Hardboard..............what the_ _ _ _????

[oddeoowphil38]

I read one of the professional reviews of the Paradigm monitor 5 and the article claimed that only the reference series uses MDF. So I dug a lilttle deeper and under the "Technology" tab it does say the non-reference speakers are made of "high density hardboard". The article referred to this as nothing more than particle board. Is this true? It was an older review but surely Paradigm at least uses MDF with a thickness of no less than 5/8" thick???? Particle board is no where near as good as mdf. Personally, I believe 1" HDF would be ideal. Anybody know more about this? Please speak up cause I am literally in shock.....lol. Thank you for your time.
Phil

[N. Abstentia]

Do you really think your $200 Titans are made of 1" MDF?

Paradigms Monitor & Performance line are budget lines, so like 99.9% of the speakers in this category they are made from high density particleboard which is fine. It's more than likely the same stuff as the floor in your house. Do don't think twice about walking all over it day in day out, right? It's fine.

Do you really think you could hear the difference in the wood? Believe it not, you DON'T want to hear the wood. As long as the cabinet is built and braced properly you will never know the difference. The cabinet is only 1 piece of the equation also. The drivers, crossovers, and overall design are far more important than the wood that's used.

No need to be in shock, it's industry standard. If you want to worry about something, worry about those MTX speakers!

[oddeoowphil38]

Do you really think your $200 Titans are made of 1" MDF?

Paradigms Monitor & Performance line are budget lines, so like 99.9% of the speakers in this category they are made from high density particleboard which is fine. It's more than likely the same stuff as the floor in your house. Do don't think twice about walking all over it day in day out, right? It's fine.

Do you really think you could hear the difference in the wood? Believe it not, you DON'T want to hear the wood. As long as the cabinet is built and braced properly you will never know the difference. The cabinet is only 1 piece of the equation also. The drivers, crossovers, and overall design are far more important than the wood that's used.

No need to be in shock, it's industry standard. If you want to worry about something, worry about those MTX speakers!

No never thought my Titans were 1" mdf but I figured they at least were made out of 5/8" mdf. Particle board does worry me. The idea is to have a cabinet as acoustically inert as possible. True, any speaker in the $200 price range is gonna have some trade offs. Just surprised me a lilttle about the particle board used in the peformance and monitor series. BTW, I am getting rid of my MTX towers asap. And, I will be upgrading my speakers in the very near future as well. Be reassured the speakers I go with will be made out of at least 5/8" mdf if not 3/4" or 1".

[oddeoowphil38]

Oh forgot to mention I did not pay $200 for my Titans and I bought them brand new. Not even close to $200.

[Peter Duminy]

It is not quite as bad as it sounds. Here is a list a enclosure materials we tested when I was with the BBC Loudspeaker Research Dept in England a number of years ago.




I am not sure if anyone remembers the old Mission 70 Model. It was a "shoebox" type design made of particle board, and was only 0.25" thick, but with a super large block of acoustical foam for internal damping. Sound was remarkable for the price, and became a classic. IMHO, it is more how the material is implemented, and then damped internally.

[N. Abstentia]

Be ready to shell out a couple of grand if you want speakers made out of 1" MDF. You won't find any in the price range of the Titans..which I hope you didn't pay much over $200 for.

[Selvyn]

What's wrong with particle board ? The only requirement for cabinet material is that they be as dense as possible and, in a perfect situation, not vibrate at all.