I can't find any local lumber yards that have baltic birch, so I'm wondering what the next best plywood is for a speaker baffle. This is to sonvert my Ori20 combo to a 12" speaker. Please don't say MDF - haha. I just built a router table out of that stuff and I'm not a fan.
Best baffle material other than baltic birch?
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RLW59
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"Marine grade" is generally considered second best. (If you can find marine with the same number of plies as Baltic, some people actually prefer it over Baltic.)
Void free and as many plies per inch as you can find are the general criteria to look for.
Void free and as many plies per inch as you can find are the general criteria to look for.
Can you get good quality "carpenter's grade" multi-ply plywood in spruce or pine?
Over here there are two different types
- Cheap stuff for temporary construction like concrete molds. I wouldn't use that.
- Better stuff for permanent construction, or even visible surfaces. That should do. Don't know if there is any tonal differences compared to birch though.
Over here there are two different types
- Cheap stuff for temporary construction like concrete molds. I wouldn't use that.
- Better stuff for permanent construction, or even visible surfaces. That should do. Don't know if there is any tonal differences compared to birch though.
Any decent plywood will work.
As suggested - void free, more layers if possible.
Perhaps look for a cabinetry or furniture grade instead of construction grade.
The tonal differences in materials for a baffle that size will be subtle at best compared with speaker choice.
After all, the rest of the cab will still be stock Origin, and open back.
The baffle is more holding the speaker in place than adding some kind of tonal magic.
The change from 10" to 12" will be way more substantial.
Thanks - I haven't seen any marine grade when looking in the past. I was thinking the same about void-free and more layers, but just not sure what to get.
We have different grades of ply here, but most have at least some voids when you look around the edges. The best seems to be furniture grade ply as Fitz recommended. That is a decent quality ply (but still doesn't look like as many layers as baltic birch pics I see online) with a very thin layer of hardwood on the outside.
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Thanks fitz. I'll probably go with a piece of furniture grade. I can get oak or birch laminate - but which will sound better?
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RLW59
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Like Fitz said earlier, on a baffle that small that's supported on all four edges you won't hear a difference between wood types.Thanks fitz. I'll probably go with a piece of furniture grade. I can get oak or birch laminate - but which will sound better?
You won't really hear 5-ply vs 9-ply vs 13- ply either. Higher plies add strength, stiffness, and stabilty that make some difference on large panels. But on small panels, any plywood is massively stronger and stiffer than it needs to be.
I'd go so far as to say you wouldn't hear a difference with MDF or even particle board. I had a particle board TL806 that sounded exactly like my plywood TL806's (5, 9, 13 ply all sounded the same too). Small panels don't resonate bass frequencies like larger panels can.
I'd rather have plywood. But if I had a scrap panel of MDF sitting around I'd consider using it.
Thanks. I'll see what I have out in the shed. I have some MDF left over from the router table build, but that stuff is so heavy and makes a ton of dust when cut. I may have some other 3/4 ply that will work.
paul-e-mann
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Doesn't matter what you get, what matters is the number of layers, 7 to 13 layers is best. If you can't find locally Google it and buy online, I found some Baltic very affordable online.Thanks fitz. I'll probably go with a piece of furniture grade. I can get oak or birch laminate - but which will sound better?
Do you have a source for the baltic birch? I looked online a while back and all I could find was a place you had to buy several panels.
paul-e-mann
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I was gonna say I didn't remember but a quick Google search found it. Rockler!
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Thanks much for the link.
Geeze
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When you get the BB from Rockler's let us know how they pack it. I'm always concerned with corner & edge damage from shipping pieces of that size, I'm down to 1.40 5'x5' sheets of Russian BB.
Russ
Russ
It looks like really nice wood, but honestly it's more money than I want to spend on this. One panel would cost over $60 with shipping and tax.
$22 in stock at my local Lowe's. 
Wait, do I want 1/2"??? I was thinking this should be 3/4. If 1/2 inch that's great because my Lowes actually has these in stock (compared to most other things which they do not).$22 in stock at my local Lowe's.
And this is not "baltic birch", correct? This is furniture grade with a thin veneer of birch. Looks like what I made my little cab out of last summer, with 5 layers plus the veneer.
How much wood will even be left after the hole for a 12" speaker?
3/4" ply on a 1x12 baffle will be stiff as a rock - and probably stick out past the cab sides on the O20C.
You're overthinking this birch ply thing, like Cadilac wheels on a Chevy.
It's not going to impart some sort of tonal miracle.
The baffle material will be insignificant compared to the difference in the larger speaker.
Some decent plywood will be a structural upgrade to the stock particle board.
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Me thinks some over thinking is going on here. Recently been there and done that.
Geeze
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I tend to build based on the - possibly an illusion at this point - that I will blast any speaker cab with a 50 or 100 Marshall with it's hair on fire. Big fan of 3/4" ply as I over engineer everything. I have used furniture grade ply in the past and didn't find any voids and didn't [see blasting reference above] hear any unwanted resonance issues.
If you're going to be lower not pants flapping volume a 1/2" well-made plywood will work fine - oak, maple, etc. In the combo you're not going to have much unsupported ply between the speaker and the baffle supports. As @fitz said there's nothing magic about BB sonically just consistency that is not needed for small cabs. In 4x12 cabs without a center post yes BB is the best choice.
Russ
If you're going to be lower not pants flapping volume a 1/2" well-made plywood will work fine - oak, maple, etc. In the combo you're not going to have much unsupported ply between the speaker and the baffle supports. As @fitz said there's nothing magic about BB sonically just consistency that is not needed for small cabs. In 4x12 cabs without a center post yes BB is the best choice.
Russ
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