One of the more disturbing trends caused by the notion that the appearance is more important than the speaker sound is the all too common routing (cutting away) of the front baffle board so the front of the speaker frame is flush with the front of the baffle (front board of the cabinet). Now it should go without saying, the place where structural rigidity is most important is where the woofer screws into the box. Despite this, for the sake of looks, not performance, the vast majority of cabinet makers think the box in the one place where the need for rigidity is highest; and where the most weight and force exerted on the cabinet are concentrated, at the place the woofer is mounted to the cabinet. Any motion that is going to occur which results in shaking the cabinet instead of exciting the air, is going to result in at best a coloration in the sound, and at worst, a some loss of output. To help overcome this, the front baffle must be made thicker so it?s a good idea to verify just how thick not only the cabinet panels are, but more importantly, the front baffle. Good boxes typically have a thick front baffle. Thickening the front baffle helps mass load and dampen vibrations coming off the driver basket which in turn reduces its transfer to the rest of the cabinet. A box made of 3/4" MDF might have a 1" front baffle. In other words, if one is inclined to route the front panel, one should usually increase the baffle thickness to retain an adequate degree of rigidity to compensate for flush mounting the drivers. Ask for this info when shopping for new speakers if the manufacturer doesn?t provide specifications.
