Future Sierra-1 cabinet design---Dave 4U

[shawnpwatson]

Dave,

There is a new kind of bamboo product available. It's called "strand woven" bamboo and it has several advantages over VLAM. First, it's more dimensionally stable than verticle bamboo. It cuts better accross grain with less burrs. It likely has less resonance due to the weave, may be even denser at 2850.

And now.....are you ready?....it comes in a beautiful high contrast "Tiger" grain. Do the research and source a supplier/vendor. This will give the Sierra a 3rd look with an eye popping option. Let me know what you find out Dave. I'm assuming Dave is one of the engineers at Ascend.

[davef]

Hi shawnpwatson,

Yes -- I am familiar with strand woven bamboo. There are many different names for this type of bamboo, all depends on the vendor. We have a bench made out of it -- unbelieavably heavy. Not sure how suitable this material is for loudspeaker cabinets though, there are many things to consider.

Thanks for the info!

[shawnpwatson]

Dave,

Thanks for your reply. At this point I don't believe strand woven has any less resonance than the verticle laminate, BUT with the Tiger grain varieties coming out now and in the future, it would give a different look. For instance, at some point if you'd want to do a "Special Addition" version of the Sierra-1 and stick with the bamboo theme.

Shawn

[JasonColeman]

I haven't really seen the Tiger-style bamboo in sheet format yet, only flooring. However, there is a Neopolitan-style sheet good available that's pretty interesting. Kind of looks like Ambrosia Maple. I'm not fully versed in what dictates the variations, but it is an interesting product. The big drawback is price...I've actually never worked with such expensive material before...a sheet of 3/4" ends up being about $7.50 sf...yikes! That's more expensive than Brazilian Cherry at $5.75 sf when I last bought it. And I thought that that was hard to swallow...figuratively, not literally.

J.

[dae3dae3]

I'm assuming Dave is one of the engineers at Ascend.

That is probably an understatement.

Dave is the owner and designs the speakers.

[shawnpwatson]

Well I have talked to a major Teragren bamboo distributor out on the west coast about strand woven bamboo in panelized sheets.

He informs me that making a narrow plank like flooring at the necessary pressures is hard enough, but trying to get that much pressure over a 4' X 8' sheet takes a very special kind of equipment.

He informs me that the Chinese are working on it and experimenting with it now. Again, it's about having the option of a different look.