Ebony Wine Stopper Blanks


Yesterday I went to a local exotic wood shop here in Asheville, NC to browse their wares. I ran across Ebony Wine Stopper Blanks, heavy little buggers they are! They measure 1.25 inches by 1.50 inches by 2 inches. I have heard/read about the acoustic qualities that ebony has. I said to my self, "Self, what if they could control vibrations for my equipment, this would be an inexpensive way to go". So, I purchased 5 sets of 4 blocks to a set. 12.00 a set. The gear I have is: Joule Elecrta Stargates, Joule Electra 150 Mk II pre amp, Cary 303/300 CDP feeding Zu Audio Druids. Placing 4 blocks each under the amp, pre, and CDP, I turned the gear on, let warm-up for 10 minutes, then hit the play button on the remote. I don't know if these old ears suddenly decided to wake up or if I turned up my Bell Tones, there was a difference in overall sound. Not suttle, mind you, but a significant difference. There was more of everything good and I'm loving it! I know that Herbie's used to make ebony balls in a holder, but don't offer them anymore. Has anyone had this type of experience using Ebony, or for that matter any other type of wood to control vibration?
samdcooks
We've done the same over here. Cocobolo was our wood of choice. I guess we thought we were imitating the myrtle wood blocks of cardas. However, as much as they can change the sound, listen closely, it's not always for the better, but for some gear it does work.
Hey guys, you can mail order wine cork blanks! Try woodcraft.com or www.pennstateind.com . You can also buy maple there as well. You might want to check to see if there is a Woodcraft store near you, they are a national chain.
Ebony has been very popular in Asia as tweaks (footers under equipment). My understanding is there are also different types, the differences being the density and hardness of the wood. I had purchased two sets in the shape of paramids from TheCableCompany many years ago and still use them.

Got pictures? Would be interesting to see what they look like. Do they just look like rectangular boxes? So, how do you use that as wine stopper?

FrankC
hi sam, are these rectangular in shape ? can you buy some more, as i may be intresetd.
The "wine cork" tweak works pretty well. A neighbor put some of the remains from his daughter's wedding reception in our can, including a bunch of wine corks. I retrieved them and have been using them as "roller footings" under some tubed equipment, they work quite well.