So I’m totally new to DIY audio and have yet to do my first speaker build, but I do have experience in building furniture cabinets and thought I’d pass on a few insights into the sheet materials available (as I’m in the UK this is obviously from a UK perspective).
Birch Ply (and it’s lesser sibling, Poplar Ply )
I personally love Birch Ply, or Baltic Ply as it is often referred to. If you’re going to build in Birch ply I personally would leave it on show in all its glory and not paint or veneer it (kind of a waste of money if you do this in my humble opinion). Troels’ speakers for instance all show off Birch ply in all its glory - especially that lovely layered cut edge.
Here in the UK, all of our high grade birch ply came from Russia. With the pandemic and then the Ukraine war this led to a total end to Baltic ply from Russia coming to the UK (some timber merchants doubt it will ever return). At present I am told all of our birch play now comes from Lithuania (it’s not quite as good as the high quality grade that came from Russia, so I am told). It also literally tripled in price over night and it still hasn’t, and is unlikely to ever return to pre-pandemic pricing.
Birch ply comes in many grades, and for the layman in the UK, it can be tricky to find the good stuff (during the pandemic this stuff was gold dust). You will not find it in the big DIY merchants here in the UK - you’ll need to find a specialist timber supplier.
It will come graded like BB/CP or BB/BB etc. For cabinetry you want the highest grade which at my supplier is classed as B/BB ‘unplugged.’ This is the important bit, a lot of so called premium birch ply here in the UK is often ‘plugged’ - this is the process of removing (literally cut out) a defect like a knot in the surface layer of the sheet, and glueing down a replacement patch. The repairs are highly visible and do not look nice and will ruin the look of your build unless you can cut around them - some sheets have multiple plugs which makes this difficult.
I have seen a number of online UK suppliers selling so called ‘premium’ birch ply which is plugged - my advice is read the small print or ask.
As of December 2024, at trade prices you could be looking at £110 per 8’ x 4’ sheet of 18mm ‘plug free’ birch ply. A 24mm sheet would be in the region of £140 (those prices are inclusive of VAT).
As an example, one online retailer is selling an 18mm 8’ x 4’ sheet of ‘plugged’ premium ply for £264!!!
Poplar ply can be found for less money here in the UK, looks like Birch Ply but is made up of fewer layers - not as strong, not as dense, not as nice, and still quite expensive so personally I wouldn’t bother (unless you plan on painting or veneering).
MDF
Again, there are lots of different types of MDF and they aren’t created equally.
Go into any large chain DIY store here in the UK and you will find MDF - it’s brown and comes in different thicknesses and is relatively cheap (compared to birch ply).
This is what we (in the trade) class as trade MDF and it really isn’t designed for making furniture with. Instead, I would look for Moisture Resistant MDF (often referred to as MR MDF). You can tell the difference because this stuff is more green in colour - certainly the inner section will be green in colour. A popular and well known manufacturer is Medite and this will be brown on the outside and have a distinctive green core to it.
Moisture resistant is more dense and cuts really cleanly - it is far superior to ‘trade’ mdf and this is what I would recommend for building furniture (speaker cabinets).
Medite is a brand name, and it’s quite expensive, but there are others that are a little cheaper, like Fibralux - still excellent quality, moisture resistant mdf. It looks a little different to Medite MR in that it is a greenish brown throughout, whilst Medite has a very distinctive green core compared to the brown outer. Medite also do another product called Optima - this is moisture resistant and also even higher density to the MR MDF.
As an example of trade prices here in the UK, 18mm MR Fibralux is in the region of £32 per 8’ x 4’ sheet, 22mm is £44 a sheet and 25mm is £51 per sheet. You can expect to pay more for Medite, and these are trade prices so likely 10% or so more to the public.
If you are planning on painting or veneering your cabinets I would opt for MR MDF or Optima, just note that a cut edge of MDF is easily damaged compared to Birch Ply so you have to be quite careful with it.
If you want coloured throughout MDF then the name banded around most often is Valchromat. I understand that Valchromat actually went out of business some years ago but another company bought the rights to the name and manufuctures the boards themselves under the Valchromat name. It's nice stuff, but it's expensive, very expensive! You can find black throughout MR MDF though from Fibralux though at cheaper cost - it's decent quality and can be sealed/treated much the same as valchromat with a hard wax oil etc to finish.
One of the biggest sheet material businesses here in the UK is a company called Lawcris - thankfully they are based near me but they will deliver (but I think you need to spend at least £300! ) They have an enormous selection of sheet materials in general - from mdf to plywood, from veneered to bendy ply etc so may be useful to someone perhaps.
Hope that helps some builders out there who may or may not be so clued up on the woodworking aspect. Please note I have no affiliation with Medite, Fibralux or Lawcris and these are just branded materials/companies that I am familiar with because I have used them - I'm sure there are others too.
Birch Ply (and it’s lesser sibling, Poplar Ply )
I personally love Birch Ply, or Baltic Ply as it is often referred to. If you’re going to build in Birch ply I personally would leave it on show in all its glory and not paint or veneer it (kind of a waste of money if you do this in my humble opinion). Troels’ speakers for instance all show off Birch ply in all its glory - especially that lovely layered cut edge.
Here in the UK, all of our high grade birch ply came from Russia. With the pandemic and then the Ukraine war this led to a total end to Baltic ply from Russia coming to the UK (some timber merchants doubt it will ever return). At present I am told all of our birch play now comes from Lithuania (it’s not quite as good as the high quality grade that came from Russia, so I am told). It also literally tripled in price over night and it still hasn’t, and is unlikely to ever return to pre-pandemic pricing.
Birch ply comes in many grades, and for the layman in the UK, it can be tricky to find the good stuff (during the pandemic this stuff was gold dust). You will not find it in the big DIY merchants here in the UK - you’ll need to find a specialist timber supplier.
It will come graded like BB/CP or BB/BB etc. For cabinetry you want the highest grade which at my supplier is classed as B/BB ‘unplugged.’ This is the important bit, a lot of so called premium birch ply here in the UK is often ‘plugged’ - this is the process of removing (literally cut out) a defect like a knot in the surface layer of the sheet, and glueing down a replacement patch. The repairs are highly visible and do not look nice and will ruin the look of your build unless you can cut around them - some sheets have multiple plugs which makes this difficult.
I have seen a number of online UK suppliers selling so called ‘premium’ birch ply which is plugged - my advice is read the small print or ask.
As of December 2024, at trade prices you could be looking at £110 per 8’ x 4’ sheet of 18mm ‘plug free’ birch ply. A 24mm sheet would be in the region of £140 (those prices are inclusive of VAT).
As an example, one online retailer is selling an 18mm 8’ x 4’ sheet of ‘plugged’ premium ply for £264!!!
Poplar ply can be found for less money here in the UK, looks like Birch Ply but is made up of fewer layers - not as strong, not as dense, not as nice, and still quite expensive so personally I wouldn’t bother (unless you plan on painting or veneering).
MDF
Again, there are lots of different types of MDF and they aren’t created equally.
Go into any large chain DIY store here in the UK and you will find MDF - it’s brown and comes in different thicknesses and is relatively cheap (compared to birch ply).
This is what we (in the trade) class as trade MDF and it really isn’t designed for making furniture with. Instead, I would look for Moisture Resistant MDF (often referred to as MR MDF). You can tell the difference because this stuff is more green in colour - certainly the inner section will be green in colour. A popular and well known manufacturer is Medite and this will be brown on the outside and have a distinctive green core to it.
Moisture resistant is more dense and cuts really cleanly - it is far superior to ‘trade’ mdf and this is what I would recommend for building furniture (speaker cabinets).
Medite is a brand name, and it’s quite expensive, but there are others that are a little cheaper, like Fibralux - still excellent quality, moisture resistant mdf. It looks a little different to Medite MR in that it is a greenish brown throughout, whilst Medite has a very distinctive green core compared to the brown outer. Medite also do another product called Optima - this is moisture resistant and also even higher density to the MR MDF.
As an example of trade prices here in the UK, 18mm MR Fibralux is in the region of £32 per 8’ x 4’ sheet, 22mm is £44 a sheet and 25mm is £51 per sheet. You can expect to pay more for Medite, and these are trade prices so likely 10% or so more to the public.
If you are planning on painting or veneering your cabinets I would opt for MR MDF or Optima, just note that a cut edge of MDF is easily damaged compared to Birch Ply so you have to be quite careful with it.
If you want coloured throughout MDF then the name banded around most often is Valchromat. I understand that Valchromat actually went out of business some years ago but another company bought the rights to the name and manufuctures the boards themselves under the Valchromat name. It's nice stuff, but it's expensive, very expensive! You can find black throughout MR MDF though from Fibralux though at cheaper cost - it's decent quality and can be sealed/treated much the same as valchromat with a hard wax oil etc to finish.
One of the biggest sheet material businesses here in the UK is a company called Lawcris - thankfully they are based near me but they will deliver (but I think you need to spend at least £300! ) They have an enormous selection of sheet materials in general - from mdf to plywood, from veneered to bendy ply etc so may be useful to someone perhaps.
Hope that helps some builders out there who may or may not be so clued up on the woodworking aspect. Please note I have no affiliation with Medite, Fibralux or Lawcris and these are just branded materials/companies that I am familiar with because I have used them - I'm sure there are others too.
Great info there, even for we Aussies who can't buy the exact products mentioned. I had no idea about MR MDF.
I've found Wickes the best of all the diy Superstores. Still not perfect, but good enough. (for me at least)
And its even harder if you live rural with no access to Bunnies.
My local is charging like $80+ for 12mm CD ply same again for low grade 16mm mdf, "premium ply" or so they call it is only available in a 1/4 sheet @$70 if you want a full sheet its got to be ordered with transport at your cost bringing it up to well over $300 per sheet.
I'm a CNC designer operator and it's always difficult finding decent birch. We use 15mm which is harder to find again.
I'm considering setting up a little side hustle for printing speaker cabinets for diy'ers but i think it's pretty niche. It can't be much demand in the UK right?
I'm considering setting up a little side hustle for printing speaker cabinets for diy'ers but i think it's pretty niche. It can't be much demand in the UK right?
Here in the US PNW, my favored supplier has been selling Latvian Birch ply since the war induced shortage of the Baltic Birch produced in Russia and presumably, Ukraine. The sheets are 4'x8' or slightly oversized by 1/2" in length and width instead of the 5'x5' we were getting. I'm in need for a project so may have to bite the buttet and give it a go... thats if it looks passable in person.
I built four woofer boxes in September using the 12 mm birch plywood from my local lumber yard. The 5' x 5' sheet of 12 mm ply was about $60 USD. To verify the properties of the wood I cut a sample panel and tested the resonant frequency to determine if it would work for my project. I also used the Matlab scripts at the website vibrationdata to find the resonant frequency of test panel and then went on to calculate the expected resonance frequencies for the panels in my woofer box design. I was able to build the box with a 10" woofer and keep the weight under 20 lbs while having the lowest panel resonance above 800 Hz.
In the end I just knock on the panel and measure the spectral content. I need to take the time to learn to use a more complete CAD/CAM
package some time.
https://www.vibrationdata.com/rectangular_plates.htm
In the end I just knock on the panel and measure the spectral content. I need to take the time to learn to use a more complete CAD/CAM
package some time.
https://www.vibrationdata.com/rectangular_plates.htm
Here in Western Canada, BB 18mm 5x5' from my favorite supplier went from ~CA$110 just before the Russian invasion to $140 today. 24mm rose more sharply, from $120 to $210. I actually invested over a grand to stockpile BB ply anticipating a shortage & rise in price. Haven't bought any since; I don't know where it's coming from now.
Recently, I've been directed to an alternative for speaker boxes, an all-pine plywood from Chile called ARAUCOPLY, made from farmed "Radiata Pine". 3/4" 4x8' sheet sells for $91 at Home Depot.
I took a very short glance at these a few days ago (while rushing through a store). The 7 ply 3/4" didn't look anywhere near as good as 18mm BB, but the price is obviously nicer, and perhaps functionality -- ie, performance in a decently braced speaker box -- is comparable?
Has anyone tried this pine plywood for speaker boxes?
Recently, I've been directed to an alternative for speaker boxes, an all-pine plywood from Chile called ARAUCOPLY, made from farmed "Radiata Pine". 3/4" 4x8' sheet sells for $91 at Home Depot.
I took a very short glance at these a few days ago (while rushing through a store). The 7 ply 3/4" didn't look anywhere near as good as 18mm BB, but the price is obviously nicer, and perhaps functionality -- ie, performance in a decently braced speaker box -- is comparable?
Has anyone tried this pine plywood for speaker boxes?
Hard to say @rjbell but I wished I had access to a cnc quite a lot. I don't have a workshop per se so cutting down large sheets is always the challenge, I do everything with a festool TS55, rails and some Benchdogs kit so no table saw involved. I'm guessing the hard work is in doing all the programming for the machine - you could slowly build a library of certain speakers and then make them available online for a cost. Cutting everything accurately probably deters a lot of people going down the DIY route - if the prices were nominal it could open the market up to a lot more people, probably take you some time to reap the rewards of doing all the programming though. You anywhere near Yorkshire?
No, I'm in South Wales sorry. I design furniture and make furniture for campervans but my other love is hifi. It would be a nice side hobby job which would be on a Saturday to start with.
Yeah, and Bunnings' plywood is still expensive and nothing like the quality these ^ guys are talking about.
There's currently a shopfitter in Perth advertising A grade ply for $97 for a 2440/1220 sheet - looks like they overstocked for a job and they have loads of it. I might have to go and have a look.
But there is no mention of the timber used or anything else, and in my experience the stuff we get here is usually poor with the inner plies being joined/overlapped, and with voids. They stick OK outer plies on a crappy core. The end appearance is terrible on most I've seen (and I want to leave it visible in the intended project).
@Smonks I know two talented craftsmen who have all but abandoned their tablesaws and use tracksaws instead... both Festool fwiw.
You may know this, but a sheet of 2" XPS insulation makes a great sacrificial sheet support while cutting. Just like the sacrificial strips used for the bed on CnC plasma cutters, the insulation sheets last surprisingly long.
You may know this, but a sheet of 2" XPS insulation makes a great sacrificial sheet support while cutting. Just like the sacrificial strips used for the bed on CnC plasma cutters, the insulation sheets last surprisingly long.
There is nothing like wrangling even half a sheet of anything on a tablesaw. A good panel saw is great if you have the additional room for it. I really don't care for using MDF type products and welcome good birch ply when I can afford and find it. 5' X 5' is about the size that comes around these parts. Can't remember exactly but it seems like it was $100 a square a couple of years ago.
I made a desktop from 25 or 28mm ply, can't remember now. For when my wife realised this working from home thing was going to last a while longer than COVID!
I bought some cheap Chinese stuff from the builders merchant. Not sure it it was MKM, or Jewsons. Never again. Atleast it would be useless for speakers.
I bet @rjbell is having kittens looking at this stuff. More like a random ply sandwich, the plys are more turbulent than laminar. And when you run your fingers over it you can feel and hear the voids. Terrible stuff. I was committed so the project continued on and I was pretty disappointed with the outcome on the edges. I ended up trying to fill some with little biscuits of the offcuts, but in the end I gave up. It was heavy in it's full sheet so I can imagine a proper voidless furniture grade sheet would weigh a ton.
They somehow manage to get decent laminations around the outside so it's only when you cut into it you see the true horror!
I bought some cheap Chinese stuff from the builders merchant. Not sure it it was MKM, or Jewsons. Never again. Atleast it would be useless for speakers.
I bet @rjbell is having kittens looking at this stuff. More like a random ply sandwich, the plys are more turbulent than laminar. And when you run your fingers over it you can feel and hear the voids. Terrible stuff. I was committed so the project continued on and I was pretty disappointed with the outcome on the edges. I ended up trying to fill some with little biscuits of the offcuts, but in the end I gave up. It was heavy in it's full sheet so I can imagine a proper voidless furniture grade sheet would weigh a ton.
They somehow manage to get decent laminations around the outside so it's only when you cut into it you see the true horror!
Attachments
Bunnings marine ply is quite decent and the form ply is very high quality. The marine ply is the most resistant to checking that I have ever seen even after heavy weathering for a few years
I moved to Beech ply, it's easier to find cheaper, altough prices also went up a lot. Oak plywood can also be good and is similar priced as Beech ply.
Russia and Urkaine were the main suppliers of the world for birch ply, so the availeble wood is way less now than 10 years ago and the demand stays high.
MDF can be a cheaper solution and can make great speakers (lots of examples arround), but i also prefer plywood for various reasons. Now it's a bit more considering if a project is worth the extra price of plywood or do I stick with MDF.
Russia and Urkaine were the main suppliers of the world for birch ply, so the availeble wood is way less now than 10 years ago and the demand stays high.
MDF can be a cheaper solution and can make great speakers (lots of examples arround), but i also prefer plywood for various reasons. Now it's a bit more considering if a project is worth the extra price of plywood or do I stick with MDF.
What a good post. I am new on here and about to start a speakers build. I found this forum while researching whether to build in Birch ply or some sort of composite board material. My preference is good quality birch ply or solid wood because I prefer working (as an amateur) with real wood. The alternative is a composite type like MDF - the dense green cored water resistant stuff I had not seen before other than flooring grade interlocking ‘green-back’ shipboard.
All advice welcome, especially from the OP who clearly knows his board materials!
I will be building IPL Acoustics M1tlm small TL speakers with ribbon tweeters. Cabinets will be built from scratch to Ivan’s plans. The cabinet making will not be problematic as i’m used to working with wood and I have all the tooling needed including a saw table, chop and band saws and a home-spun guide (like a tracksaw), drill press, hand and hand power tools, solid bench and plenty of clamps.
All advice welcome, especially from the OP who clearly knows his board materials!
I will be building IPL Acoustics M1tlm small TL speakers with ribbon tweeters. Cabinets will be built from scratch to Ivan’s plans. The cabinet making will not be problematic as i’m used to working with wood and I have all the tooling needed including a saw table, chop and band saws and a home-spun guide (like a tracksaw), drill press, hand and hand power tools, solid bench and plenty of clamps.
Place where I live have two common varieties. The standard versions cost around USD22 for 8x4 feet 3/4inch. The Moisture Resistant MDF costs around 33USD for 8x4 3/4inch. Yes the cheaper one expands far easily if not properly sealed before painting.
I like birch it costs more but it's nicer to work with and easier to finish with some lacquer I like the look. Getting MDF looking nice takes more work which for me negates the cheaper cost for me.