RS210 Corner Cracked While Still In The Box, What To Do?

[Scottkarch]

it's plywood. Well, it says so on the site, and the front edge matches the dimension they specify.. there is no way MDF that thin would hold together.

My guess is that the plywood and hard wood corners expand slightly differently and the hard paint/finish can crack if if the expansion is different enough. I'd say it's not structural and is just the finish cracking.. it seems like a hard brittle finish.

No corner protectors, no tolex/rat fur, no feet. It's a clean look, but one that can scratch pretty easily. I have 2. If they start getting scratched, I'll probably roll on a coat of duratex or something similar.

 

[BassmanPaul]

And here endeth today's lesson.

thanks Scott.

 

[mtb777]

Sorry to revive an old thread but any updates on these cracks? Have they gotten worse over time or have they caused any difficulties? I just got a great deal on one of these but didn't realize a crack at the corner until way later. I'll post a picture soon but I wanted to know if I should be worried because the exterior still seems pretty solid and nothing budges even around the crack when pressure is applied.

Mine are unchanged in over a year. Mine are from being crammed in a Prius by the doors. My fault. No further escalation or buzzing or rattling at all. I'll post a picture or two when I get home if I remember.

 

[mtb777]

I am probably mistaken, but I was under the impression these cabinets were made with MDF.

No. They are most likely steam bent Baltic birch. The Scandinavians perfected the use of that in industrial and furniture use decades and decades ago. These are not crap.

 

[Matt Nguyen]

Still planning on posting a picture of mine. It's not with me right now though, so I'll have to wait until it is.

 

[Jeff Scott]

No. They are most likely steam bent Baltic birch. The Scandinavians perfected the use of that in industrial and furniture use decades and decades ago. These are not crap.

I didn't say they were crap.

Many high end speaker cabinets are made with MDF.

 

[B-string]

Only construction details advertised :

• Enclosure: 18mm plywood side panels, 18mm rounded carved hardwood corners

(no steam bending?). No mention of face or back panels. Wierd.

 

[mtb777]

I didn't say they were crap.

Many high end speaker cabinets are made with MDF.

Sorry. Didn't mean to imply that. The better stuff is ply or solid and most of the bigger companies will use MDF. All your custom builders will use marine grade solid plys. The problem inherent with these cabinets are connecting the rounded corner sections with the flat sections of the sides and top and bottoms. Just not a great connection without any external connections plates. Not nearly as easy as square corners structurally.

Here you go.

 

[Jeff Scott]

No worries.

It is easy to see from that second photo that the seam between the corner piece and the side separated. Perhaps, not enough glue when assembled?

Also, it is real easy to see a seam under the finish at the end of the cab. Hmm..............

 

[Matt Nguyen]

The crack on mine looks really similar to mtb777's. I guess aesthetics aside, these cracks aren't much of a problem if they've gone unchanged after a year. I don't know how deep the plastic surface is so I can't tell if the wood is even cracked, but just by looking at it I get the impression I should be wary.

 

[basscooker]

Looks like a design flaw that has been ignored. Sad. How much do they ask on these? Even if it is only the finish I'd be disappointed. They do have a clean look and nice lines, but if this finish (or worse, structural) cracking is common, why continue with this design flaw? I don't get it. They had to have known about this before the product was released.

 

[seamonkey]

Drum shells are made of plywood and they get beat on. Many good DBs also.
But none seem to be painted with duratex

Seemed like a good idea at the time to round the corners but they don't do the same on their new "K" series. And to me the K's seem to be overbuilt. Other manufacturers didn't pick up this rounded technique, and of course pro-sound didn't either. Probably no better joint that a regular box joint. Done right that is.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Looks like a design flaw that has been ignored. Sad. How much do they ask on these? Even if it is only the finish I'd be disappointed. They do have a clean look and nice lines, but if this finish (or worse, structural) cracking is common, why continue with this design flaw? I don't get it. They had to have known about this before the product was released.

I have some experience with that sort of thinking. Perhaps TCE learned from this and moved on to a better/different design with the K series.