From oldzuto@yahoo.com Tue Aug 29 12:23:14 2006
Subject:Re: It Aint Particle Board (was Boo... Boo... Hammond Suzuki

The old Leslies I have seen are made of planks of hardwood edge glued together and then veneered with a hardwood facing. Construction methods, types, sizes and placement of bracing, along with material type make a huge difference in how a cabinet sounds. Most high end stereo speakers are made out of either MDF or very dense partical board as they tend to sound the best and resonate the least. The major advantage of plywood is weight and strength. That's why most pro sound cabinets are made out of plywood. Besides, most people can never hear the difference between a quality built plywood or MDF cabinet in a live enviroment.
I've made a lot of cabinets over the years from mild to wild including many folded horn styles. I use plywood. Birch 7 ply, if I find a good deal I go for marine grade. THe main difference is marine grade has no voids in the core so it a bit more solid. If you have a specialty lumber company near you you can order 11 ply 3/4" plywood from Russia that is killer!

Dave Bradley wrote:
It's relatively easy to tell the difference between MDF (yes, it is miles
better than particle board, which gets crumbly) and plywood, if you can see
edge pieces. If it appears to have 5 or 7 layers laminated, that's plywood.
If the edges are veneered, you may not be able to easily tell without doing
some excavation.

I have heard old leslie cabinets that have a nicer tone compared to some of
the newer ones which sound more dead. It is probably due to different
materials, and / or quality of construction, glueing and bracing, but I
can't say for sure.

Moe