Caraudio.com Member Spotlight Fi Audio

[CJL 10+ year member]

to me a loud bass race> than single tone setup

x2 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/naughty.gif.94359f346c0f1259df8038d60b41863e.gif

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

Im from CA... so due to laws there I can only carry 10 bullets. I used 2 the other night telling people about my phone and email hours...Might have used another one with my philosophy on competitor pricing... but if past experience means anything... that one was a blank.

Now for the 3rd bullet for real... I am not a basshead. In fact, I am a complete ***** when it comes to loud bass. David from RE will attest to that one. I have great hearing with no signs of tinnitus. And I plan to keep it that way. This is not to say I dont enjoy bass... I definitely do. Just not at the levels most kids run things at. A single 12 sealed works well for me (the Fi Vans will be a different story though //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif )

I am also not a fan of SPL competitions. I like them from the comradery and spectacle... but not for 3 seconds of burp. Kind of like my view on dragracing and Nascar.... Dragracing is amazing for the tech and shear horsepower (like dB Drags) but it doesnt do much for me. Punch it and 300mph in a 1/4 mile and you are done. Nascar is usually only turning the car in one direction... I might be able to make all lefts to get to work, but itll take me a long time. Rally, touring car, things that actually have more of a reality based usefulness to them interest me. I used to do lots of SCCA racing and build and set up chassis for mostly water cooled VW clients (first company was called FRC Sport Tuning.... which later became FRC Sound Works when I couldnt think up anything better to call my OEM speaker company).

Bassrace, on the other hand, has peaked my interest. So much infact that the BTL subs I am doing are kind of desinged around it. I think it is the future of SPL competitions... and infinitely more entertaining. Not just 78Hz, but all of them //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

I truly think that bassrace style competitons will take over the burp stuff.

Sounds like Scottie, he'd wear hearing protection when using a router in his shop when I was there. heh.

I think 6 SSD 12's should do something //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif...

nG

 

[bamaboy 5,000+ posts]

thats exactly why the BTL's are next on my list

gawt dam son

 

[Fi Car Audio 10+ year member]

By no means am I telling anyone to "drop out".... (Mods... do I need to make PSAs about staying in school to counteract that one //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif )

Just that it seemed I had a safe bet with the OEM company I was doing. Otherwise I would have stuck it out. One thing I learned quick in college and paid attention with my classmates was the fact that over 2/3 of them shouldnt have been ME majors. When it came time to design projects, they could work wonders on autocad and on paper... but they could never really make what they had designed. Screws in impossible spots holding pieces that simply couldnt be machined together. Then when we had to take a couple of hands on classes, I thought it was a joke when the teacher started asking about this wrench or that... and most couldnt tell you what they were called or had ever used one. I think being mechanically inclined should be somewhat of a prerequisite for bein an ME major. Watching them go through classes and learn the formulas and motions of being an ME student over the next 4 years... but never grasping the basic concepts of mechanics was scary. They graduated (and I didnt) but I am fearful of using whatever they do end up designing. I know one day I am going to die in a freak toilet paper roll holder disaster when the spring flys out and cuts my jugular... all from one of the designs by a classmate of mine //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Unless you have a sure bet... or balls of steel with a desire to match... finish. That piece of paper opens the doors to really let you shine (PSA over)

 

[MikeM231 10+ year member]

This is awsome, do you have a showroom? I would love to hear these things.

 

[andar 10+ year member]

Scott you could write a book and I'd read it...several times

 

[Fi Car Audio 10+ year member]

My ideas behind Fi? Simply offer quality products at a good price. Not trying to make millions off of it... the net simply wont accomdate for that right now... but I do think that there is enough of the pie to go around to support one more good company.... and I like pie //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

I have always found strong niche markets to build in. When larger buildhouses were saying no to anything less than 500 of any given size, type, or configuration, I picked up their scraps. I built smaller runs for some companies that have since gone on to be HUGE names. Interesting to see that most of these buildhouses are also gone now. Eminence is never going anywhere... and NCA is solid as well. Misco has a major niche going and seems to be strong... but lots of others are gone...

I think Fi finds a good niche in what I see the speaker trends to be moving towards. But... we will see. When ngsm13 is asking in five years... where is he now? (and Im selling bags of oranges off the 5fwy in LA) We can all look back at this one and laugh //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[Fi Car Audio 10+ year member]

FAR from a showroom. I have a warehouse and machine shop. Office? Yeah, its 8 feet off the ground above the small CNC on a pallet rack (sort of the truth, lol). Like I said, overhead is the killer. Lopping the fat off things as much as I can and passing the savings on. We spend the days machining and building. At night is when I am getting to emails. Things will change some when we get the larger CNC center in (supposed to be in last week but something got backordered....stupid backorders). Itll cut machine time by 50% again. Then I can actually get to emails as they come in and have a solid block of time for phones. And get back to my ultimate plan of extending my family and spending lots of time with them. (wont be around tomorrow as I am heading out to hike the narrows in Zion UT with wife and kid... Ill check in early AM on Suday)

Far cry from where I was a few months ago... Ah, an airconditioned office //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif But, there is something to be said for getting back to what I really enjoy too.

 

[andar 10+ year member]

Scott,

Do you think you will be providing dealers and local shops with your speakers, or are your sales going to be mostly private?

 

[DaveT 10+ year member]

Scott,
Do you think you will be providing dealers and local shops with your speakers, or are your sales going to be mostly private?

x2 I would really like to know this one

 

[Fi Car Audio 10+ year member]

Fi will be internet/direct only. Im sure you can get an idea from the basic pricing that there couldnt be much room for dealer margins. Thats not to say that I wont sell to dealers. I have sold a couple of subs to dealers as they felt the product was right for the money/client. How they marked it up I have no idea... not too mention if the customer ever searches and sees direct pricing.

I am staying away from the mish mash of dealer/direct stuff that I have done in the past. Too many issues. Fi is direct only. Plus, it would be rather difficult for a dealer to really stock many of the products as there are lots of options to choose from.

This is not to say that I wont have a dealer/brick mortar only company... just not in the next week //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif Very different premise and viewpoint to do a dealer based company.

 

[UndercoverPunk 5,000+ posts]

New York, or Chicago style pizza?

 

[andar 10+ year member]

Fi will be internet/direct only. Im sure you can get an idea from the basic pricing that there couldnt be much room for dealer margins. Thats not to say that I wont sell to dealers. I have sold a couple of subs to dealers as they felt the product was right for the money/client. How they marked it up I have no idea... not too mention if the customer ever searches and sees direct pricing. I am staying away from the mish mash of dealer/direct stuff that I have done in the past. Too many issues. Fi is direct only. Plus, it would be rather difficult for a dealer to really stock many of the products as there are lots of options to choose from.

This is not to say that I wont have a dealer/brick mortar only company... just not in the next week //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif Very different premise and viewpoint to do a dealer based company.

Sounds good! I'm not a huge fan of dealers.

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

How old is your kid? Interested in audio at all?

What do you want to be when you grow up? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Also, the names man... the names of the speakers... why?

nG

 

[UndercoverPunk 5,000+ posts]

How old is your kid? Interested in audio at all?
What do you want to be when you grow up? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Also, the names man... the names of the speakers... why?

nG

He really just wanted a BLT comment... that's all.