Roland68
Major Contributor
It makes more sense to build the housing more stable from the start so that as little sound as possible is emitted through the walls.Any thoughts on damping that has a mass-loaded layer (such as one of the Sonic Barrier 3-layer materials) applied to the outside of a cabinet? Might it reduce transmission of sound from the cabinet walls?
I admit I am unclear on the propagation mechanisms of sound from cabinet wall vibration to the air, or I would try to figure this out.
Material that absorbs the sound waves by converting them into heat is also not so useful. On the one hand, you want the speaker to radiate all of its energy and damping/conversion never happens evenly across the entire frequency range. Such a material should only be used in a controlled manner and with a specific goal in mind.
A very ideal and inexpensive material for your purpose is soft fiberboard made of wood. Glued flat to the inside of the walls, they ensure that the walls can no longer vibrate as much because the different vibration properties of the materials hinder each other. The soft fiberboards have to be cut a little smaller so that they do not touch each other. They also disperse the sound waves, which is a good side effect.