I have avoided commenting on any particular product or service in this blog until now - but a combination of circumstances leave me no option. For 4 years in the late 90's I was responsible for R&D in ICI Acrylics. That meant that, whatever the question, the answer had to be poly(methyl methacrylate). Although a versatile and fascinating polymer, there were times when the rote response felt wrong, but I also got to see it used in a whole range of applications. This Christmas I got a set of speakers to add to my computer system. They are quite monumentally beautiful - because they are made of acrylic.



I expected them to look good, but wasn't really expecting the quality of sound. I have been asking anyone I know whether the fact that they are made of PMMA has any bearing on the sound quality. That got me thinking about the properties of materials we don't measure. I am of an age where I remember people trying to do clever things with defect free concrete - including, I think I remember, loudspeakers! We take for granted that we know the "zero frequency" properties of materials, but their response over a wide frequency range could determine whether they are good or not in this sort of role.

Does anyone out these either know why these speakers sound so good or know of any other unexpected uses of materials?

David

p.s. The speakers are the "baby" set from a company called Ferguson-Hill