Re: Bamboo Plywood? [message #78291 is a reply to message #78290] |
Tue, 05 November 2013 10:00 ![Go to previous message Go to previous message](/forum/theme/AudioRoundTable/images/up.png) ![Go to next message Go to previous message](/forum/theme/AudioRoundTable/images/down.png) |
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Wayne Parham
Messages: 18758 Registered: January 2001
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Illuminati (33rd Degree) |
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I've never used bamboo plywood. But I can tell you this for sure - It isn't the base wood you need to be concerned with, other than its tendency to form knots. The main thing to pay attention to is the adhesive and construction technique, specifically, what happens when there are voids in the laminations that are pressed together.
Baltic birch is superior not because birch is good but because they use several thin laminations pressed together with enough adhesive it squishes into any voids that may be present and fills them completely. This makes a truly void-free product, and that's the most important thing. Marine grade plywood is also built to be free of defects.
Most plywood products use a fewer number of thicker sheets, and where there are voids, they are not filled in with adhesive. So inevitably, debris breaks off inside the void, and is trapped, vibrating with the music. Consequently, most speakers made out of plywood buzz, sometimes immediately but sometimes not until a few months or years have passed, when debris breaks off and begins to buzz.
Once a plywood cabinet begins to buzz, it is generally unsalvageable. Some people try to find the void, drill into it and inject adhesive, but the likelihood is there are multiple voids in any cabinet made with plywood having thick plys. So for this reason, I've always chosen either marine grade plywood or baltic birch, both of which are known to have fewer defects because of their construction technique.
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