Speaker cabinet materials.

I have been considering building some isolation platforms and devices out of a material that my company uses in our products for vibration dampening. The product that we use is a special steel that is comprised of one layer of 12 gauge steel, a layer of a dampening polymer and another layer of 12 gauge steel, heat/pressure laminated. Our supplier can provide this to us using Stainless steel on the outsides or cold roll steel, with a wide range of gauges. The affect on our equipment is a significant reduction in noise levels by eliminating vibration of moderate expanses of what would otherwise be ringing sheet steel.

Even with sections as large as 2.5 feet X 4 feet (10 square feet) the sound is virtually dead with a knuckle wrap on the sheets' center point. Certainly as dead as a similar knuckle wrap on my Wilson speakers.

We got this idea from BMW, they used this same material, that we have made here in the States to separate their engine compartments from the passenger compartments. It is a very effective product.

Cabinets are rarely made of wood....MDF is a good damped cheap material.

Contrary to popular belief - good heavy and heavily damped cabinets with bracing add almost no audible effect on the sound - apart from the acoustic suspension from the enclosed volume of air which does affect the driver damping and affects the driver selection.

Common cause of this popular belief - cheap light weight speakers with cabinets that "waffle" and do indeed affect the sound.

Check out Green Mountain Audio. They use cast marble cabinets that are supposedly extremely rigid. Their bookshelf monitors alone weight in around 50 lbs each! There is supposed to be nearly zero box loss contributing to an incredibly clean and coherent sound.

Celestion SL-600 and SL-700 used aerolam.

Check out Green Mountain Audio. They use cast marble cabinets that are supposedly extremely rigid. Their bookshelf monitors alone weight in around 50 lbs each! There is supposed to be nearly zero box loss contributing to an incredibly clean and coherent sound.
Djembeplay (Threads | Answers)

Even marble flexes. One of the first mods GMA made to the Diamante was adding aluminum ribs bonded to the inside of the cabinet to reduce flexing.