baffle mounting

[harrisxr650]

hey guys,
i'm almost done making my 2x12 open back cab and i i have a question regarding baffle mounting,
the baffle it made of 3/4 russian birch plywood i was wondering whats the difference between mounting the baffle with woodscrews or with t-nuts?
the baffle sits on a interna trim that is screwed and glued on the sides.
thanks

[Leo_Gnardo]

With a cab that sturdy I suspect you're not mounting lightweight speakers. If I'm wrong and they're just a couple pounds each, screws would be OK.

Teenuts way better, get quality ones not cheapies. You have to drill a mounting hole of proper size, for a snug fit not too tight, not too loose. Dab a little Elmers or wood glue on the metal and draw them into their mounting holes with a bolt & washer before you mount your speakers. Problem with teenuts is sometimes the speaker hole is so wide, the flanges on the teenut don't always set into wood, one side might wind up dangling behind the speaker, not such a good mounting.

Consider speaker mounting clamps instead. They can carry very heavy speakers, and mount by teenut located well away from the speaker hole. Parts Express carries their version, not too bad for the price. There are some mondo heavy duty ones made of extruded aluminum but I don't have a ready source. Have a peek at this photo - you'll see the larger speakers are mounted with clamps. Heavy duty all right, and easy to swap speakers out, keeps the tools away from the cone besides. Note that only 4 clamps are used to hold JBL speakers in place, you can use more if you like but not necessary.

[Tom Phillips]

... a question regarding baffle mounting, ...the baffle sits on a interna trim that is screwed and glued on the sides.

To mount the baffle in the cab I would use wood screws. It's too problematic to manage T-Nuts under the grill cloth. Is that what you were getting at?

Do you plan to use spacer strips to hold the grill cloth away from the front face of the baffle?

[Leo_Gnardo]

Whups, I misread, Tom's reply and a cuppa coffee later, yes mount baffle to cleats with quality woodscrews. Deep-thread not those lousy MIC you find most places these days. Deck screws might work well, and there's a quality brand woodscrew SPAX made in Germany, a nice surprise I found at Home Despot. Good to have an appropriate drill-bit to pilot & countersink the heads at the same time. You'll probably have to go to a pro lumber place to find that - I've never seen 'em at the big box stores. You'll appreciate the better hardware should you ever need to remove screws - the heads won't strip out. You might consider Thompson-heads, they take a square-drive not Phillips. Popular in Canada, they're starting to become accepted in USA. Traynor used 'em to make all their cabs since late 60's.

Do keep grill cloth off the baffle with a frame, or suffer dreaded baffleslap noises.

Speaker mounting advice still there for those who may care.

Second cuppa coffee is calling, off to work.

[harrisxr650]

well i had some t-nuts laying around so i put them on the baffle this afternoon, three on each side, four on top and bottom, will try it and if its not good i will replace them with wood screws.
im not use spacer strips for the grill cloth since its very thick and sturdy and didnt have problems on my previous cab with this one and baffleslap noises, its very well streched but i'll have that in mind in case i have issues, i think i have some spare grill cloth that its enough for another project. will post pics as soon as i finish it