Hi Clark,
Can you confirm something for me? The Mola page says that the birch molas are made of 1/2" birch, while the plyboo ones are 3/4". Is this atypo oris there a reason for this difference in wall thickness?
Thanks,
Jim
Jim,
Thanks for asking!
The Classic Centerset version of the Mola is built as a 1/2 inch Birch cabinet in order to match height/width/depth to any 1/2 inch dungeness we've made. Now, these Centerset cabinets do look a little funny in pictures, but everyone who drops by says that they are more charming in person. It happens to be the Home Theater Center Channel and also the truly "IKEA expedit ready" version of the Mola, because it is the same external dimensions as a Dungeness, which is also at home in every way when set (humbly) inside an Expedit.
Alternatively, Centerset Mola's can stack on top of a pair of any 1/2 inch Dungeness we've ever made to become a truly big horsepower bookshelf, and its all surprisingly straightforward to hook up. If there isn't enough height for the double stack, then the Mola's/Dungeness could also be placed in formations inside of expedits and they still sound great. (can you tell that I like the IKEA Expedit?)
We also built a Chocolate Deluxe Mola Centerset and the sound improved in a similar fashion to the differences between Orca Classic and Deluxe which was kind of cool to hear happen.
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Now to answer your question about wall thickness: we have not yet made a pair of Classic Mola Fullrange cabinets in Birch so I couldn't tell you exactly. However, based upon the solid results that we got from the pair of Chocolate Deluxe Fullrange layout Mola cabinets which we did make, we are definitely going to be opting for 3/4" Birch in the Classic version as well for the Front, Back, Top and Bottom, and Sides. All 3/4 becomes necessary in a bigger cabinet like the Fullrange keeps down resonances because of the greater surface area to volume relationship in this cabinet profile (as compared to the Centerset).
However, we are willing to built in either 1/2 or 3/4 in birch or bamboo by custom order (especially in order to match pre-existing gear).
Oh BTW, we recently built some shorter, beefier format stand columns for the Mola series, I'll have to put up some pictures soon!
Clark
