Which wood for speaker?

[soundofvoid]

I have been in a big DIY store and have seen some very interesting planks made of thinner solid wood interlocked and glued together.There were various sizes from 1,8 to 2,6 cm thick and up to 2 meters long and 40 cm wide.They need to be hand rubbed with oils to bring out the colour of the smaller parts
but the overall visual effect is very pleasing.They do look very solid and heavy.Maybe glued with
MDF can provide a very solid speaker building material.Has anybody ever used something like this for speaker building?I would be willing to try them if it's going to save me from veneers...

 

[kach22i]

Not me, but from the looks of it many speaker makers use similar products. Don't think we can go on looks alone though.

The Making of Sonus Faber Amati Loudspeakers
http://www.audiojunkies.com/blog/728/the-making-of-sonus-faber-amati-loudspeakers

http://www.sumikoaudio.net/sonus/prod_stradivari.htm

Main Acoustic Enclosure
With the Stradivari the acoustic property of the driver/cabinet interaction has been brought close to theoretical perfection. The curved external walls are constructed using multiple layers of wood with damping inserts placed between adjacent structural layers. Each wood layer is quality-graded and carefully oriented by density and grain for optimized performance and appearance.

http://www.stereophile.com/audaciousaudio/105sonus/

The main enclosure is constructed using a wood laminate, with constrictive damping inserts in between additional front-panel layers of laminate, in the style of the Amati Homage, which was built of stacks of solid maple.

Maple seems to be a winner, just ask Mapleshade.
http://shop.mapleshadestore.com/

 

[Steve Williams]

That's sort of like going to the orthodontist and asking if you need braces on your teeth

 

[kach22i]

thinner solid wood interlocked and glued together.

Is there a cheap way to find out if the biscuits and glue connecting the planks is free of cavity/voids/air spaces?

X-ray or ultra-sound are two things which pop into my head.

Perhaps small voids csn be filled with a syringe and non-shrink wood glue.

I wonder if things are slow enough at my chiropractor's office what he would charge to X-ray some wood.

 

[Steve Williams]

Is there a cheap way to find out if the biscuits and glue connecting the planks is free of cavity/voids/air spaces?

X-ray or ultra-sound are two things which pop into my head.

Perhaps small voids csn be filled with a syringe and non-shrink wood glue.



I wonder if things are slow enough at my chiropractor's office what he would charge to X-ray some wood.

Here's a small suggestion...

our newest member and moderator, Health Nut is an MD Neuroradiologist who not only has done this but just finished a huge DIY subwoofer project that you will drool over. I suggest you get Chris into this thread and he will give you all the right answers

 

[Health Nut]

I'm a little overhwlemed today for a long reply. For subwoofers, the answer is easy, you simply want the most rigid material available (highest modulus of elasticisty), weight or mass are not of benefit (in sense of what you are looking for) which is why MDF is not the best choice for subwoofers. Also, MDF does not hold screws as well and is simply not as rugged.

The best wood for subwoofers is the highest quality no void plywood, of which baltic birch has the best reputation and highest MOE (and what I always use). Aluminum is awesome, and good for full range speakers as well, but obviously expensive and not cost effective.

Full range speakers are more difficult because damping higher frequenices is much more of a consideration.

Many people use a layer of MDF glued to a layer of plywood for full rane speakers as a method to combine the strengths of each product.

 

[soundofvoid]

I am aware of the technic that Sonus Faber uses (one of my closest friends has an Amati) which by the way resembles what the old shipyards would make in order to form a ships hull (with a different board orientation).
What I am talking about is a roughly cubic (inch X inch) solid wood each one interlocked (zig-zag way) and glued together so that they form a bigger board that is very stiff and hard.It could be out of oak or some other hard wood as it really looks and feels hard.The two surfaces are milled clean and ready for oil rubbing.The final appearance resembles a parquet floor with mixed colour woods (some darker some lighter).
My wife really digs them!That's why i thought of gluing an MDF or HDF panel on one side (to tame the "alive" solid wood) and getting all the thickness i want!