Jafox, I researched and purchased some maple cutting boards a few months ago. It was suggested to me to avoid butcher block type boards as audio shelves because the grain would transmit the vibration vertically rather than dissipate it. Also, there is a lot more glue involved with all the small pieces of wood. The problem with a thick solid piece of maple is the tendency it has to warp or crack.
I ended up with 1 1/4" boards with three glued pieces and horizontal grain. I prefer the sound with my amp on the maple on top of Isolpads with my mdf amp stand rather than the amp directly on the mdf. I also now use the same style board as the shelf for a wall stand I made using steel supports. On top of that I have spikes supporting a Neuance shelf under my cdp. It is an even better improvement under the cdp than just the maple.
The wall stand provided an equally significant improvement compared to the floor standing audio rack it replaced as a solid base for the cdp. There are a couple of wall stands by Apollo that are a perfect fit with the Neuance, in the $125-150 price range not terribly expensive but a lot more than the cost of the one I made.
I have seen Garfish's John Boos boards and like them even better than the ones I got because they are thicker and have more squared off edges rather than radiused. I'll probably go to something like that if I can get a better fit for my amp and thicker support for the Neuance shelf. You can see the boards I got in my system pics. They are painted with a Krylon product, "Make It Stone", that looks like granite.
I ended up with 1 1/4" boards with three glued pieces and horizontal grain. I prefer the sound with my amp on the maple on top of Isolpads with my mdf amp stand rather than the amp directly on the mdf. I also now use the same style board as the shelf for a wall stand I made using steel supports. On top of that I have spikes supporting a Neuance shelf under my cdp. It is an even better improvement under the cdp than just the maple.
The wall stand provided an equally significant improvement compared to the floor standing audio rack it replaced as a solid base for the cdp. There are a couple of wall stands by Apollo that are a perfect fit with the Neuance, in the $125-150 price range not terribly expensive but a lot more than the cost of the one I made.
I have seen Garfish's John Boos boards and like them even better than the ones I got because they are thicker and have more squared off edges rather than radiused. I'll probably go to something like that if I can get a better fit for my amp and thicker support for the Neuance shelf. You can see the boards I got in my system pics. They are painted with a Krylon product, "Make It Stone", that looks like granite.