Palmer 2x12 cabinet

[Leevibe]

I think that for a hi-fi speaker, MDF makes sense, but for a guitar cab, I would go with solid wood or voidless birch plywood. It's not just about durability, but it affects tone too. The MDF is going to be dead and non-resonant, which is a good thing in a hi-fi speaker where you're trying to reproduce the source material and you don't want the speaker cabinet adding coloration. Solid wood, or even plywood, will be more resonant and tends to be a better choice where the speaker cabinet is actually part of the instrument and the coloration can be good. I'm sure there are people here far more knowledgeable who can correct me if I'm wrong about it. I've certainly heard some great tone out of cabs built from particle board.

If it were me, I'd check to see what the Montage are built out of. Also, MDF is really heavy.

[RobA]

...  Also, MDF is really heavy.

Really heavy! I built a bass cabinet out of MDF once. It was a very small cab, for 10" speakers. I used the MDF to get it to be very stiff. It was and worked fine, but it weighed tons.

You definitely don't want to get MDF wet. It can swell and crumble. But, you don't want to get the speaker wet either and that's where the MDF part is.

The particle board would be more worrisome to me. The MDF is used on the baffle and particle board for the cabinet. Depending on the type of particle board used, it can have a lot of flex. It can also be pretty water resistant if they are using the stuff rated for exterior walls. But, too much flex isn't a good thing. It could be just fine though depending on what and how it's used. It is something I would look for in reviews though or better yet, check out in person if at all possible.   

[HailToTheBlues]

I think that for a hi-fi speaker, MDF makes sense, but for a guitar cab, I would go with solid wood or voidless birch plywood. It's not just about durability, but it affects tone too. The MDF is going to be dead and non-resonant, which is a good thing in a hi-fi speaker where you're trying to reproduce the source material and you don't want the speaker cabinet adding coloration. Solid wood, or even plywood, will be more resonant and tends to be a better choice where the speaker cabinet is actually part of the instrument and the coloration can be good. I'm sure there are people here far more knowledgeable who can correct me if I'm wrong about it. I've certainly heard some great tone out of cabs built from particle board.

If it were me, I'd check to see what the Montage are built out of. Also, MDF is really heavy.

the montage is made of "18mm 13 ply LIGHT WEIGHT birch plywood", is it better than the Palmer which is made of mdf?

[Leevibe]

the montage is made of "18mm 13 ply LIGHT WEIGHT birch plywood", is it better than the Palmer which is made of mdf?

Hopefully someone with more knowledge will weigh in here. If it were me, I would get the birch ply cab for sure. It's very good quality stuff. I'm planning a 112 speaker cab build and I will be using birch ply. I may use a solid pine baffle. If not, the whole thing will be birch ply.

If the entire Palmer cab is made of mdf and not particle board, I wouldn't want to move it around a lot. I would question it's toughness and it will be mega heavy. Particle board would be more common.

[HailToTheBlues]

the montage is made of "18mm 13 ply LIGHT WEIGHT birch plywood", is it better than the Palmer which is made of mdf?

Hopefully someone with more knowledge will weigh in here. If it were me, I would get the birch ply cab for sure. It's very good quality stuff. I'm planning a 112 speaker cab build and I will be using birch ply. I may use a solid pine baffle. If not, the whole thing will be birch ply.

If the entire Palmer cab is made of mdf and not particle board, I wouldn't want to move it around a lot. I would question it's toughness and it will be mega heavy. Particle board would be more common.

I noticed i made a mistake, the Palmer is not made entirely of mdf, only the baffle is made of MDF, it is made of particle board. My bad.

[muddyfox]

so does that make it better or worse, im kinda getting lost here?

[HailToTheBlues]

so does that make it better or worse, im kinda getting lost here?

Well, that was i wanted to know too ahahah

[sturgeo]

I would prefer a plywood cab over a particle board one.
MDF is just another type of particle board

[Leevibe]

so does that make it better or worse, im kinda getting lost here?

Sorry about that.

Particle board is generally lower grade stuff that gets used to save costs. It's essentially compressed sawdust. It just isn't very strong and it can swell and crumble if it gets wet. Also, it's going to tend to create a dead sounding cabinet. The only advantage I know of that particle board has over ply or solid wood is that it can be very smooth and flat. That makes it good as underlayment in countertops and subfloors. MDF is like particle board that is more dense and smooth. It's often a preferred material in hi-fi speakers because of its denseness. That helps keep the cabinet resonance low. I had never heard of its use in a guitar cab before, and that was confusing me a bit because it would make for an even deader cabinet than particle board.

I guess I'm saying, when it comes to guitar cabs:

Plywood or solid wood = good

Particle board = bad

MDF? This confuses me because it's high quality and somewhat expensive, but this seems like the wrong application to me.

[RobA]

...
MDF? This confuses me because it's high quality and somewhat expensive, but this seems like the wrong application to me.

From the specs they give, it looks like they are only using the MDF for the board the speakers mount to. The added stiffness and mass would be good for that purpose. It would help reduce the loses from the direct coupling of the speaker to the cabinet.

The questions about plywood versus particle board are more complex I think. It depends on what type of each and how they are used and the rest of the construction of the cab. I would want to hear either in person and if I couldn't get that, then reviews I trust. Unfortunately, I usually can't get either of those things for anything I want to buy, so it's almost always take a gamble mode for me. 

[GermanCdn]

Why not go for one (or two) of these

http://www.thomann.de/gb/1x12_guitar_cabinets.html

Celestion V30s, solid plywood construction, 99 Euros each.  You'd have to wire them up in parallel if you went for two, but it would give you some pretty cool spacial abiliities then (or you could just stack them like a micro stack).  Gets you away from the particle board issue.  I tried ordering a couple of them to ship to Canada because the price is great on them, but the shipping was too much to justify.

[Vallhagen]

Why not go for one (or two) of these

http://www.thomann.de/gb/1x12_guitar_cabinets.html
...

... or this one
http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_g212_vintage.htm

... i dont know anything about harley benton, but it is ply and celestions...

[GermanCdn]

Harley Benton is Thomann's house brand label for Chinese stuff they rebrand.  They have Joyo products under the HB label, some Biyang stuff, etc, and all of it usually cheaper than buying it direct from China.  They used to have a Valve Jr head available as well for ridiculously cheap, but it looks like it's been discontinued.

The HB stuff I had was all quite passable, it wasn't the best stuff, but it did it's job.

As far as either cab goes, you're basically buying the entire cab for the price of the V30s (I'm guessing they're the Celestion import V30s, but as long as they're not Rockets, you're getting a good deal).

[HailToTheBlues]

I saw those Harley Bentons, and though they were a good deal, but i'm more into greenbacks, so that's what keeps me from buying one of those.