Escalante bamboo speakers
by Erwan Pianezza, Locronan, Brittany 
on 07.24.05
Have you ever thought of something like 'ecological sound' ? Well if you're a serious treehugger you've probably already read about Escalante eco effective speakers. Well it's good and unusual enough for a sound company to try to use best materials and promote environmental business trips...
But for Escalante that's not enough : yes even in the jungle of environmental friendly materials, some are better than others. And bamboo is definitely one of the most versatiles while eco efficient : its quick growth means it's highly renewable, and its usages go beyond the usual applications for wood products : bamboo can be used as textile too, or product finish.
Available as subwoofer or two-way reference mini-monitor, Escalante bamboo finished products have the same quality as other designs. Does the added value of the bamboo finish go beyond aesthetics ? We have not had the pleasure to test our best LPs on them but we'll bet that bamboo resonance properties will not remain unnoticed...
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I find it fascinating that the heritage product which underlies all high-end modern laminated bamboo applications is the fly rod. Orvis is a modern retail remnant of this heritage but there were plenty of other makers before fiberglass and finally carbon fiber took over. In the old fisherman catalogs the best rods were advertised as made on Tonkin" bamboo, and hand laminated. The best offf the shelf bamboo rods, often preferred by expert flyfishers, can cost up to $6,000 each. Custom variations are more. The older models, made prior to modern urethane glues, had periodically to be disassembled and the linear bamboo elements fully reglued, at significant expense. Find one of the famous oldies in a garage sale and its a collectors item of high value. Try an Ebay search and you'll see,