necessarily solely the mass of the material that determines its effect on the sonics.
FWIW, the Baltic Birch plywood available from my 2 local wholesale suppliers, as well as a small retail chain ( ie NOT Home Depot), come in a crate labelled "made in Russia"
you can't get more baltic than that
oh yeah, after my first experiment with BD's bipole TQWPs a couple of years ago, I've stopped using MDF for anything but base plates and mass loads.
Nothing personal Tim / Scott, I'm just not a fan of pine for speaker boxes - great for deck chairs.
Re: I ain't touching this
No. I actually tried to give you a link that would sound singularly authoritative, but it's been posted so many times here and on all the big speaker building sites I could not narrow it down, there were just too many. If you read carefully, you will see that designers actually specify "void free plywood" (e.g. Adire) and list baltic birch as one example of that.
mwmkravchenko said:
No. I actually tried to give you a link that would sound singularly authoritative, but it's been posted so many times here and on all the big speaker building sites I could not narrow it down, there were just too many. If you read carefully, you will see that designers actually specify "void free plywood" (e.g. Adire) and list baltic birch as one example of that.
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.