Are carbon fiber speaker cabinets inherently better than wood or metal ones


There seems to be a pretty big jump in speaker prices when moving to carbon fiber cabinetry when all else is equal (or what seems like equal). Is this because it is able to be molded into more acoustically correct shapes or simple the characteristics of the material?

sokogear

The most cost-effective way to reduce enclosure and/or panel resonance is to brace like Hell. Look at the bracing Jim Salk uses in his subwoofer enclosures (into which he installs the Rythmik Audio 12" or 15" DIY kits). 

Adding braces adds more mass which is similar to poring a thick concrete slab to store solar energy. Then it is released slowly...not so good. 

What speaker's walls/baffle/floor base is carbon fiber solely. A .030-.050" veneer does not make a speaker carbon fiber nor does a Rosewood veneer make a speaker rosewood. 

Carbon at a thickness to resemble a wood cabinet would be very brittle in nature if using sheet form to construct. It will need to be thermoformed to make it very stiff and rigid. How many speakers are thermoformed with carbon entirely? Zero! 

 

@sounds_real_audio: Incorrect. The primary and most important reasons for and benefits of bracing is to:

1- Minimize the ability of the enclosure to expand (like a balloon being blown up)---thereby propagating sound---in reaction to the internal pressure created within the enclosure when the drivers move inward. That pressure is extreme, like a pot of boiling water with a tight lid on the stove with a high flame. Wall-to-wall braces prevent the enclosure from doing that. Again, look at how Jim Salk braces his subwoofer enclosures, and how Magico braces their loudspeaker enclosures.

2- Raise the resonant frequency of the enclosure panels to that above those excited greatest by the most problematic of the enclosure frequencies---the low ones (bass).

Seems with 3d printers it would be pretty easy to build a carbon fiber enclosure. I know they aren’t real quick but with 2 way fancy monitorS going for 5 figures seems like 12 hours (or whatever) in a printer wouldn’t be that much of a deal.