I went to go buy some wood to make my speaker box today and i decided to just buy 3/4" plywood, it was the same price for the same size sheet, and it weighs about 1/2 as much...why would you wanna put that much weight jusat into a speaker box? I just dont understand...why is it so much better?

 

you mean MDF (medium density fiberboard). The main reasoning is that unlike plywood, the MDF refracts the sound waves better causing for a better sound, you will never have nearly the same quality sound with plywood you have, if you want good sound and you have good speakers return the wood and buy MDF, othrwise your still just screwing yourself

 

there is also the box creation aspect of the MDF being superior, with the inside of the box being such a tight squeeze to fit the most in the smallest amount of space (you'd be better of with an aperodic chamber for the subs but if you are happy with sealed then each to his own) you can drill into MDF because usually (read: recommended) the minimum thickness is around 3/4 inch. If this was plywood or whatever then you'd need the metal mounting braces and the screw plates to have a solid air tight enclosure, this would reduce the amount of air on the inside of the chamber this requiring you to make the chamber that much bigger to account for the inner brackets (you could go outer but it'd look homo-gay)

of course there's always fibreglass.

cheers'

 

Have any of you guys ever tried cabinet grade birch? My friend and I used some that is 5/8" or 3/4" thick (I don't remember which) On his box and that **** is VERY dense. I wouldn't be surprised if it is better than MDF. But it also costs about 2X the price of MDF.

 

None of these reasons is correct. MDF is more dense and less resonant than plywood. In other words, an MDF enclosure vibrates less. This means clearer, more accurate bass. Birch is not as well damped as MDF but is damn strong, which is why most high end sound reinforcement speaker enclosures are made with it.

 

lol, yeah i ment MDF, i knew what it stands for too, thanks though . Ok, but that answers my question, I still made it out of plywood, and i just screwed it together (no brackets) and im gonna undercoat the whole inside so itll be nice and air tight...oh and by the way, the MDF was also TWICE the price of the plywood. Not the same as I had mentioned earlier. I was confused trying to say the same size, heaver and more expensive all together . Anyway, Im sure for my first custom building experiance it should be ok though...

~T.J.

 

None of these reasons is correct. MDF is more dense and less resonant than plywood. In other words, an MDF enclosure vibrates less. This means clearer, more accurate bass. Birch is not as well damped as MDF but is damn strong, which is why most high end sound reinforcement speaker enclosures are made with it.


No offense but can I ask what you do for a living?

 

who cares if mdf is more expensive than plywood, it's 20 for a 4x10 sheet. That should be enough for a good sized enclosure. It's not like you'll go broke buying it, and it holds better bass resonance.

 

What about concrete? I doubt it'll vibrate very much.

 

I'm an acoustical engineer.

 

me and my buddy just built a box for his 2 15' SHAKERS.. and we used MDF. I was told to use it because it gives a little flex to it with a tighter seel. I used it and i wouldn't sugest anytin else.