Verdant Audio Bambusa MG 1 Speaker Review

[Mauro]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Verdant Audio Bambusa MG 1 Bookshelf speaker. It is on kind loan from the company. The MG 1 costs US $4999 for a pair.

As the model number implies, the MG 1 cabinet is made out of laminated Bamboo which I like:

View attachment 57041

The back panel is shows nice quality binding posts that are easy to manipulate:

View attachment 57042

When the owner contacted me to send me the speaker I cautioned him that if measurements don't look good, I would still be publishing them. To my pleasant surprise he said he had no issue with that whatsoever.

Measurements that you are about to see were performed using the Klippel Near-field Scanner (NFS). This is a robotic measurement system that analyzes the speaker all around and is able (using advanced mathematics and dual scan) to subtract room reflections (so where I measure it doesn't matter). It also measures the speaker at close distance ("near-field") which sharply reduces the impact of room noise. Both of these factors enable testing in ordinary rooms yet results that can be more accurate than anechoic chamber. In a nutshell, the measurements show the actual sound coming out of the speaker independent of the room.

All measurements are referenced to the tweeter axis with frequency resolution of 2.7 Hz.

Spinorama Audio Measurements
Acoustic measurements can be grouped in a way that can be perceptually analyzed to determine how good a speaker can be used. This so called spinorama shows us just about everything we need to know about the speaker with respect to tonality and some flaws:

View attachment 57043

We normally want to see a flat on-axis response here. Alas, that is not what we have. There is a dip in likely crossover region followed with elevated energy at treble frequencies. The company advertising says as much:

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More on my listening impressions later. For now, this is our predicted in-room response:

View attachment 57045

And important early reflections:

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Typical of non-coaxial 2-way speakers, vertical response is not good so advise thick carpeting at least.

Horizontal and vertical directivity is as expected:

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A few degrees above the tweeter axis seems to improve the response so you may want to get less tall stand that puts the tweeter a bit below your ear level:

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Impedance graph shows higher than normal impedance which is easier on amplifier:

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Distortion graph shows something going a bit wrong around 400 Hz:

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Otherwise mid to high frequency distortion is quite low which bodes well for that elevated response.

And finally our waterfall:

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Speaker Listening Tests
I had my son who is in his twenties with me for this part of the test. Without showing him the measurements I asked his impression. He said "metallic parts of music are exaggerated." That was exactly my impression. What is there is clean mind you, but definitely stands out. And as advertising said, bass does not stand out. I dialed in some bass boost and that made a very positive impression but caused the woofer to bottom out at elevated playback volume. With two speakers (my tests are with one), that may work.

Conclusions
The sound of Bambusa MG 1 seems to be as designed both objectively and subjectively. I have a feeling that in quick listen and for a target market of aging audiophiles, elevated highs may be a good idea. It is not what I like to live with though. What would be nice then is a switch in the back that puts in a resistor in the path of the tweeter to dial down its energy some. Alternative a target curve that brings down the highs may do the trick.

The directivity dip is harder to fix and would create some room dependency.

As is, I can't recommend the MG 1 but I am so appreciative of the attitude of the company to volunteer to have its speakers tested.

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

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Hi amir, harmonic distortion is performed with 10 V as input and frequency response with 2.83v?
I would guess that the speaker frequency response might change at higher levels..
Maybe the surround material and shape was not designed to reach those levels. For the price it should..

 

[verdantaudio]

Wow... Maybe I'm off my rocker but since this is the exact same thing I would say to a friend in your shoes here goes...


What you have responded above reeks of you having used Amir's time and resources as part of R&D. I hesitate to explicitly say you did, but it certainly has that appearance with your above quotes. And this kind of testing costs money as you admitted above.

Frankly, I think you should pay Amir because he did the testing for you. In my opinion there is a significant difference between a manufacturer offering up a production unit to help with their visibility vs a manufacturer offering up a "prototype" (your words) under the guise of a production model to help get the kinks worked out, saving you "a couple thousand" (again, your words). Using objective test findings from a 3rd party reviewer and making fixes on future production models is one thing; sending a prototype to avoid spending thousands testing elsewhere is something entirely different. By your own words, you did the latter.

This is a reason why I won't test any products unless they are actually in production and being sold. If I were Amir I'd be pretty aggravated at what has transpired here.

And, finally, I'm not intending to be a jerk, though my reply may read as such. I just frankly am left flabbergasted by your replies and self admittance that you sent a prototype to Amir for testing to save yourself thousands of dollars having it tested elsewhere. Maybe your words weren't typed as you intended but it is indeed what you typed.

I understand your POV and that was not my intent. This product is for sale and is made to order, simply hasn’t sold. I did not have another pair produced to ship. There is literally no difference between this speaker and what would ship to a customer other than the gap around the driver is slightly larger than I would like and the etching in the plate. Otherwise, this is the final speaker.

I was up front with Amir that this was explicitly an alternative to me going to Excelsior and I offered to pay shipping to and from. He agreed.

 

[Prana Ferox]

And they don't use veneer.

Bamboo is a fairly effective product for speaker enclosures - dense, good strength, good consistency, good resonance characteristics. It is essentially natural plywood. It is also abundant and sustainable. I happen to like the look of natural bamboo, although I haven't seen it stain well. (The computer desk I'm typing on is bamboo.)

Hardwood is generally lousy for speaker enclosures for similar reasons, as it doesn't have the interwoven fibers that bamboo does. It's also simply not possible to get bulk quantity, consistent high quality hardwood boards in the size you need for speaker (or most furniture) manufacture; it doesn't grow fast enough and we've long since depleted old supply. Veneer is far more practical and a more effective use of available stock.

 

[verdantaudio]

Well, it deff puts this speaker in competition price wise with some pretty substantial products. KEF reference, Revel M126be, ATC SCM19 and dozens of others.
Thing about is that as the manufacturer stated, this is the price required to make a profit and include dealers. Mark up on speakers is 5-10 times from cost to retail.
This is also the cost to support a very small business in a sea of giants. I mean I can buy a nice print at Target for $30, or I can buy a painting from a professional local artist for $1000+. I am not saying speakers are quite the same but you have to factor in the tiny scale and hopefully the passion of the small manufacturer.
I wouldn't buy this set for many reasons, yet hopefully this info can help guide Verdant toward making better gear. While it won't likely be "worth it" in $ alone, if they can excel, they will find buyers who value the small scale.

These would be much more expensive 5x cost. I am operating on narrower margins than that.

 

[Cahudson42]

Somehow I come away from this thread thinking it's trying to make an optimized buggy whip. A $5000 optimized buggy whip.

Where is a 'systems approach' to integrating DSP? Why attempt to optimize passive analog XO in this day and age?

For $5000 you can certainly afford to include (some external) electronics..

Bag the buggy whip approach. Breakout of the pack with a full-DSP integrated and configurable pair of 'actives' for $5000. Plenty of room for another Genelec...

Then the MG-A2 (?) Might be work $5000.

PS - is there an acoustic advantage to machined laminated bamboo vs. a double layer of 3/4" MDF? Or, acoustically, is it money poorly spent?

Sorry to be so critical..But I have been involved in enough failed businesses in my lifetime that I would hate to see another

 

[ROOSKIE]

I understand your POV and that was not my intent. This product is for sale and is made to order, simply hasn’t sold. I did not have another pair produced to ship. There is literally no difference between this speaker and what would ship to a customer other than the gap around the driver is slightly larger than I would like and the etching in the plate. Otherwise, this is the final speaker.

I was up front with Amir that this was explicitly an alternative to me going to Excelsior and I offered to pay shipping to and from. He agreed.

I personally find this thread very interesting. I am into DIY and while that is not really what you are up to this thread is insightful. I think it is cool that you took a risk like this and seem to be more than willing to follow up here. It is not easy to appease everyone.
Do you have another speaker in for testing here?

 

[amirm]

Hi amir, harmonic distortion is performed with 10 V as input and frequency response with 2.83v?
I would guess that the speaker frequency response might change at higher levels..
Maybe the surround material and shape was not designed to reach those levels. For the price it should..

Harmonic distortion is measured at both 2.83 and 10 volt input. For brevity, I only post the 10 volt version.

For speaker frequency response measurements, I use 5 volt now instead of 2.83 volts. The software normalizes that to 2.83 volts. The reason for 5 volt versus 2.83 volts which I used to use is to overcome noise in my environment in low frequencies. Frequency response better not change due to this and if does, we might as well see that.

 

[verdantaudio]

I personally find this thread very interesting. I am into DIY and while that is not really what you are up to this thread is insightful. I think it is cool that you took a risk like this and seem to be more than willing to follow up here. It is not easy to appease everyone.
Do you have another speaker in for testing here?

yes. Amir has the Bambusa AL-1 which is the exact same cabinet with a SEAS excel tweeter an aluminum prestige driver. It is less expensive at $3499.

 

[amirm]

Where is a 'systems approach' to integrating DSP? Why attempt to optimize passive analog XO in this day and age?

It is the largest market by far for speakers. Active market simply have not taken off in consumer market the way they have in professional space.

 

[GXAlan]

It is the largest market by far for speakers. Active market simply have not taken off in consumer market the way they have in professional space.

there are no sub $1000 HT preamps that measure well. I think the market is larger for HT/stereo hybrids than pure stereo.

Also, none of the active speakers are using technologies like the AHB2 that I know of.

 

[Mauro]

Harmonic distortion is measured at both 2.83 and 10 volt input. For brevity, I only post the 10 volt version.

For speaker frequency response measurements, I use 5 volt now instead of 2.83 volts. The software normalizes that to 2.83 volts. The reason for 5 volt versus 2.83 volts which I used to use is to overcome noise in my environment in low frequencies. Frequency response better not change due to this and if does, we might as well see that.

I guess I can find the distortion at 2.83v in the zip file. I will check it when I am at my desk. I was curious to see how the spike in distortion changes. Lately I have been digging into loudspeaker design theory..

 

[Prana Ferox]

1.5" of MDF would (IMO) be a wrong approach for a speaker this size and home audio SPL. The internal / external dimensions ratio is too poor and it'd be heavier than sin. With manufactured speakers, size and weight determine shipping cost for supplies and finished product, which are a big chunk of expense. I'd also argue it's not the right approach for resonance, but we'll summon the chart monster going down that path.

 

[verdantaudio]

Somehow I come away from this thread thinking it's trying to make an optimized buggy whip. A $5000 optimized buggy whip.

Where is a 'systems approach' to integrating DSP? Why attempt to optimize passive analog XO in this day and age?

For $5000 you can certainly afford to include (some external) electronics..

Bag the buggy whip approach. Breakout of the pack with a full-DSP integrated and configurable pair of 'actives' for $5000.

Then the MG-A2 (?) Might be work $5000.

PS - is there an acoustic advantage to machined laminated bamboo vs. a double layer of 3/4" MDF? Or, acoustically, is it money poorly spent?

Sorry to be so critical..But I have been involved in enough failed businesses in my lifetime that I would hate to see another

In my initial work, I made the same cabinets out of MDF, Baltic birch, bamboo, cf reinforced ABS that was 3D printed, fiberglass and carbon fiber, both with Nomex cores.
I used the same drivers and crossovers in each and evaluated them in terms of sound profile and detail listening to the same songs taking careful notes.

In order from best to worst I found CF, Fiberglass, bamboo, Baltic birch, MDF and the CF reinforced plastic cam in dead last.
The difference between MDF, Baltic Birch and Bamboo wasn’t huge and they measured similarly. I used bamboo because I like the look and although pricier, when you take out the need to veneer it, the costs weren’t outrageous and are less than 1/3 of what I pay for a fiberglass cabinet.

 

[Cahudson42]

I is the largest market by far for speakers. Active market simply have not taken off in consumer market the way they have in professional space.

THAT to me smells 'opportunity'!

 

[Cahudson42]

1.5" of MDF would (IMO) be a wrong approach for a speaker this size and home audio SPL. The internal / external dimensions ratio is too poor and it'd be heavier than sin

These are $5000 boutique speakers. Sold direct with a few specialist resellers. Like Maggie's.

I suggest choice based on acoustic merits/cost vs. shipping costs makes more sense.

And 'heavier than sin' would seem the only disadvantage would be Amir lugging it around for testing...

 

[ROOSKIE]

THAT to me smells 'opportunity'!

It is but it likely requires a massive investment upfront. Passive components are cheap and easy to mess with and off the shelf driver are of high quality for low $$. Custom electronics will likely require some serious connections and cash.
Not an easy leap from DIY passives to that. (not impossible either)

 

[Prana Ferox]

Just as an example, I have a similarly sized speaker cabinet here, made of 3/4" MDF with a single ladder brace, that I weighed for curiosity. Just the MDF - no drivers, no lining, no finish etc - weighs 16 pounds. Doubling the MDF would double this weight. Shipping costs start to go way, way up at about 50 lbs a box, and you have to count packing material in there too. This is why even 3/4" MDF is uncommon for retail speaker construction.

 

[verdantaudio]

Somehow I come away from this thread thinking it's trying to make an optimized buggy whip. A $5000 optimized buggy whip.

Where is a 'systems approach' to integrating DSP? Why attempt to optimize passive analog XO in this day and age?

For $5000 you can certainly afford to include (some external) electronics..

Bag the buggy whip approach. Breakout of the pack with a full-DSP integrated and configurable pair of 'actives' for $5000. Plenty of room for another Genelec...

Then the MG-A2 (?) Might be work $5000.

PS - is there an acoustic advantage to machined laminated bamboo vs. a double layer of 3/4" MDF? Or, acoustically, is it money poorly spent?

Sorry to be so critical..But I have been involved in enough failed businesses in my lifetime that I would hate to see another

i have looked at the idea of doing an active speaker. The market is small today but is moving in that direction. I have been searching for the right plate amps. I used a SpeakerPower plate amp in a subwoofer I was working on that will never come to market as it is outrageously expensive in terms of price but haven’t tried a full range plate amp from them yet.

 

[amirm]

I guess I can find the distortion at 2.83v in the zip file. I will check it when I am at my desk. I was curious to see how the spike in distortion changes. Lately I have been digging into loudspeaker design theory..

The zip file doesn't have distortion data. Only spinorama.

 

[ROOSKIE]

Just as an example, I have a similarly sized speaker cabinet here, made of 3/4" MDF with a single ladder brace, that I weighed for curiosity. Just the MDF - no drivers, no lining, no finish etc - weighs 16 pounds. Doubling the MDF would double this weight. Shipping costs start to go way, way up at about 50 lbs a box, and you have to count packing material in there too. This is why even 3/4" MDF is uncommon for retail speaker construction.

And possibly very unnecessary weight. Thicker material doesn't mean it won't resonate. Strategic bracing and sophisticated modeling will likely yield far better results in a lighter package.
I wish I had a link but awhile ago on another forum Floyd Tool discussed cabinet construction and from what I remember, too much bracing and material often makes the issues worse. Trouble is you have the resources to actually measure the system vs just assuming thicker is better.
Trouble is getting the modeling done right on a light budget.