What is your favorite material for loudspeakers?

Have you guys tried a french polish?

I use veneer layers for curves.

MDF stores energy releases as slight delay adding coloration to sound if fully braced you can work with it. But baltic birch plywood doesn't store releases energy so the coloration's of birch plywood are pleasant the coloration's of MDF tend to be narrow in frequency and can add a unpleasant delayed coloration. So a doubled 3/4in Baltic cab for your proac would be a improvement in sound quality. The French polish penetrates veneer so resonates more even in frequency and at a greatly reduced level.

Baltic birch plywood with veneer over it. I use MDF but only with paint or laminate. Bubinga is 1 of my favorites but I use solid bubinga over birch ply. 1 of the few hard woods that's stable. I use a lot of US sourced Cherry veneer. Since most of what I build is large veneer costs add up fast. I have a good source for great looking cherry veneer. I have tried carbon fiber, fiber glass, Corian, Plexiglas,Aluminum,HDF, MDF. Many other plys, hemp, apple, mahogany. Still to my ears quality birch ply with full veneer french polish has a more pleasing sound. The other quality plywood's are near as good as the Baltic if you double, if you go 3/4in Baltic birch ply is best. Since a 3/4in T. cab even fully braced adds much resonance to loudspeakers sound.

The Baltic we use is Finnish I buy by the pallet to save $. If you source plys from most home centers its Chinese and lamination on this ply are terrible. Sometimes I can pull Chinese plywood apart with my hands!!!. Ive tried MDF ply, HDF ply and others in layers still to me Baltic and veneer with French polish gives best results for my loudspeakers. But my good friends a TT nut he uses layers on his plinths. I use aged hard rock maple for bracing this gives best tone. I have build solid hard wood cabinets but most split after a bit of time ,if I use hard woods I use over ply. Thank you for the posts. And happy listening.

I know about the WB designs but thank you for the post. I have used Carbon fiber I found it worse sounding in my designs than the Baltic plys etc. Its also costly hard to work with. So I leave it to companies like W.B. When Stradivarius are worse sounding than carbon fiber maybe I will revisit. Other composites are available for cabinet construction. I had better luck with those over CF. Hope your sale are going strong 2009 will be a hard time for retailers and audio manufacturers alike.

Cerrot, How is your stat held? By frame metal or wood so is resonates just like a cabinet thus has coloration just like a cabinet. Don't believe place a stethoscope on material holding stat play music.. Also stats can have forward backward movements as membrane moves forward and back this cause planar to rock. Most designs don't fully address this thus all the aftermarket stat stands. And Guidocorona I fully understand the differences in musical instrument construction and loudspeaker cabinets. And a few loudspeaker in the market today have cabinets similar to a musical instrument construction. I don't offer for I feel designs are to colored.

Since ply are veneered with birch I use veneer over the ply this sounds better than veneer faced ply. French polish is a hand applied shellac oil alcohol mix. Binds with veneer for best tone plus it looks great is easy to repair can last multiple lifetimes.

From what I heard carbon nano tubes are suspected of being carcinogenic. I wouldn't consider its use till its proven safe. Same with Teflon capacitors.Why don't we just go back to the old PCB caps;) Since hi-heat and Teflon will produce toxic gas. Thought where heading to a green future but carbon nano tubes, Teflon caps, beryllium domes, cobalt mags, lead solders,now the plastic coats another suspected carcinogenic are we building future toxic waiste? Why I use silver oil caps, natural french polish finish and birch ply from sustainable forests and using less toxic glues. When I use veneer I buy sustainable harvest veneers.I try to purchase drivers from country's with fair labor practices and better environmental standards but still its hard to avoid using some Chinese parts but I do try to avoid them if possible.

KCS loudspeakers mostly we build for research but for kicks I offer home loudspeakers or custom builds.