The Steel Guitar Forum Store 

Post new topic Material for speaker building
Reply to topic
Author Topic:  Material for speaker building
Gary Steele

 

From:
Columbus, Ohio, USA
Post  Posted 10 Oct 2000 11:00 pm    
Reply with quote

Has anyone ever built speakers out of MDF which is called (Medium Density Fiberboard) These places that sell all kinds of lumber say lots of folks use this. It is dense and has no voids. How do you tune a speaker box with a port in bottom all the way across? I want as small as box for a 15INch speaker as i can get but want it to sound good. But i want a closed back. Any Ideas? Thanks Gary!
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Gary Steele

 

From:
Columbus, Ohio, USA
Post  Posted 11 Oct 2000 6:43 pm    
Reply with quote

Delete this no one knows any more than i do!!!
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Al Marcus


From:
Cedar Springs,MI USA (deceased)
Post  Posted 11 Oct 2000 9:06 pm    
Reply with quote

Gi Gary, I have tried all those routes and just decided to go buy a good professionally made speaker in a proper cabinet. Then you know it is right....al
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website

Terry Downs

 

From:
Wylie, TX US
Post  Posted 11 Oct 2000 9:15 pm    
Reply with quote

MDF is an excellent material to use for speaker cabinets. Plywood has resonances associated with the glued layers. If you have the Thiele-Small parameters of the speaker, you can calculate the box size and vent dimensions. I have a spreadsheet that does this. See

http://nightshift.net/tech.htm

Select the Musician's Workbook. If you have any questions let me know.

------------------
Terry Downs
http://nightshift.net
terry@nightshift.net


[This message was edited by Terry Downs on 11 October 2000 at 10:16 PM.]

View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Bill Rowlett


From:
Russellville, AR, USA
Post  Posted 12 Oct 2000 10:37 am    
Reply with quote

Gary,

I've built several cabinets, both open and closed out of MDF. The only drawback is that it's heavy. The lightweight many ply spruce that most speaker companies use appears to be fine if you can find it at a lumberyard.

To use the port cut across the bottom, you have to consider it just like any other port. Use the wood thickness as the port depth and the surface area as, well, the surface area. If you want the port all the way across the box, then the port size may well dictate the box size and it is two equations and two varibles to solve for. Otherwise, just cut the port what ever size it needs to be for a larger box.

Hope this helps,

Bill
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Rich Paton

 

From:
Santa Maria, CA.,
Post  Posted 20 Oct 2000 3:46 am    
Reply with quote

Gary, what model 15" speaker will you use, and what dimensions for the box?
There's detailed & basic data for JBL musical instrument soeakers at this link, but a lot of the info would basically pertain to other models as well. http://www.jblpro.com/pub/manuals/enclgde.pdf
View user's profile Send private message


All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Jump to:  

Our Online Catalog
Strings, CDs, instruction,
steel guitars & accessories

www.SteelGuitarShopper.com

Please review our Forum Rules and Policies

Steel Guitar Forum LLC
PO Box 237
Mount Horeb, WI 53572 USA


Click Here to Send a Donation

Email admin@steelguitarforum.com for technical support.


BIAB Styles
Ray Price Shuffles for
Band-in-a-Box

by Jim Baron
HTTP