Veneers - you decide

[TimVG]

A question;

I bought a pair of P3ESRs in black ash finish for stereo use. Let's say that at one point I'd like to expand to a full Harbeth home theater setup, would I be able, with a certain amount of patience, to order a different model in black ash, even if it's not a standard finish for that model (e.g. the monitor 30)?

[HUG-1]

Example of rosewood - in this case on M40.1

Link to thread here.

[TimVG]

A question;

I bought a pair of P3ESRs in black ash finish for stereo use. Let's say that at one point I'd like to expand to a full Harbeth home theater setup, would I be able, with a certain amount of patience, to order a different model in black ash, even if it's not a standard finish for that model (e.g. the monitor 30)?

Could anyone find this out? I'm going to my hifi dealer on friday, and if this is an option I'd like to discuss it with him.. Thanks!

[A.S.]

Frankly, we are not in a position to negotiate with the cabinet maker over ones and twos in a 'non-standard' veneer. Of course, anything can be done, but at a price. I don't think you'd be willing to pay 50%+ more would you for what on the face of it is 'just' a change of veneer. But once the cabinets are underway, hand picking some nice veneer for just a pair of cabinets isn't a viable proposition at a fair price to you.

Actually it's a little more complex than this. When we order, say, 100 cabinets of any given veneer, bearing in mind the myriad of problems that can become evident during their production, the cabinet maker will (depending on model and veneer and past experience) veneer-up and turn into cabinets a larger quantity: perhaps 106 or 108 pcs.. That should, in his judgement, cover realistic 'losses' during production. If he's lucky and everything goes well, then maybe we receive 102 or 104 pcs. and I have a policy that we never refuse to accept and pay for perfect cabinets which are, legally, over-deliveries against the original purchase order. Many competitors have hard and fast accounting rules - and 100 ordered must balance against 100 received and not a piece more. This refusal to accept over-runs causes bad feeling with the cabinet maker who has no other outlet for the cabinet. He won't sit on them so they'll be turned into kindling: a straight loss to him.

So, to be sure that one perfect pair of black cabinets is available for you on the end of a run of another veneer, he may have to make not two but at least four. And then, if they are perfect, we have to buy those cabinets and sit on them perhaps forever.

I hope this gives you some insight into what is a seemingly trivial issue and why controlling the range of veneers is essential to remaining cost competitive.

[TimVG]

Thanks for explaining that, that makes perfect sense. This would also mean that buying a single speaker to serve as a centre channel would be impossible, right? Unless of course you could use a cabinet whose 'twin' has suffered transit or other damage.

Would that be a viable option, depending on stock of damaged cabinets of course?

[engjoo]

Ok this is not about how different veneers would sound differently. :-)

Has anyone done any research on the durability of different veneers? I believe in real sense, we may not see much of a difference but different wood do have their different properties (hardness, density) and will change colour with age or exposed to different humidity or light.

For example, I have heard of cases where veneers crack over time. I wonder if some veneers are more prone to the others to cracking.