MDF vs. 5 ply furniture grade plywood

[wdecho]

I enjoy my old Heresy 1 in Baltic birch. I'm old and MDF just seems cheap to me.

When I first heard Klipsch was using MDF I thought the same. It is cheaper than good veneered plywood but it does have some good properties. Definitely cheaper to make a cabinet out of MDF than plywood but not as strong. Strong enough I suppose.

My 86 LaScala's are just stained birch plywood and I love them just the way they are. In 86 Klipsch were sorta on the fence whether there was a home market for their PA speaker. As far as I remember they were not offered as a veneered wood back then. Could very well be wrong. I really wanted the K-horn but back then the LaScala was actually half the price of the K-horn at my dealer. The K-horns was $3K a pair and I paid $1.5K for my pair of LaScala's.

 

[OBMG74]

A flat piece of MDF is much easier to find at a big box store than a flat piece of Baltic Birch.

But, if you are building a small box, it probably doesn't matter, a little warp on the side and front panels disappears during assembly.
And the same with the back panel which is screwed into wood cleats.

I believe in many cases, plywood warp is a result of how the stores handle and store their plywood and exposure to the elements.
If it droops on the rack, it probably won't get any better at home.

After spending 35 years in the cabinet industry working primarily with dusty MDF, I will say that I have never cut a piece in my home shop.
Baltic birch, only.

In an industrial setting MDF is used obviously for a lower cost but also for stability, and if veneering, there are no substrate defects transmitted to the veneer.
MDF weighs about a pound more per square foot than Baltic Birch, so obviously is more dense.
I will leave Baltic Birch vs MDF sound comparison to more knowledgeable members.

 

[wdecho]

A flat piece of MDF is much easier to find at a big box store than a flat piece of Baltic Birch.

But, if you are building a small box, it probably doesn't matter, a little warp on the side and front panels disappears during assembly.
And the same with the back panel which is screwed into wood cleats.

I believe in many cases, plywood warp is a result of how the stores handle and store their plywood and exposure to the elements.
If it droops on the rack, it probably won't get any better at home.

After spending 35 years in the cabinet industry working primarily with dusty MDF, I will say that I have never cut a piece in my home shop.
Baltic birch, only.

In an industrial setting MDF is used obviously for a lower cost but also for stability, and if veneering, there are no substrate defects transmitted to the veneer.
MDF weighs about a pound more per square foot than Baltic Birch, so obviously is more dense.
I will leave Baltic Birch vs MDF sound comparison to more knowledgeable members.

Great post from someone who has worked with both for a living and not as a hobbyist.

As a once hobbyist woodworker I did not like working with MDF either. Stable, flat and dense are some good qualities though along with cheaper.