Speaker baffle

Andrew Srubas · Post by **Andrew Srubas** » 2 Feb 2023 8:04 am

Wondering if anyone has any insight about baffle material for speaker cabs. I have built a couple cabs and plan to build a few more soon but am not sure what to use. Initially my gut was telling me to use 3/4 MDF. While heavy I thought it would be the deadest thing allow you to hear more of the speaker but upon further reading it seems like more people use Baltic Birch Ply and want the baffle to contribute to the resonance. I only have access to 1/2 and 3/4 Baltic. Is half inch popular? I bought a 15 baffle for a Twin from Mojotone and it is 1/2 Baltic. I guess that’s a good sign… thoughts? And thanks!

Here’s a couple photos of the first cab I built:

PS- not sure if I posted in the correct section. Feel free to move.

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 2 Feb 2023 11:25 am

Oh; I was only speaking of Solid Pine for cabinets

Roger Crawford · Post by **Roger Crawford** » 2 Feb 2023 11:50 am

The cabinets I’ve built use 3/4” for the baffle. The weight difference over 1/2” is negligible since since the bulk of the baffle is speaker opening. Neo speakers may be fine on 1/2”, but putting a heavy magnet on it would concern me.

Andrew Srubas · Post by **Andrew Srubas** » 2 Feb 2023 11:59 am

I was planning on making the Cab box of pine but the baffle as well?

I have had concerns about half inch in regards to speaker as well. I plan to mount a BW 15 in at least one of the builds I have planned.

Chris Clem · Post by **Chris Clem** » 2 Feb 2023 3:16 pm

A big no to using Pine for a baffle. Great for the finger-joint cabinets but never for a baffle, too unstable, prone to warping. Also a big no to MDF, great for home audio speakers but not for guitar amps.1/2" plywood is pretty much the norm in speaker cabinets that are smaller then a Marshall 1/2 stack. Yes 1/2"ply is fine for 15" speakers. Baltic Birch is great stuff but a little overkill on a speakers baffle but it will work fine.

John Hyland · Post by **John Hyland** » 3 Feb 2023 12:19 pm

I would never use MDF in a speaker cabinet. Plywood yes.

David Ball · Post by **David Ball** » 3 Feb 2023 2:20 pm

1/2 inch baltic birch makes a great baffle--from my experience it can handle a heavy speaker or two just fine. I like pine boxes and baltic birch baffles myself.

Dave

Dave Grafe · Post by **Dave Grafe** » 6 Mar 2023 7:36 am

John Hyland wrote:I would never use MDF in a speaker cabinet. Plywood yes.

The primary design concern with speaker baffles is stiffness, a quality most definitely lacking with MDF or other short-fiber material, which is nothing but fibre mush held together with glue. Solid boards or dense plywood both have the necessary long grains to serve.

Of secondary concern is energy absorption and suppression of resulting resonances, which gives plywood the edge as each layer is oriented 90° to the next.

Lastly are the implied benefits-to-weight, ease of construction, and cost limitations to consider. Solid boards large enough for a 12" or 15" speaker are hard to come by, and split easily both in the process of cutting the circle and in time as they dry. Again, although solid pine is excellent for small baffles if you have skills and a sharp saw, plywood has the edge.

When we built huge PA bins we used 3/4" and 1" birch marine plywood, but that would be foolish overkill for a small amp. Observation of choices made by historically successful manufacturers suggests the optimal material for a combo amp would be a quality 1/2" or 5/8" birch plywood, it is worthy of note that old Leo put plywood on the front of his pine boxes back inna day.