Subwoofer arrived, broken is my heart

[Particle]

I ordered a custom subwoofer from Fi three weeks ago for a project of mine. For those not familiar with them, they custom-build woofers for customers and even give configuration options so that a customer can get exactly what their project happens to need. They offer a "Q" line that is meant to offer outstanding sound quality, and it was the 12-inch version of that I had ordered, fully loaded with all available improvements. It's tweaked for sealed enclosures, has all the cooling options, etc. It could probably handle a good 1500 watts if you wanted it to, but that isn't necessary.

It arrived Friday, but nobody was home to receive it. Today, however, the UPS driver left it. After work, I opened the box. The packaging had apparently failed. There was no apparent physical damage to the unit, however.

http://pcrpg.org/pics/misc/100_1192_res_800x600.jpg (http://pcrpg.org/pics/misc/100_1192.JPG)

Off to a good start!

http://pcrpg.org/pics/misc/100_1194_res_800x600.jpg (http://pcrpg.org/pics/misc/100_1194.JPG)

Pretty nifty.

http://pcrpg.org/pics/misc/100_1195_res_800x600.jpg (http://pcrpg.org/pics/misc/100_1195.JPG)

:eek2:

One set of posts has two cracks. The other has three. There's some liquid in the cracks, too, as if someone tried to repair it with superglue or something. It could also be oil. Hard to tell. In either case, my heart is as the posts are tonight.

Shattered.

[dengyong]

So what's the plan ?

[Computurd]

Rma!!!

[STEvil]

Hit them up for parts, they will probably ship them out quick.

Give the driver a quick test to be sure the package failure wasnt "intentional" on the driver's part so he could "test" it...

[Donnie27]

Hit them up for parts, they will probably ship them out quick.

Give the driver a quick test to be sure the package failure wasnt "intentional" on the driver's part so he could "test" it...

Sad:(

Man that's a beautiful piece of Hardware! I got a couple projects but nothing that grand.

[Particle]

I'm not yet sure what I'll do. It looks unlikely to have been damaged by UPS due to the nature of the packaging and the damage, but I can't see Fi releasing a product broken in such a way, either. I've sent some video to Fi for review and will proceed based on their reply, even though as a company I'd expect them to just point at UPS regardless of what the situation is.

[Donnie27]

I'm not yet sure what I'll do. It looks unlikely to have been damaged by UPS due to the nature of the packaging and the damage, but I can't see Fi releasing a product broken in such a way, either. I've sent some video to Fi for review and will proceed based on their reply, even though as a company I'd expect them to just point at UPS regardless of what the situation is.

Normal BS from UPS but the good news is unlike two other times, the last time they screwed my shipment up, they quickly made amends. Even did a follow up, I joked with the guys, "Is this UPS?"

Again, Beautiful speaker!

[Computurd]

i had a phase unit get damaged in transit to me via UPS. crazy thing was in the tracking one of the fields was "Package Damaged In Transit, held for inspection"
when it was delivered they left it on the back porch, it was visibly damaged. a two foot long tear along the side of it. most of the parts that had been in a box inside of it had spilled out, it was just ridiculous.
then, when i filed it for insurance, they disputed that it was even damaged! took two months and me appealing it to get my money i was so pissed...all i wanted was the money for the mounting kit, which was missing the parts...only wanted 150 of the 1000 dollar insurance. very dissapointing.

[Particle]

Fi finally got back with me a couple of days ago. They offered two options to me:
1) Send the sub back and they'll repair it even though they think it looks like shipping damage. They'll repair it with a same-day turn-around.
2) They'll send new posts for me to repair myself to save on shipping fees and time.

They gave me the option, and I chose to get some new posts. I think I can handle that repair. They're throwing in a Fi t-shirt for my trouble. :) I'd always heard that their customer service is supposed to be good, and now I see why. No weaseling around with these guys.

[dengyong]

What's the project ?

[Particle]

It's probably not terribly exciting for the guys around here since I think this forum is mainly people doing home theater type stuff, but I've been trying to piece together a SQ-oriented system for my old 96 Camry SE. I'm not really interested much in being a boom car, so I've been taking my time to do everything as well as I can. I've got an oscope I'll be using to get the equipment balanced, and my goal is to get a nice balanced response curve approaching as close as I realistically can to good monitor cans.

At home I'm mainly on Sennheiser HD280s or digital wireless Sennheiser RS180s when I need to be mobile. These are paired up with an ASUS Xonar DX for some very clean output that can still drive high-impedance cans with a deal of authority. After using good headphones for so long, I nearly cringe when I try to listen to my music while on the road. It's like half the music isn't there, and I don't just mean the low end. It's missing the special nuances throughout the entire spectrum that make music fun and enjoyable. It's bland.

I'll be matching this Fi woofer up with an Image Dynamics CTX65CS 6.5" component set. They're only about $200 but are supposed to have the detail of sets in the $300-400 range. I hooked them up once for a function test after getting my doors worked over last week, and they were indeed quite amazing. It's also cute to think of how one single 6.5" woofer has the power handling capability of every speaker that the car came with combined...twice over. Again though, this project isn't about power. Total system output however will be approaching 1300W RMS, not that it'll ever be driven that hard. At least this way I'll have some room for decent dynamic range provided I can get the background noise down far enough for it to matter.

With any luck, I'll have a much better experience once I'm up and running.

[STEvil]

What kind of enclosure will you be using for the sub? If you have the space a transmission line might be the best way to go. If you dont have the space for a traditional one you can pinch the throat by 10% while keeping output quite smooth, just make sure you flare the mouth or expand the throat towards the end of the enclosure.

Fi are ok, but you would have done better with an LMS driver for SQ purposes.

[STEvil]

looks like you're not the only person with this issue:

http://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/topic/90693-broken-sub/

[Particle]

I'm using a sealed enclosure of ~1.3 ft^3. It's about as big as I can get away with due to the space available, so ported designs were out.

That the other guy you linked me to is having the same trouble with shattered posts is crazy. I wonder if Fi had a bad batch or something. It's clearly not a shipping damage problem even if Fi blamed it on UPS.

Fi should be alright. There's a lot of "Brand X is Best" out there, and I think it largely comes down to personal familiarity when dealing with hardware of the same general level. I knew I wanted something with a motor that would provide a pretty linear BL curve. That's a step up from what most people are using right off. I was just sad to see that XBL^2 is considered old hat now. The RE XXX no longer uses it, and that is what I'd really always wanted back in the day.

[Donnie27]

I'm using a sealed enclosure of ~1.3 ft^3. It's about as big as I can get away with due to the space available, so ported designs were out.

That the other guy you linked me to is having the same trouble with shattered posts is crazy. I wonder if Fi had a bad batch or something. It's clearly not a shipping damage problem even if Fi blamed it on UPS.

Fi should be alright. There's a lot of "Brand X is Best" out there, and I think it largely comes down to personal familiarity when dealing with hardware of the same general level. I knew I wanted something with a motor that would provide a pretty linear BL curve. That's a step up from what most people are using right off. I was just sad to see that XBL^2 is considered old hat now. The RE XXX no longer uses it, and that is what I'd really always wanted back in the day.

QFT!

@ STEVil

I'm looking for some cheap but good 10" Radiators for my Mains or else I will need to add another Port.

[STEvil]

I'm using a sealed enclosure of ~1.3 ft^3. It's about as big as I can get away with due to the space available, so ported designs were out.

That the other guy you linked me to is having the same trouble with shattered posts is crazy. I wonder if Fi had a bad batch or something. It's clearly not a shipping damage problem even if Fi blamed it on UPS.

Fi should be alright. There's a lot of "Brand X is Best" out there, and I think it largely comes down to personal familiarity when dealing with hardware of the same general level. I knew I wanted something with a motor that would provide a pretty linear BL curve. That's a step up from what most people are using right off. I was just sad to see that XBL^2 is considered old hat now. The RE XXX no longer uses it, and that is what I'd really always wanted back in the day.

You can still get XBL^2's from http://www.diycable.com/main/default.php

Also the other previous owner of adire audio went here: http://www.creativesound.ca/ (they carry lots of XBL products and TC Sounds as well)

[Particle]

Someone used to have some smaller drivers in the 6.5" range that used XBL^2 if I recall. It might have been pre-sale RE...not sure. That would have really been interesting for this build. I think the ID set will do fine though. :)

[STEvil]

Someone used to have some smaller drivers in the 6.5" range that used XBL^2 if I recall. It might have been pre-sale RE...not sure. That would have really been interesting for this build. I think the ID set will do fine though. :)

Adire.

Now they're available at diycable.