$5000 isnt all THAT expensive in home audio. its getting into the good stuff, but ive seen systems running into 10X that much and more (my foreman is an audio nut of many many years) and BobbyTonic has the right idea. but ideally, you dont want to build a box of a single material, no matter what it is. if you build a box out of MDF, then put steel braces or something like that, it would be combining different resonances, and thet would help stop unwanted interference from a single material resonating. i am thinking about a competition box, starting with something along thelines of that birch, then using liquid nails or something to permanently attach steel braces, then covering the whole inside and outside with another material, maybe fiberglass resin or a lightweight mortar. that would combine 4+ materials, and should make one of the cleanest sounding enclosures for not too much money. and if you use plexi, like BT said, get it THICK. but its not really worth the cost. an dif you did it yourself, chances are you would screw up at least one piece, and 1/2"+ plexi is getting really expensive to be wasting any.

 

No, 5k just for a pair of little two monitor speakers. But you have a good point Sac.

 

my foreman and i were talking about this again today, and we came up with a recipe for what is probably THE best material for building super high end boxes. ill let you guys know if it ever happens. dont worry, tellin gyou what is in it wont really help you much, because not very many people have access to the materials were wanting to use. and its totally out of the realm of audio, so dont hurt yourselves trying to think of it

 

Cryptonite?

 

not quite.

 

wow, that aws interesting matirial to read. I enjoyed the fact that every thought that i had remmy coverd..which makes me happy because i was about to cry with some of the plexi comments. good job rem.

in short...
plexi is a bad material to use in car audio, its also expensive to get when you want it 3/4 of an inch. not exactly easy to get cuz HD doesnt carry it that think. and its a pain in the butt to cut.

as far as the cracks..we have always used caulking. and we use cross braces in our boxes to try and get rid of flex.

 

I hope you mean using caulking for filling the cracks and not holding the box together.

 

lol yes