Difference between type of woods . . .

[SQBubble 10+ year member]

I went and check out what home depot had, and I saw 11/16 thick birch, 3/4 thick maple, 3/4 thick pine, and of course the famous 1" and 3/4" mdf

Is there any real difference(except pricing) between them in term of resonance and sound ? If so, how do they differ?

pros, cons, discuss...

Click to read more...

 

[ramos 5,000+ posts]

Man this thread could get long //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

I will start off

pine - to soft , resonates like a beeyotch , not dense enough for enclosures , but cuts very easily. Good for structural frame work , but not enclosure walls. relatively cheap

maple and birch - I assume you mean maple and birch ply. It really depends upon the grade of each . There are grades of each that are void free , little resonance , and work great for enclosures. They are also lighter than mdf. But there are also grades of each that are not well suited for enclosures. Biggest draw back to these plys is price. Usually almost double the price of comparable mdf . Cut's pretty easy as well

MDF - It's cheap, dense , but quite hefty in the weight department. Rough on saw blades as it's not the easiest stuff to cut.

When building enclosures , your looking for a dense , strong, and managable substrate first and foremost. After that price and a few other things come into consideration

I'm sure others will chime in //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[hempy 10+ year member]

Well you ****. I wish my HD had 1" mdf.

 

[SQBubble 10+ year member]

well I guess sticking with 1" mdf would be best for enclosures...

 

[PSturmer 10+ year member]

Man this thread could get long //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

I will start off

pine - to soft , resonates like a beeyotch , not dense enough for enclosures , but cuts very easily. Good for structural frame work , but not enclosure walls. relatively cheap

maple and birch - I assume you mean maple and birch ply. It really depends upon the grade of each . There are grades of each that are void free , little resonance , and work great for enclosures. They are also lighter than mdf. But there are also grades of each that are not well suited for enclosures. Biggest draw back to these plys is price. Usually almost double the price of comparable mdf . Cut's pretty easy as well

MDF - It's cheap, dense , but quite hefty in the weight department. Rough on saw blades as it's not the easiest stuff to cut.

When building enclosures , your looking for a dense , strong, and managable substrate first and foremost. After that price and a few other things come into consideration

I'm sure others will chime in //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

i agree with you. the only thing is my birch i use is much harder to cut that mdf. and for all other process's like cutting the sub whole and sanding, mdf is much easier.

 

[dleccord 5,000+ posts]

Well you ****. I wish my HD had 1" mdf.

same here.

 

[jblayz1 10+ year member]

ebony would be awesome functionally and aesthetically. but would probably cost as much as your whole system. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[ramos 5,000+ posts]

ebony would be awesome functionally and aesthetically. but would probably cost as much as your whole system. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

More like as much as the car //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[iamamp3pimp 5,000+ posts]

i agree with you. the only thing is my birch i use is much harder to cut that mdf. and for all other process's like cutting the sub whole and sanding, mdf is much easier.

its the opposite for me...

 

[MrSwiss 10+ year member]

ebony would be awesome functionally and aesthetically. but would probably cost as much as your whole system. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

thats why you laminate the box in ebony veneer afterwords. or a cheaper veneer and stain it ebony. or just cheap laminate.

 

[ramos 5,000+ posts]

thats why you laminate the box in ebony veneer afterwords. or a cheaper veneer and stain it ebony. or just cheap laminate.

True , if all you want is the looks of it . He is correct though ,ebony would probably make an excellent enclosure as it is dense as all holy hell. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[joetama 5,000+ posts]

MDF and birch have different resonate points. MDF because it is so dense if you build a speakerbox (other than a subwoofer) with MDF you will have to deaden the inside drastically. They do both work well for subwofoer enclosures, but I wouldn't use MDF for a Full-range or HF enclosure...

 

[ballstothewall 10+ year member]

True , if all you want is the looks of it . He is correct though ,ebony would probably make an excellent enclosure as it is dense as all holy hell. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

I bet there are very, very, very few people on this forum who could even do a nice job of building an enclosure out of ebony. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[joetama 5,000+ posts]

If done correctly it would look pretty sweet...

 

[jblayz1 10+ year member]

good luck getting some ebony big enough to make an enclosure...LOL. and if you do, better sharpen up those blades. they WILL be dull when you finish.

ebay-

Size is 59 3/4" x 11 7/8" x 1 1/8" - $315 BIN