best wood for speaker cabinets ? oak,cherry, balti

The best product to use is one that does not resonate where you don't want it to and does resonate where it will be the least problem. You'll have to build and measure the cabinet resonant frequencies to determine that. It's basic engineering but it costs a lot of time, effort and money.

I too have been thinking of building a set of speakers, possibly Audio Note, in the future. The following link to a forum thread on Audiocircle references an interesting material to be incorporated in constrained layer speaker cabinet construction. This looks like an interesting and potentially rewarding tactic for someone seeking to build inert as possible cabinets. http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=92198.0

Panzer holz

Below is a thread on "real wood" speakers. I have heard the Daedalus speakers championed by Al, and they certainly sound good. Other companies, like PBN Montana, do the front baffle of some models in a 2" hardwood slab. I agree with Has2be that cost is likely a major factor in the use of MDF, and I doubt there is an exceptionless rule here. Why not contact Audionote and ask them what the would use, were cost no object?

John

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?cspkr&1275949549

The one that looks best?

Seriously, you need to focus on what is best for that specific Audio Note kit.

Audio Note is a line that seems to focus a lot on optimizing the design and performance of their products.

Personally, I would not muck with the recommended design and materials unless I were really very well educated on this topic and only if I were very familiar with teh sound of the recommended design first and found a clear reason to change it.

Also, in general, there seems to be two key lines of thought that determine box speaker enclosure designs. One focuses around making the enclosure as sonically inert as possible at a price point. Most speakers follow this model.

The other focuses on using a purposefully less inert enclosure to help tune the sound, similar to many wooden musical instruments. This is a key aspect of teh unique sonic appeal of this design pattern.

I am under the impression that AN speakers fall into the latter camp. Changing teh cabinet has a major effect on the sound! The end result may sound nothing like the original if the recommended cabinet design is altered drastically. Denser, more inert wood or materials could actually work against you?