Dear List, Another aspect of MDF use in speakers - It's a good base for the application of veneers and laminates - much better to work with than plywood. ---------- > From: Delwin D Fandrich <pianobuilders@olynet.com> > To: pianotech@ptg.org > Subject: Re: particle board > Date: Saturday, September 20, 1997 9:29 PM > > Alex Thompson wrote: > > > > Dear particle board critics and everyone else, > > Particle board/MDF is not the inferior product some of you claim it to > > be. It is by far the best material acousticly. You want proof? Tear > > apart any high quality loudspeaker, I dont mean a cheepie pioneer I mean > > a something comparable to a Bose or Infinity. (the cheapies use particle > > board too) They all are constructed out of particle board/MDF. The > > reason is because particle board/mdf is incredibly dense and it absorbs > > sound rather than vibrating like solid wood adding unwanted coloration > > to the sound. So the result of using particle board is: the sound you > > hear is the sound from the speaker not the sound of the cabinet > > resonating. > > So as long as particle board is not being used in soundboards pinblocks > > or any important structural part of the piano, don't complain it may > > actually be <improving> the quality of the instrument. > > > > A > ------------------------------------------------------- > > MDF is used in high-end speaker cabinets because it is acoustically > dead--well, relatively so, anyway--not because it has any outstanding > acoustical properties of its own or because it is particularly strong. > It's obviously strong enough for speaker cabinets. But then there is > essentially no structural load on a loudspeaker. Pianos have different > needs from its cabinet parts. > > The key words you've used above are "any important structural part." I > think that one of the things that has given the material a bad name in > the piano industry is its mis-use early on. Before piano engineers > learned about stripped out screws and its lack of long-term structural > stability. (Actually, some of the first man-made materials used in piano > cabinets was particleboard. MDF came later and, for pianos at least, is > a far better material.) I'm not up on the current usage of the material > in pianos, I just know that it should be possible to use it without ill > effect in many parts of the cabinet. > > --ddf
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