Updated: Feb 19, 2022
In the second part of his report on Loudspeaker Enclosure Materials, Mike Klasco focuses on new and improved materials alternatives. The report details how new materials offer a valuable alternative to injection-molded thin-wall lightweight plastics, without the expense of sonic integrity. While ABS, HIPS, PC, Poly, and other plain materials dominate today’s speaker enclosure products, there is a new world to be explored from companies such as Eastman Chemical and its TREVA cellulose-based engineering bioplastic, INEOS Styrolution's Stylight thermoplastic formable composites, Industrial Dielectric's (IDI) bulk-molded compound (BMC) and Structural Thermoset Composites (STC), A.Schulman's product line of BMC and SMC thermosets, Globe Plastics BMC-molded solutions, Covestro's Maezio continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite (CFRTP) and many other advanced material suppliers.