Ebony in HiFi Audio?

[Timmy]

A while ago I have been attracted to the Thiele website and I noticed there that their tone arm TA01 seems to be equipped with small ebony tiles.

I wonder if there are more examples of HiFi Audio gear using ebony parts, maybe in an even larger scale. Not sure if it could make sense to use ebony for speaker box panels for instance, as I know very well from some (non audio) ebony pieces I own that this sort of wood could be like stone, nearly.

Any other noteworthy ebony HiFi Audio examples you know of?

 

[MaxwellsEq]

There are many restrictions on logging and exporting/importing ebony. I suspect HiFi use of ebony is unlikely to become common.

 

[Timmy]

There are many restrictions on logging and exporting/importing ebony.

Would you be surprised to hear that I don’t intend to do anything like that at all?

 

[Timmy]

OK – Headphones seem to come with ebony parts in some rare (and expensive) cases:

• Meze Liric II
• Audio-Technica ATH-AWKT
• Hifiman HE1000se

 

[DLS79]

A while ago I have been attracted to the Thiele website and I noticed there that their tone arm TA01 seems to be equipped with small ebony tiles.

I wonder if there are more examples of HiFi Audio gear using ebony parts, maybe in an even larger scale. Not sure if it could make sense to use ebony for speaker box panels for instance, as I know very well from some (non audio) ebony pieces I own that this sort of wood could be like stone, nearly.

Any other noteworthy ebony HiFi Audio examples you know of?

The website itself just lists Ebony-damped", and that alone screams snake oil.

There are several types/species of ebony, and the cost varies wildly depending on what species and grade the wood is. Gaboon & Macassar are the 2 most sought after species. Gaboon Is by far the most expensive species because it's rare and heavily regulated. It's also what most people think of when they hear the word ebony. The following is a photo of a piece I purchased over a decade ago for $105 USD. When I purchased it its wa 1-7/8" square by 12" long.

Ebony as a whole doesn't have any magical properties that make it better than other specialty woods for use in musical instruments or equipment. The main reasons its used in musical instruments, equipment, or other wood products are :

1. When finished properly it will be jet black, very smooth, and have a high luster (aka pretty).
2. It contrasts well with Holly, Ivory, mother of pearl and a few other materials. (fretboard are a good example).
3. it's traditional
4. It's expensive
   
   
   
   
   

 

[Timmy]

Ebony as a whole doesn't have any magical properties that make it better than other specialty woods for use in musical instruments or equipment.

While this thread actually isn’t about »musical instruments or equipment«.

From my experiences with ebony I’d say that its most baffling characteristic is an unbelievable resistance against environmental influences of about any usual sort.

 

[Mr. Widget]

Any other noteworthy ebony HiFi Audio examples you know of?

Does snake oil count?

The Magic of Mpingo

 

[DLS79]

While this thread actually isn’t about »musical instruments or equipment«.

From my experiences with ebony I’d say that its most baffling characteristic is an unbelievable resistance against environmental influences of about any usual sort.

Lots of woods have those characteristics. For example Ipe, lignum vitae, teak and many others.

Teak is often used for decking and railings on ships because it's highly rot resistant and lighter than woods with an equivalent level of rot resistance.

lignum vitae is the hardest wood on the Janka scale. It's so wear resistance and oily, that's it used as bearings in industrial equipment event today.

Ipe gets used as a high end decking material.


To links you might want to take a look at are.

Wood Filter | The Wood Database

www.wood-database.com

HobbitHouse Wood ID site

exotic wood ID site

hobbithouseinc.com

 

[MAB]

While this thread actually isn’t about »musical instruments or equipment«.

What is it about then?
You mentioned it's application in equipment in your OP, specifically a manufacturer alluding to hypothetical damping properties when applied to tonearms and headshells.

 

[oratory1990]

Ebony as a whole doesn't have any magical properties that make it better than other specialty woods for use in musical instruments or equipment.

It's very, very dense with very small pores, much smaller than other commonly used woods for instruments. This makes it perfect for fretboards, as the grime and dirt won't stick to it nearly as much.
My guitars with ebony fretboards are much cleaner than the ones with rosewood fretboards.

Of course you could also simply paint the fretboard with a little bit of clear coat, but some people (myself included) don't like how that feels on a fretboard

 

[DLS79]

It's very, very dense with very small pores, much smaller than other commonly used woods for instruments. This makes it perfect for fretboards, as the grime and dirt won't stick to it nearly as much.

Lignum vitae has a tighter grain(pores), and is even denser. How it's not as pretty to most people as it as a lot more color variation, and its a pita to work with.

Generally speaking for just about about any mechanical property people desire, several different species of wood will work equally well. What gets used almost always comes down to how attractive it is, and how much it costs.

 

[Timmy]

Lots of woods have those characteristics.

[...]

lignum vitae is the hardest wood on the Janka scale.

Well, nobody here claims that Ebony is unique or even the »best«, regarding resistance or hardness.

 

[Keith_W]

Ebony is one of the most awful materials to work with. It dulls saw blades really quickly. It is saturated with oil, and has small pores, so it is very difficult to glue.

I make wooden ship models, and I was able to obtain some ebony. I thought I would make the black parts of my ship out of ebony, and it was almost impossible to shape it and then glue it on. In the end, black stained cherry gives the same look.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

Ebony is one of the most awful materials to work with. It dulls saw blades really quickly. It is saturated with oil, and has small pores, so it is very difficult to glue.

I make wooden ship models, and I was able to obtain some ebony. I thought I would make the black parts of my ship out of ebony, and it was almost impossible to shape it and then glue it on. In the end, black stained cherry gives the same look.

View attachment 402596

Wow!

 

[mhardy6647]

One morph of the Clearaudio "Satisfy" tonearm has (had) an ebony arm wand.
That version was bundled with the Marantz TT-15S1 turntable, as well as a Clearaudio MM cartridge ("Virtuoso") with an ebony body.



Garrard famously used Afrormosia wood (whatever that is?) for the arm on their rather clunky LAB-80 record player. I had a couple of these over the years and couldn't really understand their popularity in certain circles.

source: pg 3 of https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-Audio/60s/Audio-1966-11.pdf

 

[mhardy6647]

Ebony is one of the most awful materials to work with. It dulls saw blades really quickly. It is saturated with oil, and has small pores, so it is very difficult to glue.

I make wooden ship models, and I was able to obtain some ebony. I thought I would make the black parts of my ship out of ebony, and it was almost impossible to shape it and then glue it on. In the end, black stained cherry gives the same look.

View attachment 402596

to echo (more or less) @MaxwellsEq's post above -- whoa!

 

[Timmy]

One morph of the Clearaudio "Satisfy" tonearm has (had) an ebony arm wand.

In a way that the whole tone arm tube was made of Ebony? Crazy ...

 

[mhardy6647]

In a way that the whole tone arm tube was made of Ebony? Crazy ...

Claimed to be. Cannot say I've ever evaluated it to know for sure.

It seems to be wood, and it's very dark in color. That's about all I can vouch for.

 

[sq225917]

The body of a few benz cartridges are ebony, notably the LP, LPS and Ebony models.

 

[Timmy]

Ebony is one of the most awful materials to work with. It dulls saw blades really quickly.

But once it’s finished, it’s about to last for ever

Bought this miniature comb of Ebony more than 15 years ago in Tanzania and wear it on a chain around my neck since then. Try to imagine what 15 years of sweat, daily showers or baths and so on would do to average wood ...