Wood Veneers: what's available?

[Jeff Day]

Hi Alan,

I noticed on the Super HL5 page that it said to inquire about wood veneers other than cherry or eucalyptus: I have furniture finished in black walnut - is it possible to order the HL5's in a walnut veneer?

I was going to post a small photo of my walnut equipment cabinet but if I understand correctly I can't do that here, so instead here's a link with a similar photo located near the bottom of the page: http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/omega6/super3.html.

Kind regards,

Jeff

[A.S.]

... it said to inquire about wood veneers other than cherry or eucalyptus: I have furniture finished in black walnut - is it possible to order the HL5's in a walnut veneer?

Jeff: we have taken a very pragmatic overview of the 'exotic' veneers recently. As a result we have decided to concentrate on cherry and eucalyptus as the 'standard' veneers that Harbeth offer and tiger ebony as the exotic alternative. Our cabinet maker simply will not play ball with small orders of exotic veneers at a sensible price. In fact, I have been shocked that by far the least profitable speakers we make are those in exotic veneers despite their high price: we simply are not able to recover the cost premium.

Looking at the group of eight cabinets in a column on the right of your link, our tiger ebony is closest to picture number 3 and yes, SHL5 is available in tiger ebony but at a premium price.

As for walnut, we could reintroduce it but only if there is enough demand worldwide. I wouldn't mind seeing walnut again.

You may be surprised to hear that the wastage of veneer is a typically heartbreaking 50% during the production of speaker cabinets due to blemishes in the leaves (leaf = strip of veneer), necessity of stitching together narrow strips to cover the width of the cabinet with some overage, splitting, feathered ragged edges, odd stains and natural features deemed unacceptable and of course this has to be paid for. One thing I recently discovered is that those trees on the edge of the forest are prone to flexing in the wind. This has a particular effect on cherry trees where the grain structure can vary markedly along the length.

[Paul Saju]

Hi Alan,

I have got a SHL5 of Rosenut in Colour? Does this mean not orginial?

regards,
Paul

Jeff: we have taken a very pragmatic overview of the 'exotic' veneers recently. As a result we have decided to concentrate on cherry and eucalyptus as the 'standard' veneers that Harbeth offer and tiger ebony as the exotic alternative. Our cabinet maker simply will not play ball with small orders of exotic veneers at a sensible price. In fact, I have been shocked that by far the least profitable speakers we make are those in exotic veneers despite their high price: we simply are not able to recover the cost premium.

Looking at the group of eight cabinets in a column on the right of your link, our tiger ebony is closest to picture number 3 and yes, SHL5 is available in tiger ebony but at a premium price.

As for walnut, we could reintroduce it but only if there is enough demand worldwide. I wouldn't mind seeing walnut again.

You may be surprised to hear that the wastage of veneer is a typically heartbreaking 50% during the production of speaker cabinets due to blemishes in the leaves (leaf = strip of veneer), necessity of stitching together narrow strips to cover the width of the cabinet with some overage, splitting, feathered ragged edges, odd stains and natural features deemed unacceptable and of course this has to be paid for. One thing I recently discovered is that those trees on the edge of the forest are prone to flexing in the wind. This has a particular effect on cherry trees where the grain structure can vary markedly along the length.

[A.S.]

Why are you concerned? The email you quoted is over a year old. Rosenut is available to special customer order.

[Paul Saju]

Hi Alan,
Thanks for the quick reply. Just to make sure that the speaker bought is original, and probably going to keep this speaker long.

Why are you concerned? The email you quoted is over a year old. Rosenut is available to special customer order.

[A.S.]

Pleasure.

By the way, we are soon to launch online registration. We're just testing the code now.

[Paul Saju]

That is a Great News.. so the product can be registered and confirmed from any part of the world. Thanks,

Paul

[A.S.]

Yes. But please consider the ramifications of buying in country A (and we can tell from the serial number which market we originally supplied the speakers to) and then registering in country B.

[Superman]

Pleasure.

By the way, we are soon to launch online registration. We're just testing the code now.

Alright! This is GREAT! :D :D :D Cheers to you A. S. !!

[harbethpr]

Great news!

I'm pleased to say that we're able to offer beautiful Santos Rosewood veneer again! Rosewood will be available again in these models ....

P3ESR
C7ES3
SHL5
Monitor 40.1

But please remember we have an order pipeline! We can't deliver immediately! But it is very beautiful as you can see.

[Jmohd]

Hi,

Please post pictures of the Santos Rosewood veneer.

Thanks

[harbethpr]

?????

The rosewood picture was attached to my post.

[keithwwk]

Wow..lovely..may I know what is the additional price for this finishing?

[harbethpr]

Yes, we are really thrilled to be offering rosewood again as you can see yourself! We are so confident in the P3ESR and in its rosewood clothing that we have struck a really good deal with our cabinet maker. I'm not sure if this price premium can be offered in the long term as costs are always rising, but initially the rosewood UK retail price is about only approx. 7% of a premium on the standard, popular cherry veneer. I don't know how this will translate into a street price in our export markets.

I have no information from Production as to how long this introductory price will last.

[Jmohd]

?????

The rosewood picture was attached to my post.

OK, seen it and thanks

[P.C.]

Wonder why its not available for the Monitor 30s?

[KT88]

Hello, PC

I certainly don't know this for a fact, but it seems to me that the Monitor30, in its domestic form, is not exactly a hot seller. I suspect even knowledgeable music lovers and audiophiles have a difficult time reconciling 5,000.00 USD for a small box-too bad for them!

Perhaps the folks at Harbeth PR can shed some light on this for us.

Cheers!

Bob LaBarca
State College, PA
USA

[harbethpr]

Actually we were considering another 'exotic' veneer for the M30. This gives the customer choice. We would like to reintroduce Tiger Ebony which looks great on the M30 and has sold well in the past.