particle board

[robert sadowski]

Dear List,
     Another aspect of MDF use in speakers - It's a good base for the
application of veneers and laminates - much better to work with than
plywood.

----------
> From: Delwin D Fandrich <pianobuilders@olynet.com>
> To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject: Re: particle board
> Date: Saturday, September 20, 1997 9:29 PM
> 
> Alex Thompson wrote:
> > 
> > Dear particle board critics and everyone else,
> > Particle board/MDF is not the inferior product some of you claim it to
> > be. It is by far the best material acousticly. You want proof? Tear
> > apart any high quality loudspeaker, I dont mean a cheepie pioneer I
mean
> > a something comparable to a Bose or Infinity. (the cheapies use
particle
> > board too) They all are constructed out of particle board/MDF. The
> > reason is because particle board/mdf is incredibly dense and it absorbs
> > sound rather than vibrating like solid wood adding unwanted coloration
> > to the sound. So the result of using particle board is: the sound you
> > hear is the sound from the speaker not the sound of the cabinet
> > resonating.
> > So as long as particle board is not being used in soundboards pinblocks
> > or any important structural part of the piano, don't complain it may
> > actually be <improving> the quality of the instrument.
> > 
> > A
> -------------------------------------------------------
> 
> MDF is used in high-end speaker cabinets because it is acoustically
> dead--well, relatively so, anyway--not because it has any outstanding
> acoustical properties of its own or because it is particularly strong.
> It's obviously strong enough for speaker cabinets. But then there is
> essentially no structural load on a loudspeaker. Pianos have different
> needs from its cabinet parts.
> 
> The key words you've used above are "any important structural part." I
> think that one of the things that has given the material a bad name in
> the piano industry is its mis-use early on. Before piano engineers
> learned about stripped out screws and its lack of long-term structural
> stability. (Actually, some of the first man-made materials used in piano
> cabinets was particleboard. MDF came later and, for pianos at least, is
> a far better material.) I'm not up on the current usage of the material
> in pianos, I just know that it should be possible to use it without ill
> effect in many parts of the cabinet.
> 
> --ddf