High end speaker construction - solid wood?

[dpastern]

All speculation behind... I spent an afternoon with a pair of beautifully crafted Sonus Faber (forgot model name) all solid wood and they sounded horrible. I gave them a serious chance to impress, Try them in 2 rooms, 2 systems. My B&W 805 Matrix (made of MDF) ate them for lunch.

And there's probably many who've listened to them and loved them. We're all individuals, with individualistic tastes and preferences.

It's refreshing to hear a critique of them from somebody who has actually heard them, instead of blind speculation.

I own Sonus Faber Electa Amators. I've listened to Sonus Faber Guarneri Homages, and also to Sonus Faber Extremas. The former were beautifully guiling and delicate, the latter the same, but with more bass and muscle. My Electa Amators fall somewhere between imho, but not quite as guiling as the GH units.

I've heard some very nice B&W speakers (I honestly can't remember the model name, and it was early 90s, so a fair while ago) and they were nice, very detailed, lovely soundstaging etc, but overly clinical to my ears, they lacked "emotion" is the best way that I can put it.

Sonus Faber is not everyone's cuppa tea. Are they coloured? Yes. Are any speakers that exist in today's market not coloured? No. Any transducer, no matter how well designed or manufactured, will have some colouration present in the reproduction process. Colouration is a personal preference.

Then there's the Sonus Faber looks - as someone who loves wood, and finds it far more natural and appealing than other speaker material, one can only be amazed at the love and craftmanship that goes into these beauties. Looks aren't the most important thing when it comes to speakers, but it's nice to have them as well as nice sound.

Dave

 

[strangiato]

I use composite construction for every enclosure I build. I've found that the variations in stiffness, density, and elasticity of different layered materials produces the best results for acoustic damping. I suspect Sonus does not limit its enclosures to hard wood shells. A stiff, high density hardwood outer layer combined with a viscoelastic bonding layer and medium density fiberboard inner layer would be far superior to an MDF enclosure alone. Mechanical (acoustical) energy reflects and refracts at the density shift boundaries in composite layered structures much like light bends and reflects when travelling through multiple glass sheet layers of varying density. There are numerous research papers on the subject of energy transmission through homogeneous media versus composites. The wood shells you see on the outside of Vienna or Sonus cabinets are likely only a small part of the big picture. Some manufacturers use a bitumen layer, some a doped epoxy, some phenolic resin, some sand, and some even use lead shot! Any number of these can be very effective in producing a quiet enclosure for a high end speaker that if not audibly superior to MDF models - at least measures better.

 

[RUSHTK]

I am a moron when it comes to the technical aspects ("Mongo" hit play(if ya know, ya know..lol)) but was wondering about taking the design from my 1970's Fishers and make them with updated materials. With the resonance, could that be controlled with the inside panels being covered in a sealant or dynamat? Again.... I am a moron... be gentle

 

[tourmax]

I am a moron when it comes to the technical aspects ("Mongo" hit play(if ya know, ya know..lol)) but was wondering about taking the design from my 1970's Fishers and make them with updated materials. With the resonance, could that be controlled with the inside panels being covered in a sealant or dynamat? Again.... I am a moron... be gentle

I'm not an expert at building speaker cabinets by any means, but all the more expensive boxes I've seen use mdf like material in the construction, lots of internal bracing and polyfil.

I do know from my car stereo days (which is longer ago than I care to admit, lol!) that MDF is preferred due to its density compared to other products such as wood, fiberglass, etc. It's the density that "controls/damps" the resonance and internal bracing makes it appear even "denser" to the sound waves.

 

[GordonW]

I'm not an expert at building speaker cabinets by any means, but all the more expensive boxes I've seen use mdf like material in the construction, lots of internal bracing and polyfil.

I do know from my car stereo days (which is longer ago than I care to admit, lol!) that MDF is preferred due to its density compared to other products such as wood, fiberglass, etc. It's the density that "controls/damps" the resonance and internal bracing makes it appear even "denser" to the sound waves.

MDF is a simple way to get rid of many cabinet resonances- but sometimes, at the cost of excessive damping (which can cause a loss of leading-edge transient response).

Most higher-end speakers these days, use something more rigid and/or less absorptive of energy. There's lots of composites- solid or plywood layered with an elastic layer, stone with a damping layer, combinations of carbon fiber with wood and such... there's lots of ways this is done. The idea is to make it well-behaved, in not having discrete audible resonances, but not overly dead...

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[mrehorst]

I've seen B&W factory tour videos showing how they make the 800 series speaker cabinets from laminated wood bent around forms. Here's one: