Verdant Audio Bambusa AL-1 Review

[ROOSKIE]

This is a fair point. This is a matter of taste and it is decidedly possible my taste is out of line with the majority. Wouldn't be the first time, that is for certain.

People have said this, I am not sure if I like the way you have the edging on the bamboo. At least on the front panel which need to be cleaned up. I get what you are after but it seems like a whimsy of yours vs a solid aesthetic decision. The bamboo already has a lot going on with the grain and really no need to add more. Maybe this all looks better in person, I don't know.
I can say as you invest, a proper photographer is on my list for you. You may have touched on this so my apologies if repeating on your time here. The photos are just bad. Honestly all of them & for multiple reasons. A good pro (or a student who will work for less $$ but has great skills) will help a lot. These are 3.5k+ speakers and they deserve a much better presentation.
Anyway, all this is just meant to help. I understand you have likely already been told most of this. I just want to push it your way a little more.

 

[bunkbail]

Probably why I enjoyed the MB Quart home audio speaker line when they where a thing

I still own the good ol' MB Quart Two XL in my living room, they still sound very good for their age.

 

[thewas]

Being a highly competent engineer doesn't mean you know how to start, build and grow a business...

Maybe a manufacturer who understands his own limitations, and brings in the people who DO have the pieces he needs, are the ones that might get enough of the right pieces together.

True, but is that the case here, I get somehow a rather different impression. Is also an (imho quite naive) approach of using a public forum as a basis to engineer or improve their products good marketing? Would you buy car brakes from a manufacturer that would do same?

 

[BDWoody]

Would you buy car brakes from a manufacturer that would do same?

I would buy brakes that had passed competence threshold measurements, whether they were designed by the owner or not.
Why is receiving feedback from potential customers, or from people who may be able to improve your product, somehow improper?

I think I'm missing something...

 

[thewas]

I would buy brakes that had passed competence threshold measurements, whether they were designed by the owner or not.

I don't care at all if the owner designed it and agree that business administration, marketing and engineering are 3 completely different disciplines that are better handles by different experts but:

Why is receiving feedback from potential customers, or from people who may be able to improve your product, somehow improper?

Feedback is one (good) thing, but asking a forum to find and show obvious deficiencies is something that doesn't give the impression of technical competence.

 

[BDWoody]

Feedback is one (good) thing, but asking a forum to find and show obvious deficiencies is something that doesn't give the impression of technical competence.

Doesn't mean I'd buy this model...

If he comes back in 6 months with a product that eliminates or minimizes the deficiencies, however he has done that, I would applaud it, and the market would have another excellent product.

By sending his product here...a crucible of sorts... he takes the measured risk of being de-pantsed in public vs. what he gains in Information from which to further improve. Seems he's making a decision in terms of risk\reward.

That's business...

 

[ROOSKIE]

True, but is that the case here, I get somehow a rather different impression. Is also an (imho quite naive) approach of using a public forum as a basis to engineer or improve their products good marketing? Would you buy car brakes from a manufacturer that would do same?

It is the year 2020. This site and others have robust resources. I think this is now reasonably good idea for certain products. Might as well take advantage of this type of crowd source.
Brakes may be a different story. Totally different product.

 

[Liberal Democracy]

It is the year 2020. This site and others have robust resources. I think this is now reasonably good idea for certain products. Might as well take advantage of this type of crowd source.
Brakes may be a different story. Totally different product.

Not forgetting he's in effect branding and promoting himself with these exchanges as well as getting free help.

 

[verdantaudio]

If you're referring to my comment, the issue I had was not exposed edges, but the poor pattern matching between exposed edges and baffle. This cheaper one is a little better matched on top, but pattern matching on the bottom edge is still terrible. Pattern matching is the kind of fit-and-finish detail that should be executed flawlessly at these price points.

Fair point. I will talk to my cabinet maker about that. Easy to resolve as I know the top and bottom are cut larger and sanded flush

 

[BYRTT]

...Secondarily, I made changes in both my bench-marking process and placement which impacted the resulting design...

Calibration tip if you know what i mean one could buy one say Revel M16 speaker and use Amir's shared data to calibrate ones own benchmark enviroment and gear, suggest M16 and not for example the cheaper JBL 305P MKII because Amir changed a bit on protocol down the road and therefor its probably better pick one model reviewed later than Genelec 8341A.

 

[Dennis Murphy]

I know it uses a SEAS tweeter that's ~$250/pair (with no bulk order discount), but I can't help but think the ~$30/pair Peerless BC25TG15-04 gives similar performance for much cheaper.

https://hificompass.com/en/speakers/measurements/peerless/peerless-bc25tg15-04
https://hificompass.com/en/speakers/measurements/seas/seas-t25cf001

Peerless:
View attachment 58672

SEAS:
View attachment 58673

Peerless:
View attachment 58674

SEAS:
View attachment 58675

Peerless (~99dB):
View attachment 58676

SEAS (~98dB):
View attachment 58677

Peerless:
View attachment 58678

SEAS:
View attachment 58679

________________________

Well, Amir should be able to test that hypothesis fairly shortly.

 

[Selah Audio]

Well, Amir should be able to test that hypothesis fairly shortly.

Did you send a speaker to Amir?

 

[Dennis Murphy]

Did you send a speaker to Amir?

Yes, but mainly to check my measurements against his. It's not a current or future model. I don't know where it is on the wait list.