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The Korf Blog
The inside story: our research,
development and opinions
development and opinions
7 December 2017
Prototype 10, Lacquered Mahogany Wood
There was a bit of a gap between the last few blog posts, and we apologize for that. Unfortunately, one of us had a family emergency that required him to be away for a month. The worst of that is now behind us, and we hope to resume the usual pace shortly.
Prototype number 10 is the same 10 mm diameter solid mahogany rod as Prototype 9, but covered with 3 layers of clear acrylic lacquer.
I didn't fill the pores and skimped on sanding, so this is clearly not Italian furniture-grade coat. But structurally, that should do.
I didn't fill the pores and skimped on sanding, so this is clearly not Italian furniture-grade coat. But structurally, that should do.
For vibrometry, I kept Prototype 9 as well as Prototype 6 (carbon fibre tube) on the chart for comparison.
The differences compared to the untreated rod are marginal, except for main modes. There's a surprising hump at 150 Hz, and then the even harmonics of the main mode are consistently 0.05 g lower. This points to greater stiffness of the treated wooden rod.
Subjective evaluation
I've actually done this experiment before, and knew what to expect. Treated wood usually sounds a lot better than untreated one. And this case is no exception. The arm probably sounds as good as my quick-and-dirty design allows.
It's sonically in the middle between the steel tube and CF prototypes. Bit less attack and slam than steel armtubes, bit less transparency than Prototype 6 — but perhaps more balance and an altogether more enjoyable listen.
Result: ★★★★☆
It's sonically in the middle between the steel tube and CF prototypes. Bit less attack and slam than steel armtubes, bit less transparency than Prototype 6 — but perhaps more balance and an altogether more enjoyable listen.
Result: ★★★★☆
With this, we're done with our selection of armtubes. Next installment will feature a table bringing together the key findings.
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