# speaker cabinets



## paulburch (Apr 18, 2011)

This past week my son and i got together to start somthing we have talked about for a while, building speakers. Fully laminated mdf sub-strait is really not my bag, instead for years i have been telling my son only if we can build a solid wood carcass with 2 laminated baffles (front & back) these are a full range ported 4"approx driver (alpair 7c) what i was wondering was are there some woods more suited to speaker design or is mdf really the best in terms of sound quality, i kind of know the denser the better but that is it
we are building 2 pairs one in cherry with tigerwood front hand cut veneer panels,my sons choise the other in shedua for me veneers not choosen yeat . we will be able to compair the 2 and see if there is any diff.
http://paulburchellwoodworking.com/


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## Holbs (Nov 4, 2012)

http://forums.shoryuken.com/discussion/67501?threads/how-to-paint-mdf-to-a-mirror-finish-worklog.67501/


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## DocSavage45 (Aug 14, 2010)

Before mdf, we use to use particle board as it is dense and is easy to laminate, or put on a veneer. We also use to do a tuned port to adjust the folding horn effect for the inside baffle. But that was a LOOOOOOOng time ago.


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

For a home speaker that reproduces recorded sound, a neutral sound is desirable. MDF, MDO, particle board, and high grade plywood are good choices….they're more inert and acoustically neutral than many other materials. I think some confusion exists because speakers used to produce live sound (like a guitar or vocal speaker) tend to made of tone woods that actually have a sound signature.


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## Ply (Mar 21, 2013)

You may find this helpful

http://www.home-speaker.net/speaker-box-design.html

Rock On!


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## OggieOglethorpe (Aug 15, 2012)

"I think some confusion exists because speakers used to produce live sound (like a guitar or vocal speaker) tend to made of tone woods that actually have a sound signature."

Not in my experience… Most everything good in the live world is made from exterior grade baltic birch plywood, and is often braced to eliminate box resonances. I've mixed many, many, shows on rigs including Turbosound, EAW, ServoDrive, Clair, Showco, JBL, and EV, in both pre and post invention of the line array configurations.

There may have been a guitar amp here of there of solid wood, but even most of those are usually finger-jointed plywood under the vinyl or carpet.


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

You can use any material you want as long as the structure of the enclosure is stiff enough so it doesn't introduce unwanted resonances that will distort the sonics. I made one a long time ago that was double wall construction filled with sand for low resonance. Off course I was using a 12" woofer. At the lowest frequency, you should not be able to feel any vibration on the surface of the enclosure.


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## unbob (Mar 10, 2013)

Knotscott mentioned musical instrument speakers.
Those are different. Solid wood like pine or spruce is the ticket.
Playing a guitar through home audio speakers sounds terrible!

The old Fender amps and speaker boxes were box jointed pine, and have a sound of their own. Like Luther Perkins "Johnny Cash".


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## OggieOglethorpe (Aug 15, 2012)

Playing a guitar through home stereo speakers sounds terrible for many, many, reasons… The composition of the box is pretty far down the list.

The old Fender Tweed amps that were pine also included different drivers, as well as different amp circuitry, than newer plywood versions. I've heard old drivers in newer boxes, driven by old amps, and well… they sound an awful lot like the old. I've mixed a lot of them…

From the early-60's on, pretty much everything from Marshall, HiWatt, Vox, Fender, Ampeg, etc… was plywood, with the cheaper stuff being particleboard.

But since the OP is building stereo speakers, I think we can all agree that the dense stuff is the way to go.


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## Holbs (Nov 4, 2012)

i, too, have added building speakers on the to-do list maybe by end of year or start of next year. always wanted to build LOUDspeakers of quality.. like the 'ol Infinity Kappa 7's. Monster Speakers, not surround sound or reference speakers. 4' or 5' tower speakers. The kind of speakers you fear when it comes time to move


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## paulburch (Apr 18, 2011)

Thanks for all your input i may biscuit and glue together one mdf box also just so i can compare the sound of all three
to see if there really is a differance

http://paulburchellwoodworking.com/


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## Bullet (Apr 14, 2009)

Best resource for speaker building I've found is www.parts-express.com. I've built a few with their stuff. Good quality and great prices. VERY knowledgeable staff as well.


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## paulburch (Apr 18, 2011)

I am completely relying on my son for the electronic side of this build, the drivers are designed by Markaudio and i believe the developer,s name is Evan Yu, they seem to have some very high ratings
http://creativesound.ca/details.php?model=ALPAIR7C


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## guitchess (Mar 31, 2008)

I don't recommend using solid wood for your boxes. The resonant frequencies of solid wood are much higher than composite panels like mdf, think xylophone. Furthermore, because of the grain structure of solid wood, there is usually much more sustain. This trait will cause signal coloration in the more audible frequency zones which are not easily controlled with batting/porting/internal baffling/electronic filtration.


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## DocSavage45 (Aug 14, 2010)

This has been a good thread. There is a subjective element of preference as well as the technical issues of resonance and response. It also depends on your hearing range.  Have a great time. And report back.


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## Holbs (Nov 4, 2012)

some links that could be handy:

http://www.zaphaudio.com/index.html
http://www.madisound.com/
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/
http://www.home-speaker.net/speaker-box-design.html


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## Jofa (May 14, 2013)

This thread definitely has my attention.

I've built guitar speaker cabs out of birch ply and also solid pine. The bigger stuff like a 4×12 cab is almost always birch because it seems sturdier and also (to my ears) lends a little more to the bottom end of the tone.

I did a recent cab for a gentleman who wanted to transplant his amp chassis into something bigger. It ended up being a single 8" and a single 10" speaker in a diagonal configuration. He emailed me yesterday and said he was very happy with the tones. That one was also pine.


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## paulburch (Apr 18, 2011)

Well we went ahead with the speaker cabinets using real wood and the first set sound great, my son has sub-woofers to to add some more bass and they sound a whole lot better then my energys do. so the second set are well on there way i decided to use a larger full range driver from the same manufacture alpair10/3 and build a larger box i chose shedua for the boxes with some hand cut curly ash veneered front baffles and sat them on a pair of jarrah stands so far so good, unfortunatly i don,t know how to put pics on this page but you can view them on the blog page of my website
https://paul-burchell-ukl2.squarespace.com/new-blog/


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## ssnvet (Jan 10, 2012)

they look great


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## paulburch (Apr 18, 2011)

Well the second set is almost complete the drivers have arrived and the cabinets are ready for glue up. The full range driver is a completly different animal than the typical 2way with crossover it really highlights the mids which seam to get lost in typical 2way speakers. Not to ruffle any feathers this is just my observation compaired to my at10 vegas and energys 
ps pics are available on my website blog
http://paulburchellwoodworking.com/new-blog/


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## paulburch (Apr 18, 2011)

Well its been a while since my last post, one or two pairs of speakers seemed to be a tease we have recently completed our 8th pair and have almost completed our floor standing mono self powered j box system.
After a visit from speaker designer Mark Fenlon owner of "Markaudio" my son and I decided to persue this as a small home business venture. We have recently completed a pair of studio monitors in walnut and english elm that are currently being auditioned be some local recording studios.
My previous website has recently been removed so we can concentrate on our new venture at:http://www.cabotacoustics.com/


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## Gshepherd (May 16, 2012)

Good thread here…... I have a set of Bose 901's and I was going to redo in Walnut. Other than the top,bottom and a small panel on the side the way they are designed and not enclosed like a regular speaker should not degrade them or will it?


> ?


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## paulburch (Apr 18, 2011)

Not sure G my son looks after box modeling for us, i just build
DIY audio would be the best place to ask that question


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

There's not much you can do with walnut that would hurt the sound of the Bose 901's…


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## JayBarnes (Jan 21, 2014)

If a speaker cabinet is of suffiecient thickness and adequately braced, I seriously doubt anyone could hear a difference between different wood based material. Many diy speaker builders have switched to plywood instead of mdf because of the dust. I think the biggest benefit of mdf is the price compared to decent ply and especially hardwood. For a 4'' full ranger like the alpair, I would use 1/2'' stock and a few dowel braces.

The only real problem with hardwood is movement. Typical speaker cabs need to be sealed well (even ported designs). It can be tough to do with hardwood without having joints come apart or have panel spitting issues. Smaller cabinets shouldn't be a problem.

Jay


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## paulburch (Apr 18, 2011)

I agree with the movement part thats why we use baltic birch with shop sawen veneer for the front and rear baffle to over come any stress on the glue joint due to movement, the solid dovetailed sides top and bottom can freely expand and contract across the grain seasonly with out any stress on the glue joints


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## DocSavage45 (Aug 14, 2010)

Paul,

Went to web address…"expired" ? FYI ( both)

I've gone in multiple directions. I designed and made a rock and roll big boom box..before Boom Boxes. Built the tuned 12 inch bass with electrical crossovers, horn and paper tweeters, and flex cone mid ranges with a tuned baffle from particle board ( before the fiber boards). Since those days I've lost some of my high end hearing. And too much bass is irritating when I am watching movies on my smart tv. LOL! ( oh yeah all the power to drive those beasties. )

Great to hear you have a niche! Good luck!


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## paulburch (Apr 18, 2011)

Hi Doc
first day ive been here in months, been busy with our new venture the change from typical 2 and 3 way speakers to single point source full range has been a refreshing change, it also has me looking at different genres of music since the FR drivers really shine on small jazz quartets,acoustic and female vocals etc. not having to listen to that false earth shaking bass or them highs that make your ears bleed but instead low powered, highly detailed drivers that bring out the mids where vocals and acoustic instruments really shine. I am hearing things in recordings that i have never heard before and really enjoying the new sound


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

When you are designing a box for low frequencies, you want the most stiffest, densest material. That usually means MDF or HDF. A box that vibrates will alter the resonate frequency of the driver, creating distortion. I once made a box with double walls filled with beach sand. Talk about stiff. The ideal box would be made of concrete; not very practical.


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## DocSavage45 (Aug 14, 2010)

Paul,

Great that you are learning new stuff. :<)

Probably need something to inform customers? Other than us know it alls…LOL!


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## JayBarnes (Jan 21, 2014)

MrRon,
Yes I agree, subwoofer enclosures should be built pretty stout. There is a lot of energy going on there. Although, I still believe good plywood with good bracing is just as good as mdf. Many store bought bought home theater subs can be improved greatly just by adding a few well placed braces.

Jay


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## paulburch (Apr 18, 2011)

ya doc building a high quality product is easy ?? reaching the right clientele is the tricky part


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## Holbs (Nov 4, 2012)

offer a pair of speakers for a contest at your local radio station. might get some free advertising out there. i would assume, you would be hitting your demographic you want as younger folk do not know what FM radio even is


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