Yes the plans specify 19-20mm, I’m wondering if it’s a European size maybe.
Just been reading up on laminating sheets of MDF, you’re right, sounds a pain.
Troels did say 18mm is ok but to make sure to use the bitumen pads to help with mass and reducing resonance. Since it’s only 1mm below that specified on the plans it should be fine I guess
Thanks for the tip on the seconds, will look into that!
Cheers,
Mark
I had the same problem, but he mentions somewhere on his site that Valchromat is the same stuff as the black MDF he uses for the baffles. It comes in 19mm.
I checked with Troels and, at least for the Faital, the additional internal volume from being 1mm thinner doesn’t make much difference. And HDF should be better anyway, as much heavier / less resonant. Just more expensive. I figure in the grand scheme of things a bit more for the panel is going to be insignificant if I add up all the other stuff including tools I’d need to buy.
And it’s supposedly easier to work with than MDF.
All in-all I feel it’s a good idea to use 19mm HDF instead of 20mm MDF.
At least in the Netherlands it’s easy to find Valchromat. And since it comes in many colours, including black, you could just oil it like he does or apply a polish without painting first.
A very nice design, popular in DIY land, that I mentioned above from your neck of the woods would be the Elsinore by Joe Rasmussen. Extremely well documented, so I’d guess suggested materials more readily available. Not trying to talk you out of Troels’ designs, but personally I’ve been tempted but chose Troels precisely because he’s more local.
Yes HDF sounds like a good approach… just have to be a bit more careful not to make too many mistakes!
True that the extra cost is small in comparison with the rest of the kit
Cheers
Ah, sorry. Somehow I grouped you in with the other Mark as an Aussie. Apologies.
Valchromat looks easy to get in the UK.
BTW, I see from your profile that you’re in Oxfordshire. If things don’t work out, I can recommend someone near you who should be able to make you the cabinets.
Use the 25mm! Alter the depth to compensate for the volume difference. Use 25mm for the sides and back, and use the 18mm for the front. Could also use the 18mm for the internals. It makes a huge difference to the cabinet walls. Very solid and much lower resonance. This type of speaker will be pretty dead anyway as it has all the internal chambers in the top section but the weight will make a difference to the way the cabinet interacts with the sound. Trust me. Unless there is a reason that 25mm can’t be used due to width and driver clearance it is definitely not overkill.
I just read on - yes or use the HDF. I have a feeling it would still resonate more than 25mm MDF though.
I was looking for a shop that would allow me to pick up. Some shops are able/willing to cut the panel up (two or three straight cuts), making it possible to transport in my car. I will just need to figure out which cuts would be best for optimising use of the panel.
I guess it depends on the finishing required. Amazing eye for detail, but AFAIK no spraying booth, so if we’re talking piano black, high gloss, urushi laquer I would have to check.
This may be a cost efficient speaker but I would be willing to bet that something like the CNO grande would be far better. Drivers such as the excel ones are quite literally some of the best available in the world and end up in some seriously high end speakers that cost a fortune. Like the Titan 808.
Valchromat comes in 25 (and even 30 as well), so could be considered. But I fear I’d become more than a one person job.
Plus in my case, where I don’t have my own workshop, tons of leftovers of different sheets is probably a bit wasteful. I think I’d prefer to use one type throughout.
Yeah the 25mm MDF Sheets I used were very heavy! I had to slide them from the car roof to my cutting table with the help from wifey. No way I was lifting them around on my own.
All else being equal I think the driver will make a difference, but I think the integration of the different drivers and crossover design are much more important.
You undoubtedly know much more about this than me, but I feel in commercial designs the above is, ironically, exactly where the compromise is. A large mid-bass driver so the same can be used in both the 2-way standmount (bass and mids) and the floorstander (mids only) is so common. Crossover using cheap components (although here the law of diminishing returns is probably especially prevalent). Cabinet for the standmount being a shorter version of the floorstander. etc.
They think in ranges, not speakers.
The one I’m currently considering, supposedly his best selling kit ever, uses drivers not even designed for HiFi, but PA systems.
Yes you are exactly right, the implementation of the crossover and component quality are important. However, a good crossover as well as top shelf drivers has indisputable benefits once heard.
The same high quality attributes still apply to these pa drivers. Also the tweeter and midrange are not really PA specific. 18 sound make some amazing drivers and that SBA tweeter is brilliant! It makes sense to me as PA drivers have really high power handling and these days also use light weight materials. Perfect for delivering low distortion bass!