[Fi Audio]

Just a little feeler to see what people might be interested in seeing from a Fi "HT" line. We are trying to keep it realistic, although we can do just about anything that physics allows for.

Thanks,
Scott

 

[Fi Audio]

I actually had a chance to do some FEA for this last night and came up with a nice little solution (havent had a chance in long time to do FEA for fun...) I definitely think we can meet those goals at a reasonable price point. Only sticking point is the baskets... but I do have a solution for that as well with some plate and one of the CNCs Need to check on a patent as I have a feeling that there might be something covered on how I want to do things already. If not, Ill see about getting one going.

 

[Fi Audio]

Lol... I definitely dont work that way. I give credit where it is due, or figure another solution. I had heard mention that there was a patent on the Alumapro M16 style basket for its construction. I havent found anything, but will absolutely exhaust my search ability and that of my patent attorneys before I sell a single thing. While my design is no where near the same as theirs, I do need to see what the patent covers should there actually be one.

 

[Fi Audio]

Patents are funny things... there seems to be a cycle with the US Patent office on what they will and wont patent. Right now seems to be a better time to patent things as they are a little freer with them. A few years back denials were almost a given (mostly due to the lack of comprehension of what as trying to be patented).

Im always wary about other peoples IP. I have yet to find anything, and our design is definitely different... but I did want to see theirs, if there was one, first.

Might need to pull some fixtures off of one of the machines and make some chips

 

[Fi Audio]

I have played with FEA/Mechanical design of the taller profile surrounds for some time and have not found a profile and material combination that Im really happy with (yet). And while it appears that they might have something patent pending, there are an infinite array of profiles that could be done as well. Just a matter of finding a good "durable" combination of profile and materials. While I have ran across as well as designed a surround that worked well, it didnt last over 10 million cycles before developing modal stress points and visible wear. Granted this is at higher excursion, but isnt that the point?

We will keep playing with things when time permits.

 

[Fi Audio]

I have always been a fan of wide range drivers... truly there isnt a full range driver within any sort of realistic use out there. My computer speakers are wide range horn loaded 3" drivers with a bottom cut off of 55 Hz. I have designed several wide band drivers and if things ever settle down and I get free time to play in the lab Id love to turn the laser scanning vibrometer on a full range driver. It would give me a huge advantage over how I designed and tweaked the older drivers.

But... In all honesty Fi will probably stay a sub only company. Im not opposed to another company that caters to some more esoteric drivers, but I really dont think it is in line with what Fi is about.