Hinoki looks does matter!

Few weeks ago I had to choose between one of the two Speed90 Cpen blades.  Both blades weight exactly at 89 grams.  The comparisons and claims are between these two blades only.

Blade 1: Tighter grain (mostly 2-3 times as dense), grain lines are not clear, darker in color, color across the surface is not as uniform and when knock with index finger nail, it produce deeper and more echo sound.

Blade 2: Wider grain, grain lines are quite clear, lighter in color, color is uniform and when knock with index finger nail, it produce more of a flat sound (like "plak-plak" v.s. "plock-plock" for blade 1  )

With helps from some forum members, I have chosen blade one.  However, my friend and I chose the same FH rubber, which is Xtend 2.0 black, so I am able to compare both setups. Weight of the setup are 160 grams and 157 grams repectively.

At the end, I can only notice that,

1) Blade 1 is indeed faster.  Just a little, not very different.

2) Blade 2 does vibrates more.  Again, just a little.  (For some of you, both blades might not vibrates at all)

I can't really tell their differences in term of throw angle, feeling or performance in matches.

Conclusion: For 1 ply hinoki, within the same model, there would be some small variations which we would be able to determine by looks as well.