The New Advent Loudspeaker Review (Vintage Speaker)

[rdenney]

They are called engineered joists.

They are actually made of oriented strands glued together, so they are stronger than what we used to can particle board. They usually have a 3/8” or 1/2” web and 1x2 flanges glued to the web using a tongue and groove joint. But they behave similarly when you remove end replace screws a few times.

Rick “light, straight, and strong—at first” Denney

 

[Labjr]

I thought I heard that I-Joists are better than regular joists?

 

[Helicopter]

I thought I heard that I-Joists are better than regular joists?

They are better. Using them usually prevents the floors from squeeking.

I-joists in my parents' 1982 house are OSB not particle board.

 

[amirm]

They are called engineered joists.

They are actually made of oriented strands glued together, so they are stronger than what we used to can particle board.

OSB is much stronger than particle board though. You can almost snap particle board by hand. It is horrible stuff and only merit it has is that it is cheap.

 

[Labjr]

OSB is much stronger than particle board though. You can almost snap particle board by hand. It is horrible stuff and only merit it has is that it is cheap.

I personally wouldn't want any composite garbage in any kind of furniture or speaker cabinets. I've always said if MDF has such great acoustic properties then make the speaker out of solid wood and line it with MDF!

 

[amirm]

I had MDF as a woodworker as well. It is heavy and the dust is terrible. But it is dimensionally stable which real wood is not.

 

[Dennis Murphy]

I personally wouldn't want any composite garbage in any kind of furniture or speaker cabinets. I've always said if MDF has such great acoustic properties then make the speaker out of solid wood and line it with MDF!

Any thoughts about Baltic Birch?

 

[Plcamp]

I wonder how thick concrete needs to be to equal the rigidity of 1” ply or MDF?

 

[Labjr]

Any thoughts about Baltic Birch?

Plywood? I don't know a whole lot about the acoustic properties, but it looks a lot nicer than MDF.

 

[Freeway]

They are better. Using them usually prevents the floors from squeeking.
I-joists in my parents' 1982 house are OSB not particle board.

Sometimes called 'silent' floors. Hang some acoustic drywall from them with those new fangled audiophile spring loaded screws and there you go. That is until the subs vibrate the rock loose with gypsum dust swirling around the amps.

 

[Freeway]

I personally wouldn't want any composite garbage in any kind of furniture or speaker cabinets. I've always said if MDF has such great acoustic properties then make the speaker out of solid wood and line it with MDF!

I am surprised the times I have used MDF and particle board as a finish material left exposed.
For Wired magazine, in dot-com days, we could not build and install MDF workstations as fast as they were expanding. Continuous down every wall corner to corner and freestanding.

Any thoughts about Baltic Birch?

I sometimes lust for March Audio's Sointuva speakers, even if only for the cabinet and nothing else.

 

[Dennis Murphy]

Plywood? I don't know a whole lot about the acoustic properties, but it looks a lot nicer than MDF.

Right--plywood. My local cabinet maker swears by it. I guess I'll find out soon enough. He's finishing up a pair for an Accuton-Scan Revelator 3-way someone commissioned.

 

[Chrispy]

Any thoughts about Baltic Birch?

My preference for diy projects, altho finding the real stuff can be hard and it comes in odd size compared to traditional US stuff I'd much rather deal with ply sawdust than mdf. Lighter, stronger. Some very good speakers are made using BB (JTR comes to mind).

 

[hex168]

In this thread, MDF looks superior to plywood, at least from a resonance reduction point of view. No comment on building with the stuff.
http://www.htguide.com/forum/showth...out-Thread&s=414abadc33c3d6269a60114849cef84e

 

[Helicopter]

I like the Columbia Forest Products hardwood veneer plywoods. The 3/4 birch and maple are very similar to to the stuff used on my vintage Klipsch HBRs. I use the maple because it is harder and costs about the same. The walnut has a much nicer core with more layers. These two products (the maple and walnut) are probably my favorite woodworking materials. I use walnut for the higher budget projects. These are available to order at local lumberyard here.

MDF machines better than plywood, but I know my way around some varnish so almost never use MDF. For something like a complex CNC baffle, MDF machinability is an important advantage.

 

[Chrispy]

In some cases there are arguments for HDF too. For diy BB definitely wins over mdf IMHO

 

[amirm]

Any thoughts about Baltic Birch?

That is the king of plywoods. If you are going to use plywood, that is the premium material to go for. Has no voids and very clean structure.

 

[Helicopter]

There is some real junk marketed as BB though, so you need to find the right local source.

 

[Chrispy]

FWIW I see this in a brief search but personally have not seen 4x8' BB panels, just the 5x5....and that's by going to basically a cabinet builder supply place rather than the typical lumber outlets. https://wolstenholme.com/pdf/Baltic Birch Plywood Specifications.pdf

 

[mhardy6647]

I hate to question this, but floor JOISTS? Or did you mean subflooring?

I have a fairly extensive knowledge of building and home construction and never heard of this, nor can I find anything when I google it.

maybe chipboard?