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  1. #1
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    Cabinets made with Lauan?

    Hi Does anyone have any views on using this wood species for large speaker cabinets??? The stuff I was looking at was 11 ply 3/4". How does it compare to baltic birch???

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    Senior Member edgewound's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by John
    Hi Does anyone have any views on using this wood species for large speaker cabinets??? The stuff I was looking at was 11 ply 3/4". How does it compare to baltic birch???
    Luaun is a good material for big boxes...less expensive than baltic birch and usually available at Home Depot or Lowes. EV used it for the MT-1 system....I'm sure other mfgs have used it as well. Of course, baltic or Finland birch is the holy grail of plywood, but about twice the price.
    Edgewound...JBL Pro Authorized...since 1988
    Upland Loudspeaker Service, Upland, CA

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    Well I can buy the baltic birch for $2.73 a square ft. in the 5ft.x5ft. sheet.
    Or Lauan at $1.18 a square ft. in the 4ft.x8ft. format. Quite the difference??? But I wonder how they compare in weight and density,voids ??? This will be used for some 4350 clones. Also there will be more waste using the baltic birch 5x5 sheets so that drives up the material costs.

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    Senior Member edgewound's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by John
    Well I can buy the baltic birch for $2.73 a square ft. in the 5ft.x5ft. sheet.
    Or Lauan at $1.18 a square ft. in the 4ft.x8ft. format. Quite the difference??? But I wonder how they compare in weight and density,voids ??? This will be used for some 4350 clones. Also there will be more waste using the baltic birch 5x5 sheets so that drives up the material costs.
    Use 1" MDF for the monitors. It'll will keep the cost down, and the weight up...nearly 250 pounds each. Just brace well from front to back to keep panel resonance under control. Save the plywood for your portable speakers. I think everyone will agree that the sonically superior way to go is MDF
    Edgewound...JBL Pro Authorized...since 1988
    Upland Loudspeaker Service, Upland, CA

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    Senior Member Steve Schell's Avatar
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    In the piano trade lauan (also known as Phillipine mahogany) is thought to be a cheap, fairly soft and widely available wood, often used to build the packing crates of grand pianos shipped from overseas. It is also laminated with denser woods in the rims of some of these pianos, a practice which has been held in low regard. I have always considered it to be a nasty, splintery, low quality wood. Having said all that, I've never tried it in a speaker enclosure.

    Edgewound, I would disagree with the idea of MDF being the material of choice for larger cabinets. Its higher weight combined with lower stiffness than plywood can create significant resonance problems in the walls of larger enclosures, as Mr. Widget has been discussing in another thread. Baltic birch is fairly light and very stiff, and with adequate bracing should make a very good enclosure.

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    Senior Member edgewound's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Schell
    In the piano trade lauan (also known as Phillipine mahogany) is thought to be a cheap, fairly soft and widely available wood, often used to build the packing crates of grand pianos shipped from overseas. It is also laminated with denser woods in the rims of some of these pianos, a practice which has been held in low regard. I have always considered it to be a nasty, splintery, low quality wood. Having said all that, I've never tried it in a speaker enclosure.

    Edgewound, I would disagree with the idea of MDF being the material of choice for larger cabinets. Its higher weight combined with lower stiffness than plywood can create significant resonance problems in the walls of larger enclosures, as Mr. Widget has been discussing in another thread. Baltic birch is fairly light and very stiff, and with adequate bracing should make a very good enclosure.
    Hi Steve...

    We're talking speaker enclosures here, which are supposed to be acoustically inert...not pianos nor shipping crates. MDF's density makes for a more inert enclosure than any kind of plywood. I've used luaun...it works fine for SR cabinets so long as you have sharp blades to cut it with, and it costs less than half of what baltic does. Yes...baltic has higher overall strength, but that doesn't necessarily translate into higher stiffness. Wood that flexes is stronger before snapping...but an enclosure constructed from a denser material will always yield more output from the drivers and less from the enclosure...and that's what we want here isn't it? I'm excluding stressed curved panels here because that's another discussion.The best enclosure material would be several inch thick concrete or sheet lead because of it's density. Thiel and other high-end mfgs use several layups of laminated MDF and then sculpted at the baffle....why? It's an effective inert enclosure material....and easy to work with....weight aside.
    Edgewound...JBL Pro Authorized...since 1988
    Upland Loudspeaker Service, Upland, CA

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