How thick should the front baffle of speakers be?

Well, I suppose someone should tell Alon Wolf he's got it all wrong.. :-)

@soundsrealaudio- Martinis should be stirred, not shaken.  Just sayin' ;-)

The 3/4" plywood used in the vintage JBLs probably did vibrate, but in a way that was pleasant to the ear.  For me, I am not particularly partial to speakers with heavy cabinets, but that's probably more to do with the overall design than the cabinet per-se.  

plywood works. I question the use of large drivers 10" and above that can shake the wood. I also question the method of attaching drivers to the face of a cabinet. Where is the technology? I feel let down. 

3/4 inch plywood as used in vintage Altec's and JBL's will work just fine!

While I think solid construction is important, another sometimes overlooked thing is keeping the speaker from moving in 3 dimensions. A woofer can make the whole speaker rock back and forth. YMMV of course depending on the mass of the speaker, but a cheap tweak is often simply to add mass to the top of a speaker.

Tall skinny speakers benefit the most. It's pretty amazing.

Best,

E

+1 Erik
That makes good sense since eliminating micro vibrations to the cabinet through footers etc. greatly increases speaker presentation. I never knew what mine were capable of until I put them on ceramic ball type feet. 

So I shouldn't be able to put my martini shaker on top of the speaker and wait 10 minutes to sip?   :  ) 

The woofer should move, but no other part of the speaker! :) I think that it matters to some degree. A woofer exerts tremendous force on the cabinet. Any flexing in the front baffle could lead to Doppler-like effects as well as additional, unintended sound sources. The ideal speaker's output is ONLY from the drivers. This is different than a musical instrument where the strings or membrane AND the body resonate together.

MDF is cheap though. :)

Best,

E