FI car audio praises and complaints

[goldmax99 0]

Before buying from a small new company, I want to people to chime in with their experiences with them. From buying to warranty claims to technical issues you might have had with them. Please give details of the good, bad and ugly.

[ddeitz 0]

Before buying from a small new company, I want to people to chime in with their experiences with them. From buying to warranty claims to technical issues you might have had with them. Please give details of the good, bad and ugly.

ive never bought anything new from them, i ended up buying a used BTL off someone, the build quality was great..awesome driver. I emailed about a recone for it and recieved a response in i believe 1 day.

[cx-7heaven 7]

I bought an ascendant audio(FI) havoc 18 new about 10 months ago. It's rated at 1250 rms, and it takes a sundown 1500 d all day long, still going strong. Very good company, am looking to buy another one soon.

[jonbearsmt 919]

i dont think FI is that "small" you have prolly never heard of them but what ever,

i bought my subs almost a year ago, all options, i run an saz 3000d on two bl 15's. no complants , thay run hard and play rough,

when i bought my subs i did not know about this fourm... scott walked me thru picking a sub,

ill sell you my subs if you want them

[coobies5 43]

i dont think FI is that "small" you have prolly never heard of them but what ever,

i bought my subs almost a year ago, all options, i run an saz 3000d on two bl 15's. no complants , thay run hard and play rough,

when i bought my subs i did not know about this fourm... scott walked me thru picking a sub,

ill sell you my subs if you want them

i was able to hear them yesterday with bigjon and man they are loud and sound clear as day, i tried callin you back about the bbq, but i got your voicemail, so i just grubbed at sonic, thanks for the invite though

[jonbearsmt 919]

i dont think FI is that "small" you have prolly never heard of them but what ever,

i bought my subs almost a year ago, all options, i run an saz 3000d on two bl 15's. no complants , thay run hard and play rough,

when i bought my subs i did not know about this fourm... scott walked me thru picking a sub,

ill sell you my subs if you want them

i was able to hear them yesterday with bigjon and man they are loud and sound clear as day, i tried callin you back about the bbq, but i got your voicemail, so i just grubbed at sonic, thanks for the invite though

yeah man i wish i could have heard urs.. maybe next time....

my phone went dead, i had my lil brothers grad party to go to (hes a ssa member too "tech" i think) i went my the star plex and you werent there! we went to that party, then came back to the house and started BBQ'n around 11! we drank well 5am next time we will have to get togather again.

you dont have to lie man, tell me tha truth about what u thought,

IMO i think i need work on my highs, and some sound mat.

and ill sell my subs and box to the highest bidder:P

i think im gonna check out the BTL's

[tejcurrent 13]

Fi's been around quite a while now. Going on 2 years soon iirc.

I bought my first loaded BTL 18 around oct 2006, originally powered off a hifonics 2006d. Man I thought that was such a good combo! After switching to a Memphis 4k I realized it could take so much more power if run cleanly. I eventually added more subs and amps, and continue to be pleased with the BTLs. They sound great on music too imo.

My brother has a Fi BL 12 on a hifonics 2006d, and it does great on a daily basis. I've heard the SSD and Q as well, and was impressed every time. They were always in good enclosures though..

The customer service is excellent, and the product speaks for itself.

[goldmax99 0]

I'm sure FI makes a great sounding sub from everything I've read, but I'm more worried about the sub making it for the long haul. I've read many posts about broken tinsels and reconing. Why are there so many of these occurrences?

As for bigjohn's used 15's....I only have room for one 12". But thanks anyways.

[jonbearsmt 919]

I'm sure FI makes a great sounding sub from everything I've read, but I'm more worried about the sub making it for the long haul. I've read many posts about broken tinsels and reconing. Why are there so many of these occurrences?

As for bigjohn's used 15's....I only have room for one 12". But thanks anyways.

well i can try and tell you a little about why you read so much about recones and such on here...

this is fourm where the MAIN guys from FI read and chat... so alot of people just come here to find out a price on parts thay need.... 10,000 subs built and you see 100 people ask about recones on here u see what im sayin...

i donno how many subs ahve been built i just know its alot!!!!.

people push there subs! thay wanna see the limits. you will too!

the tinsels..... you can buy extream leads... and that gives alot of room for exusion.. but then you may have some slap on the cone...... the btls have the leads between the spiders i think.. so thay wont break.

but tinsel breakage is a commen problem with subs that play hard.

kicker being the weakest IMO.

[JimJ 11]

Why are there so many of these occurrences?

With the exception of SPL competitors, there's really no reason for them to break other than people that buy them often don't have a clue how to run them within their limits.

If you know what you're doing you'll have absolutely no problems unless you win the manufacturing defect lottery, in which case you're covered by warranty anyway (BTL exempted)

[jonbearsmt 919]

Why are there so many of these occurrences?

With the exception of SPL competitors, there's really no reason for them to break other than people that buy them often don't have a clue how to run them within their limits.

If you know what you're doing you'll have absolutely no problems unless you win the manufacturing defect lottery, in which case you're covered by warranty anyway (BTL exempted)

indeed. i have not had any problems with mine.. and it has been near a year.

[Robert_J 0]

Fi's been around quite a while now. Going on 2 years soon iirc.

And don't forget about Resonant Engineering and before that FRC Sound. Scott has had a LOT of experience but not all under the Fi name.

-Robert

[snb778 1]

I just ordered a sub from them on last Tues. or Wed... How long should I expect to wait to get it... They just finished the online transaction process today, almost 1 week later

[Cr@sh 0]

The only thing I know about them is the wait! Other then that everyone raves about the products. I can't wait to be one of those people

[appleyard 0]

I heard that the ex owner of RE is starting a new company. When I search and found Fi. What really pull me to get some sub from them is the result of the Great 12 challenge and I'm glad I did buy from them.

The only complaint that I have is to get Scott to answer my email but he always get back to me even after going through more than 1000 emails a day, building subs, running a company and trying to stay human like eat and sleep.

[dsgfierce1 0]

no complaints here best sub i have ever bought loudest to fi is a beast. you cant go wrong with any of there subs imo

[theabunai 3]

You see those things about tinsel leads and recones cause they don't HIDE anything...

If JL had a similar way of handling warranties their forum would be littered with the same threads... as would any subwoofer manufacturer... I work at a shop that is authorized RF dealer and i see about a pair of subs a week come back for warranty...

Fi may be fairly new (2 + years) but the owner has been around for many years. not just owning RE pre 07 and helping it rise to the top in the lanes but has been developing subs for some time now...

not only does scott make Fi subs, he OEMS for 3 other companies.. that's a testament to his background knowledge

Everything is not hidden here because this is a stand up company.. More importantly scott listens and takes in input from us Customers... In it's infancy the BTL had an issue with tinsel slap... that was resolved with a change in the tinsel make-up... And that happened cause scott allows all things to be posted here so he can take it in and improve on an already great product.... this is pretty good testament of the type of company they are...

your concerns are well warranted... i felt the same way... I am glad i decided to give the company a chance... I bought my first Fi a month after they opened and never looked back... i haven't used any other sub in my ride since and work at a car audio shop with top brands like RF, pioneer, crossfire and Focal... Still find that Fi has a great product for a great price and with a great warranty/customer service... It may take long for a response but the company has definitely grown since myself and a few others have seen it when it first was opened..

one thing is for sure... You WILL be happy with what you get from Fi and the best part is, you'll be happier should you ever need to resolve an issue with your purchase...

[goldmax99 0]

You see those things about tinsel leads and recones cause they don't HIDE anything...

Wow thanks for such a great post. I'm still undecided about which product to buy since I've been reading great things about other products too like the new Mag and the Icon, but this post will definitively help in my decision toward picking Fi.

[idlewild 0]

The only problem with mine(12" ssd) was the wait time it took about a month but I live in canada and had it sent US/Canada post to save money on the duty. It was well worth the wait. I'm a Installer here and it's the loudest sub I've heard in a long time. Build Quality is fantastic, great sq as well as SPL. I'm very happy with my purchase. I too was hesitant at first but now I wish I would have done it sooner. The problem now is everybody at work want's one too!

[nick_19 1]

I've emailed Scott before about a Q vs Havoc. Very honest, polite, fast, and knowledgeable response.

Bought a AA Havoc (owned by FI) and I love it. Great sub. Can't go wrong w/ dis company IMO.

[penguin3820 0]

Before buying from a small new company, I want to people to chime in with their experiences with them. From buying to warranty claims to technical issues you might have had with them. Please give details of the good, bad and ugly.

and in terms of the warrenty fi is second to none. they helped me out with my Qs when I had no clue what was wrong. I was in vegas so I went by and they helped me fix my seat to give them more clearance and they even reconed one that was having problems. They did it at no charge. And to go with what everyone else has said the guys from Fi are on this forum and help people out with problems and box builds and anything they need

[scizzle 0]

I just got 2 ssd's and the total wait time was 2 weeks then I got them. beautiful subs having them installed this week.

[chans 0]

I have send e-mails several time to Scott and Nick, but there is no response. I don't know what's happen. Every mail sent, the automaticly response always about full inbox and may delay response. Please Nick and Scott give attn for this, I needed your response asap. But if you have not received my mails I can understand. Please contact me : chandra@portalaudioshop.com

thanks.

[NDMstang65 403]

I've told you 10 times how much the Q is, I remember it was either 137 dollars or 176 dollars of additional shipping? Scott has emailed you the price sheet for the international distributorship multiple times, as have I.

[bigdog829 0]

Well we got our first shipment yesterday, I gotta say the no phone number thing sucks but we finally did talk to Scott personally.

Well anyway the Subs are nothing short of amazing, never seen a sub built like this, completely worth the wait.

Got 3 of 4 last one should be here today.

4 15" BTL's

Will post some pics in the build log I'm gonna start.

Thanks a lot Scott.