MDF vs PLASTIC cabinets

[ICEdevil]

Can anyone please enlighten me: what is the difference between MDF and PLASTIC cabinets??? apart of course for the weight factor.

I want to buy a pair of 2-way speakers for a small bar/club 300W RMS each and on a low-budget. One of the chosen brands could be DBtechnologies ( http://dbtechnologies.com ) and they use plastic cabinets...i am not sure if this is appropriate for my bar...

Any help will be greatly appreciated
Dan

 

[silversurfer]

A cabinet of any material is fine as long as it doesn't resonate.

 

[Hi Ho]

I've heard speakers with plastic cabinets that sounded excellent and some that didn't. It all depends on the design. Many pro speakers have plastic cabinets so they can stand up to abuse. I recently ran sound for a concert with a pair of Mackie speakers, which have plastic cabinets, and they sounded really nice.

 

[ICEdevil]

A cabinet of any material is fine as long as it doesn't resonate.

I've heard that plastic cabinets are used for speakers that mainly output voice. Is this true?
Also, what do you think about this brand - DB Technologies (www.dbtechnologies.com). Are their products worth the money?

 

[billnchristy]

It really shouldn't matter what the enclosure is made of. Proper design and engineering coupled with the right components is what counts. I have made speaker enclosures out of fibreglass resin coated flannel stretched over a frame and they not only sounded good, but looked good too.

The only thing I would be worried about is if the enclosure was too light it would probably want to "walk" all over the place, but I guess if it is mounted good it wouldnt matter either.

 

[jcPanny]

Bar speakers

Looks like dbtech makes pro-audio gear and they have some smaller, more portable speakers. They use horn loaded tweeters which will allow them to play louder with less amp power than standard dome tweeters.
For a comparable consumer product, check out the bookshelf speakers in the Klipsch reference line. Klipsch also uses the horn loaded tweeters. If you get an outdoor version, it might even be resistant to beer!

 

[kgb540]

I have always heard that when cabinets of the same size, one wood and one plastic, are comapred, the wood will always sound better. Its like the how people say the finest musical instruments will always be made of wood and not plastic. I guess the natural material has better acousitc properties than a synethetic one.

 

[ICEdevil]

I have always heard that when cabinets of the same size, one wood and one plastic, are comapred, the wood will always sound better. Its like the how people say the finest musical instruments will always be made of wood and not plastic. I guess the natural material has better acousitc properties than a synethetic one.

This is what i was told too...I need more oppinions...anyone to back this up?

 

[Hi Ho]

Solid wood is rarely, if ever used in quality speakers. It is far too irregular and, depending on the type of wood, resonates too much.

MDF is popular because of the fact that it does not resonate excessively and it is very consistent.

The design and construction of the cabinet is the biggest factor, however.