Cedar veneer???

[ttaylor]

Im in the process of rebuilding my Heresys. Ive got them filled and sanded and ready for veneer. I have 4 sheets of spanish cedar, paper backed veneer I used in a large cigar humidor project 7 years ago. Rather than buy new veneer, Im wondering if it will work for the exterior of a speaker. Its soft wood and open grained but is there any reason not to use it in this application? I dont remember any problems using it in the past but I never sanded it or used a finish on it.

Thanks taylor

[Jim E]

Taylor,

If you like the look of the spanish ceder go for it. If you plan to apply a finish using petroleum based products (oil stains, lacquer etc.) it would be wise to stay away from contact cement. Use the iron on pva glue method and be carefull that both the veneer and cabinet surfaces are flat and very clean. Most paper backed veneers are only 10 mils thick so anything on the glue surfaces will telegraph through to the finished face.

[colterphoto1]

Sounds at the very least unique and aromatic. I'd say, if you like it and have some experience working with it, why not. What finish are you thinking of, raw, oiled, or lacquered? With the aromatic oils in cedar, wonder if you should let air out or 'dry' a while prior to coating with anything? I might be worried with it's brittleness and thinness that it might crack over time, so if it were me, I'd install carefully and do some investigation on compatible finishes. Let us know and see how it turns out.

Michael

[ttaylor]

Thanks for the encouragement.

I cut a piece out and taped it to the cabinet so see how it looked. Up close it looks "different" but at a normal distance, it appears to just be exotic. I will try the ironing/pva method so as to be able to use whatever finish I decide upon later. Might just oil them and thats it. Since I have a bunch of this veneer, I can easily do some tests on finishes.

Im also doing some tweaks to the cabinets-mounting the drivers flush with the baffle, bracing and damping and have heavy steel stands in the works. Im also going to remove the extruding trim on the front and veneering the baffle so as to have a finished looking speaker if I choose not to use a grill. Modernization I guess.

taylor

[colterphoto1]

IMHO, for a Heresy cabinet, the baffle is so small and strong that additional bracing should not be necessary. Changing the amount of filll-dampening material might also change the bass response, but experiment away.

I have always thought that at least the horns should be mounted to the front of the baffle. Check SEARCH, there is a Klipsch Z-bracket that allows you to change the tweeter to front mount. I'm doing all the mods to my Cornwalls this winter (now there's a baffle that needs bracing!)

Keep us posted on how the veneer works out.

Michael

[ttaylor]

I decided to do some bracing after I gutted the cabinets and gave them a tap. They resonate like a drum. So my goal is to deaden them as best I can.I m sure a Cornwall would probably benefit. Ive also been playing with clamps on the mid horn rather than using rope caulk etc. And LF may change somewhat with damping but Ive also got small horn subs in the works as well. So if I lose some bottom end in exchange for a cleaner sound, it will be worth it.

The Z-brackets wont work with a sealed enclosure I believe. Ive already done the baffle modding and now all the drivers will front mount.

I will post some pics once I complete them.

But since I have a 4-year and it being Xmas time, it probably will be later than sooner.

taylor

[ygmn]

a bit OT but How come you do not see SPRUCE speakers?

I mean guitars are made from SPruce for its pleasant sound characteristics?

[ttaylor]

Guitars are made from very thin solid wood where as speakers are made from veneered ply or MDF for stability. Solid wood cabinets are expensive and structurally less stable. It may be a very stable material but just to expensive to build with. I bet there are some big buck esoteric speakers around that are made of it. If a plane could be built of it, I would guess its an exellect wood to construct with.

taylor

[D-MAN]

Speakers are NOT supposed to be resonant, guitars are!

Any sympathetic vibration is to be AVOIDED in speakers, as that is a energy loss, and causes coloration of the sound due to the peaks and valleys in the response caused by wall or chamber vibration and the various mathematical modes and standing waves that occur in such a case.

Additional bracing on the inside of a cabinet will produce benefits as to the restriction of vibrational loss, but the drawback is that the bracing takes up internal volume, which will raise the fc of the enclosure. You may offset some displacement by the inclusion of some insulative material in the back chamber. Do not overstuff the enclosure in such a case as over dampening will also color the sound drastically.

DM

[colterphoto1]

'Do not overstuff the enclosure in such a case as over dampening will also color the sound drastically.'

Exactly! I think playing with the dampening materials is playing with fire! The addition of substantial amount of this changes the 'effective' volume of the cabinet that the woofer sees, and too much can restrict air flow through the bass port (where one exists).

Michael

[ttaylor]

The bracing will be minimal so as to keep the internal volumn up. The damping is also thin but dense. As far as stuffing, out of 20 odd sealed speakers Ive owned over 30 years, the Heresy is the only one that doesnt use some stuffing.Stuffing decreases the volumn needed to maintain a particular alignment so I think the it will offset the bracing. Ive checked alignments on winISD and the cabinet is already pretty small and a 10-15% decrease only knocks the -3db point down 5hz. Im willing to pay that if the speaker becomes more accurate.

taylor