Do any of the dealers who frequent this forum know when Isoblue Special Branch will be available? Their website says it will be launched in April, but it's now May. I'd love to see this and compare it with the standard version before making a decision about which to buy.

Thanks
Nigel

I have 14 levels of the Walnut Special Branch. I don't really know how I got initially involved, but over the past few months I've been sent many samples from Isoblue to choose the type of Walnut that should be used for the production run of the Walnut finish. Strange, but true. Chris from Isoblue agreed with me that it should be the classic English (light) Walnut. They look stunning, but after a few teething problems where I've had to send back six levels and six legs, I'm still a base short, so I still can't build the complete set! So if you order the Walnut finish and don't like the shade, you can partly blame me!

I have a new Walnut LP12 plinth, Walnut Shahinian Hawks and now two Walnut stands all perfectly matching and looking gorgeous. I love Walnut.

Naim, Walnut is so retro, it's now the modern choice.

After reading the first paragraph, it could be mistaken for a bit of one's own trumpet blowing, but I just wanted to give Isoblue some credit, as Chris has been superb.

Thanks Count - sounds like things are moving but they're still behind schedule. Would be nice to finally see some photos of these racks, as they were announced way back in September 2007.

I'm in the market for either the maple or the oak finish, to fit in with my decor, but I'm sure the walnut will be very nice too.

Nigel

Nigel, the Pippy Oak was beautiful. It was full of knots and looked very dramatic.

Count,

Any chance of photo of your walnut Isoblue setup? We've got walnut floors in our lounge and I'm hoping that the Isoblue walnut is a close enough match to please the wife... Hopefully you helped them go with a fairly dark walnut?

Michael.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Sanders:
Count,

Any chance of photo of your walnut Isoblue setup? We've got walnut floors in our lounge and I'm hoping that the Isoblue walnut is a close enough match to please the wife... Hopefully you helped them go with a fairly dark walnut?

Michael.

'Chris from Isoblue agreed with me that it should be the classic English (light) Walnut'

Ahh, missed that.

Have actually been in touch with Isoblue who have sent me an image of the walnut finish. If my technical skills are up to scratch it should appear below.

Michael, I've posted two award winning pics in the "Isoblue shelf height" thread.

Thanks Count. Looks great.

Do you think that the walnut finish is worth the premium over the standard finish? Is it really "furniture grade"? I guess that depends on what sort of furniture we're talking about...

Michael,

I think the Walnut finish is definitely worth paying extra for. I've had the Cherry finish (Cherry stain varnish colour) for a couple of years and always thought of it as ugly, even though I chose Isoblue purely on the sound qualities.

When I tested the Fraim against the Isoblue a couple of years ago, I preferred the sound from Isoblue, but it was a difficult decision as I loved the Fraim's appearance and disliked the Isoblue. Now, I think my Walnut Isoblue looks beautiful and the Fraim looks dated! Fashion's a strange thing.

It is furniture quality, but there have been problems with some of the levels/legs having dirty white marks under the lacquer. These are being slowly resolved.

Three points to make about Isoblue:

a) You'll need to Araldite the threaded metal inserts, which accept the spikes, into the base legs to ensure a solid connection. At the same time, make sure you screw them in perfectly perpendicular, as they tend to come skew from the factory.

b) Place the rack on the wonderful Fraim Chips. It takes the rack into a different league.

c) Lots of gaps (hence levels) gives the overall height necessary for good cable management and each component the ideal isolation. I find that without the gaps between every component, the standard 120mm shelf level measurement causes the sound to suffer.

Sorry to butt in but i have a Isoblue related question that maybe count.d or anyone else could answer.

With just a cd player and integrated amp , if i used Isoblue it would be very low [for me old back you know !]. Would it be a waste to put the Isoblue on a sub-table of sorts to raise the height.

Greatful for any thoughts.

Michael.

Michael,

I think 2 or 3 levels of any rack would be low. I would have thought it was best to have a few levels of the same rack to achieve the height you needed and don't use the rest of them.

Any further info on availability of the Special Branch?

Isoblue website says it's now available with normal lead times of 7-14 days.