Rock Maple substitute

Clipsal, I think this is a tremendous opportunity to drive the knowledge base on the subject forward.

Far too often, we tend to settle into a mindset where a particular notion becomes Gospel, stunting the discussion, and boxing our knowledge and perspective into a very narrow band.

Though maple is the de facto standard for shelving, I certainly don't believe it is the last word on the subject. Just like in cabling, amplification, or tubes, what works best in one system doesn't necessarily work best in the next.

My feeling is that maple shifts the sonic focus towards the upper-midrange, and while there is nothing inherently wrong with that, in my opinion, far too many systems today are already overly represented in that region to begin with. Combined with the tendency to tighten the lower frequencies up (agin, an objective statement, not meaning it as a good or thing), one can often wind up pushing things into an overly cold and analytical direction.

Conversely, I often hear species such as mahogany maligned for being overly warm or rich, and my comment is that perhaps in many a system, that is exactly what the doctor ordered.

Just to be clear, in no way am I denigrating maple, and I am typically a fan. I just want to put out on the table that tracing the steps of others in dogmatic fashion is a recipe for spending money to no good result. Rather, synergy and one's own sonic priorities should point the way forward.

How often do we enter into discussion here on Audiogon where a person is seeking to back off the relentlessness in the presence region, or add warmth to their system? This seems to be the main affliction we deal with as a whole in this age. The standard cookbook answers are first and foremost cabling, and (thankfully) now to a great extent, the room itself. My question is, why not also investigate alternative isolation materials?

As G_m_c pointed out, you have some incredibly interesting and unique species of wood in Australia. My sincere hope is that your audio journey leads you to find out the sonic characteristics of the myriad Australian products you have access to and increase our experience as a whole.

So, would it be fair in saying any wood might be okay as long as it's very, very dense.

I hear maple has a density of around 740 kg/m3. While my cabinet maker suggested a wood called Merbau (Instia Bijunga), which is a New Guinea/North Queensland Hardwood.

Merbau apparantly has density of 830 kg/m3 and is reddish/brown in colour. He says it solid and dead accoustically (perfect for a Rack Frame ?).

Btw, I'm planning on using Soapstone for all the shelving.

Having read Mapleshade Audio's article on their website lauding maple, I still wonder if other woods aren't equally capable of serving well for shelving. I'd tend to think all tonewoods have resonant frequencies that might be more or less useful depending on how they'd react with a particular piece of gear and one's preferences. Any native tonewood guitar builders in Australia are using would be worth investigating: Australian Black Acacia, Queensland Maple and Queensland Walnut are the three that come to mind.

You have some lovely woods in your country. We should be jealous. Jara is one very hard wood that comes to mind.

Lloyd Walker makes his racks and amp stands in either rock maple or Brazilian Japota woods. He says the difference is aesthetic and that he hears no difference between them (originally he thought the Japota sounded a bit better). While Japota is a Brazilian species, it may be easier to find than the rock maple since the Japota is often used as a finished flooring wood.
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Bubinga is very dense. So is Jatoba or South American Cherry. Be carefull, like all dense woods they tend to burn easily.

Good luck,

there's another thread running (search "soapstone") that discusses options. One is Ikea countertop material. If you have an Ikea near you check out their butcher block countertop material. It's not rock maple, but it's very solid and I'm very happy with my rack made from it. It's also cheap (at least it is in the US).