Would a real butcher block be going to far?


My original plan was to purchase a couple of kiln dried maple slabs from the lumber yard to put under my equipment.

Being into antique furniture I decided to look around on Facebook marketplace and was able to find true old world butcher blocks from butcher stores and old farmhouses.

Companies like Butcher Block Acoustics are edge grained and get $200 and up for units that are 2 inches thick or more. Depending on what you would like to order.

Old true butcher blocks are hard maple end grain, which I believe is better, and generally run 10 to 15 inches thick. 

These can be had for as little as $250.

I am curious if anyone on here has ever went to this extreme.

My system is comprised of an Eversolo dmp-a6 streamer, Peachtree Carina integrated and Tekton Impact (not double Impacts) tower speakers. 

Power distribution is via a Shunyata PS8 with a High Fidelity Cables MC-0.5 Helix plugged in to it. 

All of my cables and cords are from Audio Envy. 

bgpoppab

I should also point out, very few of us have the space for an old-world butcher block.

As you point out they are super thick, so the make nice side tables, and conversation pieces but where do you put your gear??  A rack, like those from Butcher Block Acoustics, has at least 2 shelves. 

Well, there is the ’cool’ factor of a vintage butcher block counter. And enjoyment of recycling.

I had 2 fairly long hard maple counters maybe 8" thick I brought from Brooklyn in 1970. Carried them place to place, never used them, sold at a garage sale for next to nothing.

Do you know a local woodworker who can plane it both sides to a new flat and parallel surface? Edges: some have concealed dowels, some visible dowels, (exposed originally or exposed by cutting the width (take woodworker’s advice) also ’cool’ looking.

A really thick one, overkill, could be cut to two (or 3) less thick slabs by a shop, used/joined various ways.

I have a counter in my office, made from Hard Maple: Sandwich Boards, 2" thick, only 10" wide, so I had my woodworker join them edge to edge, thus 6’ x 20" x 1-3/4 thick (after the plane removed the knife cuts).  They were from the JP Stevens Cafeteria which I designed when I was a youngster, salvaged when they merged with West Point Pepperell, a bit of nostalgia involved.

Would a real butcher block be going to far?

@bgpoppab Its not going far enough. If its solid wood, it will resonate, although due to the density it will take a bit more energy. It would work better if bonded to a dissimilar material such as plate steel. The steel has a resonance too, but bonded together the two rob energy from each other. This will make for a quieter platform into which vibrational energy from your equipment can be sunk more effectively without the wood adding energy of its own.

The benefit of end grain is that it’s easier on the knives, so they hold an edge longer.   An end grain cutting board is harder to make so costs more.  As mentioned, there’s really not much sonic benefit that justifies the extra cost.

I think another benefit of the end gra8n was it absorbed flids, acting to dessecate the surface  and therefore reduce bacterial growth.

But none of that matters for audio, except if you hear the ghosts of all the animals previously butchered on it.