My system is to damn heavy. I'm gonna build some sealed boxes and put a Brahma in each car. What are my options as far as materials? Is MDF the only thing?
It's not your only option... the only question would be if you could create enough of a weight difference to even notice. One very excellent alternative - that you can use as a direct substitute to MDF - is furniture grade (aka. "grade A") birch plywood. Home Depot sells this for between $45-$55, where MDF costs between $20-$30 - so, roughly double what MDF costs. It has slightly more rigidity than MDF - Birch is a hardwood, after all - similar damping properties - but it is significantly lighter in weight than MDF. It's not like you're going to end up with a balsa-wood weight enclosure, though... it's just lighter than MDF is. Of course, you are also downsizing to a single Brahma, rather than two - and you're looking at a significant weight there... ...and you are going with sealed enclosures, which will be relatively compact (not sure if you are running ported now, or what). If you really wanted to go lightweight - you could always do a fiberglass spare tire well enclosure... which would displace your spare tire (definitely saving weight), would have walls significantly thinner (therefore lighter) than MDF, and have a top baffle that you could use Birch plywood for, making your lightest-weight option of the bunch... but a lot of work and investment as well. Particularly when you factor in that AAA renewal as part of the plan.
second the birch, only bad thing about it besides price is that it doesnt cut nearly as nice as MDF does -Cody
