Well I only had 2 places split on this build. Yes I used it for speaker boxxes as well. I found that a brad nail gun worked wonders not to split the wood. This rack I built is NOT glued together its 1/2 in and uses supports on the back to keep it from swaying. 5 screws per shelf and side. And I only split it in two places where I drilled the hole too close to the side and once where I forgot to pre drill. The biggest thing I found was stripping out the hole if I wasn't careful. If I have to do it again I will use 3/4 inch since my sub box is made from that and rock solid.