What is your favorite material for loudspeakers?

John
I have had some speakers in house made from birch plywood. What a relief over MDF. Much better tonal quality. I think the big difference is that MDF has so much glue in it. Much more mass and that acts like a solar heat sink holding in the resonance.. I think most speaker manufactures know that. But it does take a different and more expensive approach. You buy veneered plywood and build from that. With MDF you can build the speaker first and then if it is OK just cover with veneer. Not the degree of difficulty that working with expensive plywood has.
By the way what is french polish???

Since ply are veneered with birch I use veneer over the ply this sounds better than veneer faced ply. French polish is a hand applied shellac oil alcohol mix. Binds with veneer for best tone plus it looks great is easy to repair can last multiple lifetimes.

JohnK

Are you a speaker manufacture or just a "crazy" audiophile like the rest of us?
That sounds like fun but a lot of work as well. Just curious how much the Birch ply costs per sheet and how hard is it to work with, doing the corners and miters etc. You purchase it with a finish veneer I suppose, walnut, cherry or what ever you want.

I checked my old notes on birch plywood. One of the highest grades I have found is from a Finnish company called UPM. The standard UPM birch products come in 5x5 feet and 4x8 for product bonded with exterior grade glues. Price seems to be about $130 per sheet, but the importer (Plywood & Door) has a minimum of several sheets per order.
Max thickness for standard product is 1 and 1/8 inch with 22 plies per sheet.
I spoke to Rod at Plywood and Door
866. 738. 7265

Quido

Wow. That is so much more than mdf. The Finnish stuff I understand is the best. I would love to hear what some of the more expensive speakers would sound like if they were made from this stuff. That would be a project wouldn't it. Take a vanderstein and remake it in plywood. I am just a terrible woodworker so no chance here.