Serious hi-fi buffs demand the very best – and that often means selecting Norbord’s Caberwood MDF.

One of the most popular raw materials for the modern furniture industry, Caberwood MDF is also favoured by Bowers & Wilkins - one of the world’s leading hi-fi specialists - for the manufacture of its speaker cabinets.

Found in recording studios, theatres and the homes of serious (and seriously wealthy) music lovers around the world, B&W speakers are the last word in acoustic engineering. Caberwood MDF possesses the optimum degree of strength, consistency and density required to deliver a pure and natural sound.

“MDF is the ideal material for use in speakers” explains B&W spokesman Flemming Jørgensen. “It has an even, uniform texture and, compared with chipboard or solid timber, delivers a more predictable and reliable acoustic. It is also solid, dense and machines very easily” he adds.

“Over the years, we have used various different suppliers of MDF, since 2001, we have used only Caberwood. We are particularly happy with Norbord as they deliver a good overall solution with the right quality, price and delivery performance” says Flemming.

B&W speaker cabinets are manufactured, lacquered and finished in Agerbæk, Denmark. From here, they are shipped to the company’s headquarters in Worthing, West Sussex, for final assembly of the acoustic and electronic components.

Caberwood MDF is used in the manufacture of all of B&W’s wooden speaker ranges, namely the 800 series, 700 series, and CM series. These are premium products, with a complete set of speakers costing up to £15,000 a time.

B&W uses Caberwood MDF, in thicknesses from 6mm to 30mm, for all the flat veneered surfaces of its speaker cabinets. The material is manufactured at Norbord’s MDF plant at Cowie, Stirlingshire, and delivered to Agerbæk via Danish distributor, DLH.

“The board machines very well without blunting the cutting tools and it performs excellently in gluing and lacquering operations” says Flemming. He continues: “Compared with other manufacturers, Norbord delivers the most uniform product, batch to batch. This consistency is very important to us as it is vital in guaranteeing the precise acoustic performance that our speakers demand”.

“The final factor in our choice of Caberwood is Norbord’s competitive price compared with other suppliers. They have already proved to us their quality and logistical performance”.