It might be good to recap where my cabinet testing has led. I started measuring just simple materials, ply, MDF, in 1/2" and 3/4" to establish a baseline. Moving on CLD construction, I now used 1/4" MDF "skins" joined by either the adhesive under test, or with an additional layer of foam, cork, etc. in between. From this the Nidacore construction was probably best, but the simple 1/4" MDF glued together with Weicon 310M Flex was so close and so much easier and cheaper to make, I would use that in the future. From my bracing tests (prior to the results just posted above) the CLD with Weicon 310M Flex made a decent improvement over solid braces. The next question is whether adding those CLD braces to the simple Weicon CLD box would retain the benefits if both. The following is just such box, compared to a simple 1/2" MDF box with solid braces, and a 3/4" plywood box with solid braces to represent the typical DIY boxes.
I would say the rear panel measurement shows the Weicon CLD box to be superior to the others. The side measurement has it about the same as the MDF, with both being ahead of the 3/4" plywood box. I will say the addition of the CLD braces to the CLD box, didn't complement each other quite as I had hoped. Here is that CLD box with and without braces:
You really have to match the construction method to the passband of the driver. If it was a (sub)woofer, plywood with a lot of bracing is perfect. For a pure midrange crossed at 300hz, I might go with the simple CLD box without braces. The real trick is when it's a 2-way. The choice isn't so clear to me at this point.
I would say the rear panel measurement shows the Weicon CLD box to be superior to the others. The side measurement has it about the same as the MDF, with both being ahead of the 3/4" plywood box. I will say the addition of the CLD braces to the CLD box, didn't complement each other quite as I had hoped. Here is that CLD box with and without braces:
You really have to match the construction method to the passband of the driver. If it was a (sub)woofer, plywood with a lot of bracing is perfect. For a pure midrange crossed at 300hz, I might go with the simple CLD box without braces. The real trick is when it's a 2-way. The choice isn't so clear to me at this point.
Comment