Exodus Updates! Come here for the latest news!

[Kevin Haskins]

Ok... I'm going to post this as a running blog so that people can keep up with what the latest news is for products related to Exodus Audio. This is the place to come and look for news, product development, changing product situations and anything that has to do with Exodus subwoofer & loudspeaker development. This will be updated monthly or as I get the urge, whichever happens first.


Exodus Driver Updates:

* Shiva-X: Dual 2-ohm coil, tinsel leads stitched into the spider and update to induction rings (implement CuAl technology), larger diameter voice coil for a little more BL & power handling. Estimated Price Point: $195
* Tempest-X: Dual 2-ohm coil, tinsel leads stitched into the spider and update to induction rings (implement CuAl technology), larger diameter voice coil for a little more BL & power handling. Estimated Price Point: $225
* Maelstrom-X: Dual 2-ohm coil, and tinsel leads stitched into the spider, improved glue area in triple joint. Otherwise unchanged. The Maelstrom already has the AlCu inductance rings and the voice coil/former size will not change. Estimated Price Point: $415


New Products:

* Exodus Tweeter: This will be sometime in 2009 but it is being developed primarily for the finished Exodus Loudspeaker linup. Estimated Price Point $250

* Sicko 21": This is definitely going to take longer than expected. The quotes I'm getting for production are much higher than our target price, about double what I'd hoped. We are still working this though and I'm hopeful we can redesign a couple parts, and work over our vendors a little to get the price down. If not, I'll still move forward but in smaller expected quantities. Projected price at this time is in the $3K-$4K range.

*Exodus Loudspeakers: These will not be a kit, but a line of finished loudspeakers. These are not budget products, they are a little further up the food chain of loudspeakers. My design choice was not to so much chase after the budget category. I wanted to design something that didn't really have a budget constraint and allowed me to make choices based upon freedom from hitting a price point. Having said that, they are not uber high-end audio products that nobody can afford. Look for these sometime in 2009.


Products that won't make it to development:

Woofer Widget: This is going to die on the vine. The cost of development, support headache vs. what I could sell it for just doesn't make business sense. There is nothing wrong with the underlying technology, it just doesn't make sense for a business as small as mine to put all it's eggs in one basket and I don't have the time to support it.

Kevin Haskins
Exodus Audio

[Kevin Haskins]

Ok... I've updated some information above. The prices I have listed above are ESTIMATED pricing. I've highlighted those areas to clarify that point.

This is a good time to clarify how I determine pricing. It is pretty simple. I have a multiplier based upon my cost and I adjust the retail price after every order. This way the price is always changing but it has the advantage of correcting the price based upon the current cost. It tends to be small adjustments in pricing rather than big ones and it accurately reflects changing commodity, and shipping prices which are not static. I've developed this process since starting so some of the prices may change drastically at first, and over time they will change less so.

So... the only way I know the actual price, is when I get the final cost of import and shipping. I also add a warehousing fee for the larger drivers because I have to pay for extra warehouse space that I don't have. I use an off-site warehouse for overflow and they charge me by the pallet space. I add a surcharge on the large format drivers to cover that relative to the smaller drivers because they take up more than twice the space. Also, the shipping cost from China is based upon weight & volume. I have an internal method that approximates the difference and I allocate that to the bottom-line price on the product. Big subs are larger and heavier, and they account for more of the shipping cost than do the small ones.

Overall, this is more information than most people need but I just wanted people know that there is a method to my madness. The good news is that commodity prices are headed back down and shipping prices should too. It will take some time for that to be reflected in actual product and I think in many cases, companies won't be reversing charges because they need the extra margin to survive in tough economic conditions. Time will tell.

Kevin Haskins
Exodus Audio

[Kevin Haskins]

The Maelstroms are going to be in limited supply until I get my next order in March. I have stock now but that isn't going to last at the current rate they are selling.

I have enough coming for the next production run that stock shouldn't be an issue going forward.

Also... I'm prototyping a 21" version of the Maelstrom. It uses a slightly modified motor but has a lot in common with the 18" motor. I'm in the process of tooling the cone & surround, which will be shared with the Sicko 21". Since the surround has to support the Sicko 60mm of excursion, it is a full 50mm roll. More than we need on the Maelstrom-21", but that ends up being a good thing. The large surround reduces the Sd to around 1450-1480 cm^2, which helps keep box sizes reasonable. It looks good in 8 cubic foot sealed and 12 cubic foot with a pair of PR-18s looks simply devastating.

Here are some PROJECTED parameters. These are not representative of a shipping product. They WILL change once in production. These should be within spitting distance of the final parameters though.

Re: 3.9 Ohms
Fs: 18Hz
Qms: 12.08
Qes: 0.467
Qts: 0.45
Mms: 550g
Cms: 0.15 mm/N
Sd: 1450 cm^2
Vas: 439L
BL: 22.6 N/A
Xmax: 32mm one-way
Xmech: 40mm
Vd: 9388 cm^3
Pmax: 1800W

Projected price < $600 range.

Kevin Haskins
Exodus Audio

[Kevin Haskins]

Latest Updates: 3-20-2009


Maelstrom-21" on track. I should have early Klippel data within a couple weeks.

Exodus Loudspeakers: This is on hold, mainly because of the world-wide credit meltdown. My bank killed my line of credit even though I've been a good customer. This seems to be trend across the banking industry as several of my friends who run/operate small companies are seeing their lines of credit pulled. I guess all those billions of tax payer dollars are not enough for them.

Anyway, I've looked at other ways of capitalizing this but none of them look too attractive. My bank line of credit had a nice 6% rate, the alternates I'm looking into all have guys named Guido who will break my legs if I'm late on a payment. I think I'll hold-off on the speakers until I can pay for the first production run out of pocket.


Sicko-21": I'm still pursuing this but it won't go forward until I have the cash flow to support a production run. They may end up slipping into next year along with the loudspeaker project.

That is it for now. The Great Recession of 2008, 2009, 2010... etc... has not had much effect here. Business is good even though the credit isn't flowing like in the old days. That is probably a good thing considering the havoc the banks and the financial wizards brought upon our economy.

Kevin Haskins
Exodus Audio

[Kevin Haskins]

Updates: 5-30-2009

Maelstrom-21": I have placed the purchase order, I'm estimating 70-90 days at this point. I'll probably have them sometime around the end of summer.

PR-21": I'm probably going to get a small volume of PR-21"s made at the same time. We are looking into the possibility of running them with the Maelstrom-21" order.

Tempest-X Gen II: It is on the same shipment as the Maelstrom-21"

Shiva-X Gen II: These will arrive sometime late fall. I still have stock of the first generation Shiva-X so that has to sell out first.


Kevin Haskins
Exodus Audio

[Kevin Haskins]

Maelstrom-18"s should be entering port next week. If we are lucky, I'll have them by 6-19-09 (Friday).

The Maelstrom-21" & Tempest-X GenII are projected for sometime in August.

Just an update.

Kevin Haskins
Exodus Audio