A vote about FiiO Desktop HIFI Active Speaker Concept Design

[FiiO]

Today, we would like to make a summary of all the concept designs shared over the last few days. It should be noted that these are conceptual products without much consideration on the design, craftsmanship, cost, and realization of functions. So we can just take a simple look at it instead of taking it too seriously. For some designs that involve functionality, we have applied for patents in advance. Therefore, there may be opportunities for these concept designs to become actual products in the future. But the main purposes of sharing them are as follows.

First, to make the development behind the product more transparent, so that users can understand that it is not easy for the birth of a product. Not only will it take a lot of time (some projects can take up to 3 years), but there may also be many failed schemes. There are many reasons for the failure. More importantly, a product developed with hard work may not necessarily be successful and be received by the market and users.

Second, to share concept products is to introduce some of our styles and design directions of our future products to potential users in advance. Therefore, we can also learn about needs and preferences by interacting with consumers.

 

[senorx12562]

Based solely on appearance, B, C, or F.

 

[kmhaynes]

C looks like speakers. All others look like ... comic books. Sorry I'm boring and care way more about how they sound, not how they look!

 

[Unseen Aura]

D

Most humans seem to have exceedingly boring taste, no wonder most products look like schiit, sound isn't everything.

 

[szore]

c

 

[alota]

A and F

 

[nishan99]

F
Because of the looks and MTMs rock!.

 

[Redcarmoose]

F is it. It looks classic.

 

[alota]

F seems D'Appolito configuration

 

[Redcarmoose]

D'Appolito

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwoofer-tweeter-midwoofer

 

[SoundDouble]

I like B or F but maybe there's too much gloss on B?

 

[Plautus001]

F - Sirst choice

C - Second choice

 

[whitedragem]

I am totally freaked out by the sound dispersion properties of many of those designs, and, sadly, I cannot turn off that aspect of critique when considering these 'ideas'.
(Form follows function!)

I think 'D' is cute if it has a mirrored grill for the 'other speaker' (and much measurement goes into the purpose of those grills so that they achieve something practical.

Beyond that, whilst 'B' looks like it might have the best of both practicality and potential functionality (again, assuming a 'mirrored grill' for the reciprocal speaker), the one that I find beautiful is 'E';
E lloks like it would survive children poking at it... or that it might have a ribbon type sound (or some funky driver technology).
Given our mind carries much of the sound we hear (perception bias) I would have faith in E being capable of 'punching above its weight.

F could lead to commercial success OR failure.
Many manufacturers recognise that having less tricky crossover to deal with is an advantage, hence '3 way designs' often being dropped in favour of '2 way' designs (I have some generation one Krix Apex speakers that are 3 way, the later units being 2 driver affairs as an example that is in front of me as I write this).
Whether consumers see 'value' in the extra speaker driver, due to the same price point typically giving less, might lead to sales,.. but then comparison reviews better yield some positive takes: and the crossover IS where the magic happens...

E, just seems funky.
I'd like some further thought to be given to the design based on the ultimate use for the speakers (ie don't be a 'jack of all trades' part, perhaps); axial radiation/dispersion is a large part of this game.. many design quite happy to make a tweeter have no sidewall (jut out the top of the housing etc).. Thin speakers typically yield great spread etc...

Is this for up close use, ie desktop; then OWN IT!; and build it to do one task WELL!
That is where the covers on D (and E) look like they could prove something special. ('A' arguably as well; could that achieve something like a Bose direct reflecting model if near a sidewall?; their magic was mostly in setting the crossovers at different points for each of the tweeter/mids, they had a 'valve like sound' for vocals, no doubt aided by an uninterupted crossover point in the vocal range (due to redundencies, by having two, set differently).

Whatever you land on, congratualtions for being proactive and getting 'us' involved.

 

[FiiO]

Thanks for all the feedback.

 

[whitedragem]

Some practical things to consider for 'active' speakers;

sealed designs require more power (generally) to perform equally to ported designs (regarding bass frequencies).
So an active design, with less requisite spending into amp power (and hence cooling), would be to use a port.

So as not to lose prospective sales, knowing these will be 'desktop' speakers, yet not all desks are against a wall; I'd suggest a down firing port configuration.

Would give tuning control back to your engineers, as the stand dictates the total distance from the surface the bass frequencies would radiate on.
So long as you have enough amp power to 'rattle the desk'; these could prove a 'gamers delight'; feeling bass notes in their keyboard and mouse having a slight vibration.

Not saying any of this is ideal for associated electronics, but we have moved past platter (hard) drives, and most equipment is generally fairly 'solid state' and can handle the vibration.

The only reason I post this is due to the nice (slight) angle you have on all those speaker photos.
Including a 'speaker base' that gives them an angle towards a users face, is a nice idea.

If you were to take this idea further, a few things to consider:
firstly- looking at speaker 'A' in the above photos; it almost looks like it has a super tweeter facing up (!?)
maybe work with this idea...
I have some older wharfdales that had turnable tweeters, handy for some setups, and 'variability' in placement (arguably)...

Maybe you could put a 'twistable' second tweeter in the top, do the bose 'direct reflecting' style (two different crossover points for each of the tweeters, so a 'very smooth sound' (with no significant drop in frequency due to crossovers)); if a users desk is 'near a wall/sidewall; they could use it... if not, they could have the speaker facing straight forward, and still have the high frequencies tailored towards them with the 'top driver' (sticking out the top of the box) be twisted...

An example of directable tweeters (but was prone to failure, hence the dust on this UNUSED speaker; I have four of these, and ONE still works). Facing straight up with a plastic tunnel/tube to control the sound would work well and keep the mechanical part rigid in body(ideal).
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Of practical interest to MANY PUNDITS would be to make the front face of the speaker small, and the rear wall 'large' (in an attempt to have a larger cabinent size and whatever crazy benefits your audio team can squeeze out of playing with internal baffles and 'wave control' (including porting out the bottom)... (akin to 'transmission line designs' conceptually)..
This does up cost, sure, but you would be selling into a market that isn't purely interested in cost...
presently EVERYONE is limited on their desktop speaker setups regarding how close they can be placed to their monitor.
Speaker sidewalls mean that the drivers get placed 'further away' from the central listening position.
If we ideally want a triangle of sorts, modern 21:9 monitors/dual monitor situations mean the speakers start to get 'too far out', from ideal location.
A speaker design using a smaller front surface, means that the speaker drivers could be closest to the central spot, yet yield a sound quality that comes with larger cabinetry. (which would be mostly tucked behind the monitor...

I will try to draw some ideas (although presently have a mostly broken right wrist, which limits me completely).

Thin fronts have benefits for dispersion/localisation of sound..
I'd be tempted to put the woofer underneath the speaker (and have stands give it clearance from desk). Could be passive and not wired up, just used for loading....(and pushing bass freq lower).

Never be afraid to do unsual things (if they sound great; that is the ultimate pursuit)

Krix Apex speakers; pretty sure later models dropped to one bass driver. (easier time with the crossover, yes?)