Does anyone know the actual composition of IMG woofers?

[K5SS]

Does anyone know the composition of Klipsch IMG woofer?

 

I called them plastic in a video and someone was a tad rude. Before I reply, I would like find out if anyone knows what Klipsch is using in their IMG woofers.

 

Here is what Klipsch says but it sounds like marketing to me:

 

“5.25" copper-spun high-output IMG woofer”

 

I know IMG stands for Injection Molded Graphite but that could be 1% graphite and 99% plastic. I’m assuming the copper part covers the color of the woofers and not that there’s actually copper in them.

 

The newer “Reference” series woofers definitely feel plastic to me..

 

Not trying to put anyone down with IMG woofer speakers, just want some clarification.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Chris A]

Injection molded graphite infers fiber reinforced material, such as resin or epoxy.  Epoxy usually has higher ultimate strength than polyester resin, but also higher cost. 

 

In the days when carbon fiber-reinforced graphite fibers were very esoteric for things like boat building and aircraft, etc. no one that I knew would ever call it "plastic".  I'd call it a fiber-reinforced material, just like fiberglass, aramid fiber (Kevlar), and other more exotic fibers--and even something as humble as asbestos-reinforced matrix, which has a sky-high ultimate strength, but it's a bit toxic to the workers using it.  Not "plastic" in the typical sense of ABS or something homogeneous.  I don't believe anyone would call their carbon-fiber golf clubs a "plastic".  It's stiffer than steel in tension--quite a bit stiffer, in fact.  In bending (like acoustic driver cones largely are), it would behave just like carbon fiber skins and structural members in very high performance aircraft and boat hulls.

 

One of the companies I worked for provided the carbon-carbon matrix leading edges of the space shuttle, and that used almost no matrix ("resin") at all, but was spun into place and cured to shape.  Light, strong, and could withstand extreme temperatures--no "plastic" that I know can really do that.

 

Chris

[Edgar]

Without more information, it's hard to say exactly what is used. Plastic (nylon, vinyl, perhaps others) is a possibility, but so are epoxy or polyester resins.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_fiber_reinforced_polymer

[billybob]

Polyurethane is another...

[Chris A]

If you're using carbon, you'd also use something that has really high compressive and flexure strength, like epoxy or other similar.  The price is too high to waste on lower strength fillers/bonders.

 

I think that nylon, vinyl (PVC), and polyurethane are probably not on the preferred material list.  If you're using those, you'd be also be using glass fibers or even something with much lower Young's modulus and ultimate strength than carbon fibers--like polyester fibers or even something less strong.  Using such low-strength thermoplastic fillers is like using bubble gum to bond to steel--it would bond, but it doesn't do very much unless it's also strong in at least compression and flexure.

 

Chri

[wetowne]

This link doesn't address the actual question about Klipsch "copper-spun" cones, it's a very informative read none the less.

 

https://audioxpress.com/article/speaker-cones-fabrication-materials-and-performance

[sheldonward]

It also worries me.