I'm on the way home from CES so I figured I would post some pics of some cool stuff around the shop. I talked Scott into letting me take some pictures of the new 22" basket as well as new proprietary speaker measurement system utilizing a laser and some other cool stuff hanging out at the shop.

Here's the measurement system: It is attached to a 400lb 4" thick solid piece of solid granite.

YES

22" basket? Prove it!

Here's one of the Lathe's as well as one of our CNC's in action cutting poles.

Look...it's the SMD!!

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!

Pics of the 22" 12 spoke frame! This thing is huuuuuuuuuuuuge! Below is a pic of an SSD motor on top of the basket. The entire family of 12 spokes is in this picture, 22", 18", 15", 12", 10" and 8" as well. Excuse the dust on the 8, I just noticed it in the picture and i'm not dragging them all back out for a new photo shoot Let us know what ya think!

Thanks for looking!

-Nick

That 22'' 12 spoke is SICK

Nick,

Will the motor be changed for the 22"? It looks too small. Also, are there any advantages to larger drivers besides cone area. Lets say, that with a 10" driver you have a certain amount of bl, and when you put the same size motor on a 22" basket and have 300 sq. in. more cone area wouldn't there be increased mechanical stress, less excursion capabilities, and much more air resistance?

I doubt the 22 would get a sissy motor, this is Fi we're talking about

I doubt the 22 would get a sissy motor, this is Fi we're talking about

To my knowledge all Fi motors are the same size, 10"-18".

Well, they are optimized for the application, so you dont have to worry about sub-par performance. No pun intended lol

Just had an SSD motor sitting here...so put it on the basket for the picture.

Can't use it for that woofer, it'l have a substantial motor when it's all said and done.

Well, they are optimized for the application, so you dont have to worry about sub-par performance. No pun intended lol

I understand what you are saying, theoretically it might work like that. But I would like a technical explination of why.

Just had an SSD motor sitting here...so put it on the basket for the picture.

Can't use it for that woofer, it'l have a substantial motor when it's all said and done.

So it this a new woofer? Or will you just be adding a 22" capability to the whole line?

Well, they are optimized for the application, so you dont have to worry about sub-par performance. No pun intended lol

I understand what you are saying, theoretically it might work like that. But I would like a technical explination of why.

I'll leave that one for Scott or Nick to speak of, as I relegate myself to hang back and watch

Well, they are optimized for the application, so you dont have to worry about sub-par performance. No pun intended lol

I understand what you are saying, theoretically it might work like that. But I would like a technical explination of why.

I'll leave that one for Scott or Nick to speak of, as I relegate myself to hang back and watch

Thats why I addressed it to Nick

Pics of the 22" 12 spoke frame! This thing is huuuuuuuuuuuuge! Below is a pic of an SSD motor on top of the basket. The entire family of 12 spokes is in this picture, 22", 18", 15", 12", 10" and 8" as well. Excuse the dust on the 8, I just noticed it in the picture and i'm not dragging them all back out for a new photo shoot Let us know what ya think!

Thanks for looking!

-Nick

Thats one hell of an impressive basket, I'm picturing this with a 12" triple stack motor on it. MTX's JockHummer can't touch that.

ahhhhhh 22 inches to match my rims!

Mmmmmmm check out that 1ft long split gap former in the first pic

Nick ...how was it on the CES ...? did Fi or AA present that 22" there (any info for power,price range,production,...) :bigclap: :bigclap:

...did u see anythin breathtakin ... :wacky:

btw. whats the laser for ?

Only thing we can use the SSD motor on the 22" for is the IB series. Simply not enough motor strength to push the moving mass of a 22" cone with any sort of specs that would fall in line with the rest of the SSD series. Like Nick mentioned, more for a sense of scale than anything.

We are still looking at what we will be able to strap that basket too in the current lineup. Most likely only the BL and BTL. Even the Q wouldnt have enough push behind it for the moving mass. 2 changes to be made to the current tooling as things were a little thin. Hopefully we will have another sample before CNY and things close down over there for a couple of weeks. We are still waiting for the surround and gasket samples. Im also up in the air on cones. We have made a tool for making composite cones in house, but I dont want the expense on something like an IB3 series driver (which the IB crowd for HT as shown great interest in). We might simply have to tool a paper cone to fill out the lineup with a more cost conscious alternative.

The laser is used to measure displacement (in and out) in order to correlate t/s parameters vs excursion and frequency. Its our "poor mans" Klippel that actually has features that the standard Klippel does not like scanning vibrometry. That is a totally separate system for the Klippel and about doubles the cost of an already pricey system. The rotary table for it is separate and only holds up to an 8" driver. No need to measure larger drivers right now (unless they are full range units) and when that time comes I will simply make a new rotary holder as well as a longer linear stage for the laser. For subs the cones should be acting pistonically in the operating range, so modes arent an issue no need to measure them. I could measure the surrounds to see at what frequencies and excursions things start to operate a little wacky at... but I doubt Ill find the time for that anytime soon.

Bottom of the rig is the rack mounted dual computer system that controls the laser and measurement systems. Still more things to work through, but its serving us well so far

Thanks,

Scott

Why not make composite cones an option to add? Just like the other customizable things you can do to your subs before ordering.

Only thing we can use the SSD motor on the 22" for is the IB series. Simply not enough motor strength to push the moving mass of a 22" cone with any sort of specs that would fall in line with the rest of the SSD series. Like Nick mentioned, more for a sense of scale than anything.

We are still looking at what we will be able to strap that basket too in the current lineup. Most likely only the BL and BTL. Even the Q wouldnt have enough push behind it for the moving mass. 2 changes to be made to the current tooling as things were a little thin. Hopefully we will have another sample before CNY and things close down over there for a couple of weeks. We are still waiting for the surround and gasket samples. Im also up in the air on cones. We have made a tool for making composite cones in house, but I dont want the expense on something like an IB3 series driver (which the IB crowd for HT as shown great interest in). We might simply have to tool a paper cone to fill out the lineup with a more cost conscious alternative.

Thanks,

Scott

Scott, that is the answer I was looking for, thank you very much.

I also second the composite cone option

Not the biggest fan of composite cones. While we have the ability to do them, Im not looking to really ramp up any sort of production for all sizes. The 22 made sense as it is getting rather large and is going to be a smaller quantity niche item. But adding that as an option to all sizes would really put it to us to have dedicated employees just for that.

In testing composite cones from vendors, none of them want to make the retool without a fair amount of $$$ to address the most common failure mode I have seen. Until some one does, we wont be adding them (or unless I find an out of work composites worker that wants to relocate ) Big point is I dont want to add an option that I feel isnt a really all around solid upgrade to the line ($$$/benefit). Especially if its going to cost quite a bit. Last time I checked, DD didnt sell composite cones for $6.95 each. Good cones arent cheap.

These pics made my day. I have always been interested in seeing behind the scenes type stuff. The longer I attend college, the more I am interested in those things.

I appreciate you guys sharing this with us.