Re: sound diff between MDF and "real wood"?
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Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 16
frequent flier
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OP
frequent flier
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 16 |
thanks Varkha, think i'll order that $330 regular M3 soon as possible. hopefully i can get it this week coz i'll off this weekend.
Mark
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Re: sound diff between MDF and "real wood"?
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 12,077 Likes: 7
Founder, Axiom Upgrade Club shareholder in the making
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Founder, Axiom Upgrade Club shareholder in the making
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 12,077 Likes: 7 |
Alan, when I was looking at building my new sound system, I took a look at another speaker maker that used HDF instead of MDF. Is there an actual sonic benefit to using that over MDF, or is it just a bullet point, something to say they have over other companies?
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Re: sound diff between MDF and "real wood"?
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Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 16
frequent flier
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OP
frequent flier
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 16 |
i love classical music, but sometime i would also love to turn it up to shake my room with some ambient, morden jazz and/or techno. here is my last question, M2 or M3 may suit my style/room please?
Mark ps: again, my room is 10X10X8 with 75wX7 receiver.
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Re: sound diff between MDF and "real wood"?
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 3,270
connoisseur
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connoisseur
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 3,270 |
CV,
HDF (high-density fiberboard) has a denser core than MDF, but it isn't necessarily superior to MDF. The reason is that if you use too dense a material and/or over-brace a cabinet, you move the potential resonance to a higher frequency and the "Q" of the resonance gets larger--so it may become audible. (The Q of a resonance is its amplitude or relative loudness.) Note, too, that it's impossible to totally eliminate box resonances. Everything has a resonant frequency and it becomes a matter of controlling them.
The ideal is to create a box or enclosure whose resonant frequency is at a very low frequency and the "Q" is small. Research we've conducted at Axiom has shown that MDF and a moderate amount of bracing is ideal at keeping any box resonances below audibility. If you add too much bracing or use a more acoustically inert material, the resonance frequency moves up into the audible range and increases in amplitude.
So the other manufacturer who uses HDF may have bought into the folk wisdom that a denser material and more bracing makes for fewer resonances, or it may be a marketing ploy.
Regards,
Alan Lofft, Axiom Resident Expert (Retired)
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Re: sound diff between MDF and "real wood"?
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 845
aficionado
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aficionado
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 845 |
Alan,
You're best post ever.
By the way, I heard quite a while ago, some speaker company was experimenting with "hardie board" (the siding with cement mixed in).
Now, THAT would be dense.
Larry
LIFE: "Choices, balance, and timing"
(Larryism)
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Re: sound diff between MDF and "real wood"?
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,488
axiomite
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axiomite
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,488 |
Yes, Alan, excellent post. Thank you. So, I'm guessing the Q of concrete is pretty high? Wouldn't it take awfully high SPL's to excite that resonance, though?
bibere usque ad hilaritatem
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Re: sound diff between MDF and "real wood"?
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 3,270
connoisseur
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connoisseur
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 3,270 |
Thanks, LT61, and "hardie board" is new to me.
Re Tom Tuttle, yes I would agree that it would take very high SPLs to excite a resonance in a concrete enclosure but this is conjecture on my part since I've never heard speaker enclosures made of concrete. However, if you follow the theory, once the resonance was excited, it would likely be at a very high frequency that might be audible.
Regards,
Alan Lofft, Axiom Resident Expert (Retired)
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Re: sound diff between MDF and "real wood"?
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 3,270
connoisseur
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connoisseur
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 3,270 |
Hi Mark,
The M3 v2 is still your best choice because it has a larger woofer with more bass output, deeper bass, and better power handling at louder levels than the M2 v2 without a subwoofer.
I was just auditioning the M3v2 "blind" yesterday in the Axiom listening room at the plant driven by two aged Class A/B Denon monoblocs rated at 250 watts each into 8 ohms, and I was amazed at how clean and loud the M3 v2's would play on their own, without subwoofer assistance.
Regards,
Alan Lofft, Axiom Resident Expert (Retired)
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Re: sound diff between MDF and "real wood"?
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 12,077 Likes: 7
Founder, Axiom Upgrade Club shareholder in the making
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Founder, Axiom Upgrade Club shareholder in the making
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 12,077 Likes: 7 |
Alan, thanks for the response. Very interesting.
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Re: sound diff between MDF and "real wood"?
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 845
aficionado
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aficionado
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 845 |
Alan,
Oop's......I mean: Your best post ever.
It's nice to know the sonic advantages of MDF.........rather than someone saying "it's cheaper than real wood". The "Hardie board" is a mixture of concrete powder and wood, a more durable material for exterior panels, than T-111 siding...which is moisture prone, etc.
LIFE: "Choices, balance, and timing"
(Larryism)
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