Oak for a Sub box...?

[nick911]

I decided to go with 12w6v2 JL subwoofer and create a box to its specifications.

I bought oak for a sub box and wondering if this is a bad idea. The box will be ported as well. I read online that it was a better material to use and was wondering what you guys think about it.

Some options I though of doing was dynamating the outside or inside of it to keep it very little resonance?? Or am I crazy?

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[4OZGLOVES 10+ year member]

I'm pretty sure oak is one of the best materials out there to build a box, it's just quite pricey.

 

[nick911]

It wasn't to costly. Only 50 bucks for it to make a full sub. I keep seeing MDF every were for building a speaker box but now I'm unsure if oak is the best choice.

Few places I read Oak or Birch is the way to go. Might get a more "natural" feel but for speakers you want it dead. I'm only unsure of the whole resonance thing but seeing as high grade speakers use oak or similar and MDF is just cheap stuff, I'm not feeling to bad about it. Some people also like the natural feel but some don't. I choose it because it was very light and worse comes to worse I could dynomat the whole outside of it and that will stop any resonance. If I do this right I should have no resonance right?

Thanks for the help and hope you can understand this.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

The only difference between the Oak and Birch ply is the finish. It's the same plywood, just the thin face piece is oak on the oak. Anyway, most I've seen is good quality ply and the oak is sexy

I always brace the hell out of boxes of any sort to avoid vibration.

 

[RAM_Designs 5,000+ posts]

And put a nice finish on it too...I love finished wood boxes, so sexy.

 

[galacticmonkey 5,000+ posts]

Never used Oak. Any hardwood should be good.

I used to use MDF, but I tried 5-ply Birch and its great. So light, so easy to work with. I havent built a single box out of MDF since I built the first one out of Birch, and Ive built about 7-10 boxes since then. And with MDF around here being $28-$29 a sheet and Birch being $39, the $10 difference makes it a no brainer.

 

[Joseph K 10+ year member]

Nothing wrong with that. Friend of mine made a box for a single sealed 12" out of oak and put a nice finish on it. It looks pretty baller lol

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

I actually have a pile of Brazilian Cherry hardwood floor scraps I'd love to make a box with but the **** is worse than sawing steel.

 

[psych0ticnemes1 5,000+ posts]

I actually have a pile of Brazilian Cherry hardwood floor scraps I'd love to make a box with but the **** is worse than sawing steel.

Ship them to me. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif Cherry is sexy stuff.

 

[RJesus 10+ year member]

yeah oak is ok if you can get it cheap enough.

however, the thickness of the wood is the most prominent factor. 2 layers of 3/4 mdf will be better than oak. But honestly, unless your going to have 3 12w6v2's, your not really going to notice the difference.

 

[RJesus 10+ year member]

I'll pay shipping on that cherry wood //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[SEVEN_ELEVEN 10+ year member]

I have one i built out of solid walnut and then coated the inside with fiberglass resin and a little fiberglass mat where there were knot holes. Just used natural stain and it turned out pretty sweet. Wish i had some pics to show yall.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

I'll pay shipping on that cherry wood //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

LMFAO. It's really really heavy too, for the price of shipping you could probably buy it at a lumber yard. I suspect if you talked to a builder or hardwood floor guy they'd give you endless scrap pieces. A little glue and some patience and you could put together something pretty nice if you actually have tools that'll get through it.

...yeah it is sexy as hell and i haven't ruled out doing a baffle with it, but I think cutting the speaker holes will take a couple hours and a few jigsaw blades.

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

You're better off using void-free plywood and an oak veneer.

 

[nick911]

Thanks for the posts.

I LOVE the natural sound, ever since I heard B and W speakers, I never thought audio could sound that good.

I will post pics when I get the box done and thank you for your advice!

I decided to go for the JL 12w6v2 sub and make a ported box to the specification on the manual(using 3/4 thickness). i will also power it with a kicker 750 amp(birth sheet of 930 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/up2something.gif.dd110ecf3ae4b76050d87598f2f8de7c.gif ) .

Story: One day in class we had to listen to classical music; great!(ya right I was already falling asleep). The teacher turns the music on and I'm like WTF is that awesome sound!!!! I look up to see not your typical speakers and decided to find out what they were. I looked online and they were this: B&W DM 601 Reviews , no wounder they sounded good! Ever since that day, audio has never been the same to me.