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Double Bass Acoustic Image Series III

Jazzman said:
Designing the 'hot half' of injection molding machines by day, I do not want to speculate how much that will drive the price up. I can't imagine AI makes enough units to reap the benefits of injection molding considering the significant cost investment it requires.

Are they using an outside mold maker or are they running the shells themselves?

We can only guess on this one. Were the Bose 802's P.A. speakers
produced with injection molding. Their the only polymer based cabinet that
think of that I have actually owned. Man.......were they heavy for their
reative size. :confused:
 
univac jr. said:
Chris

I think that is to protect the control knobs from breaking off 'in transit'. Although since they usually supply a nice case I'll be vexed too!

Many, many, many, many older Woods amps have bent
knobs. When Walter started bringing the sides out, there
were many, many, many less bent knobs. Looks like AI has
been doing their homework on this one.
 
I wonder how far this Series III update extends. The Coda and Contra clearly follow the Series III update path. But many other models are newer and never had a Series II. So what gets the new insides and outsides? I'm sure it's the Focus 1 and 2, but the Clarus too? What about the Clarus SL? The Focus SA? Hmmmm....
 
Jazzman said:
Designing the 'hot half' of injection molding machines by day, I do not want to speculate how much that will drive the price up. I can't imagine AI makes enough units to reap the benefits of injection molding considering the significant cost investment it requires.

Are they using an outside mold maker or are they running the shells themselves?

What are the advantages of injection molding over a wood cabinet for a speaker box?
 
macmrkt said:
I wonder how far this Series III update extends. The Coda and Contra clearly follow the Series III update path. But many other models are newer and never had a Series II. So what gets the new insides and outsides? I'm sure it's the Focus 1 and 2, but the Clarus too? What about the Clarus SL? The Focus SA? Hmmmm....

That's what's so frustrating (tantalizing) about trying to
speculate with only a drawing and a few words on the AI website.
Until someone gets their hands on one we all shooting in
the dark. My guess is that if they can get the Focus to
work in that little cab with twice the power of a Clarus then
it's history. But it's only speculation on my part. :eyebrow:
 
macmrkt said:
What are the advantages of injection molding over a wood cabinet for a speaker box?

Weight. Uniform density. No voids in the material. Quicker production time for the manufacturer. More control over the final product with regards to quality.

One would also assume the product would be more robust in comparison to wood, but that depends purely on their choice of resin. My guess would be they use something along the lines of a Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene/Polycarbonate blend (ABS + PC) or Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene/Polyvinyl Chloride blend (ABS + PVC)...probably with a glass fiber filler.
 
Well folks, here is what we do know. According to their web page
the Series III Amplifiers have "more power and headroom" and a
injection molded polymer cabinet. As I read many posts about
the Series II Contras and Codas I get a sense that the AI Combos
are less effective as the volume level rises.
Since the newer Series III's are more powerful, it would stand
to reason that it would be able to perform better at higher volume
levels. Will changing the cabinet, and razing the wattage and
headroom improve the sound from the downfiring 10"?
I know from personal experience that my 600 watt Walter Woods
sounds better than my 400 watt because more headroom improves
the amps performance. It's in cruise mode instead of overdrive.
 
macmrkt said:
What are the advantages of injection molding over a wood cabinet for a speaker box?
I used to have a pair of injection molded JBL 4682's, which had previously been the wood cabinet 4680. They were lighter, and due to the molded in handles, much easier to carry. :smug:

Sounded great, and in a time of larger drivers equalling more bass, really astounded people with the amount of bottom end those 4x10's could produce.
Ric Vice said:
The new series III is a real design change that's for sure!
I can't imagine why they would change a good design that
made sense ergonomically with the knobs on top, thus
easier to reach.
I like the new angled control panel. Maybe not as good for rigs down on the floor, but a good compromise to make it more user friendly for anyone with the amp higher up. Like the knob protection too, but they could do it without those corners sticking up. :o

And finally, as long as they're adding more power I hope they'll have an answer to the WWU - anyone else for a 1200 watt AI Ultra? :hyper:
 
Well, they definitely have sparked all our curiosity with this new announcement. There's currently two threads going about Walter Woods
repair that you might want to check out.
Walter once told me that the one of the reasons that the Ultra's
cost so much is that the switching power supplies required to produce
the 800-1,200 watts RMS were expensive and in demand for other
applications (therefore hard to come by). Walter's amps are worth
the money, believe me, but AI can come up with a comparable
amp at a lower price, then they have my attention!!!

Ric

:D
 
Yea this amp looks like the one piece of gear that combines all the useful features into one slick package. I like the way it looks, I like that it essentially has a Solstice built into it, I love the small versatile footprint. I'm saving my money....What they really ought to do is make a few available to some of the gear hounds here, for tweaking. I think that if I were floating a new product for the acoustic bassist I would let a few of the cats here put it thru its paces. Especially the guys who have gone thru all the amp/combo/cabnet packages. You can't buy that kind of experience and it would probably lead to a few tweaks that would make it an ideal product right from the release....Although they do a pretty good job as it is.
anyone know when they will really be on the market?
 
From the AI Website "Available end of September". Bob Gollihur has given
us the only hints that he can divulge at this time. Naturally, any company would be protective of leaking to much information before the roll out of
a new product. I hope that they are reading these posts (Rick Jones and AI) as well. I don't think that a company with the great reputation that
Acoustic Image has, would move a product into production unless they had
really "acid" tested the prototypes. That could be why it's taking awhile.

Ric
 
flatback said:
What they really ought to do is make a few available to some of the gear hounds here, for tweaking. I think that if I were floating a new product for the acoustic bassist I would let a few of the cats here put it thru its paces. Especially the guys who have gone thru all the amp/combo/cabnet packages. You can't buy that kind of experience and it would probably lead to a few tweaks that would make it an ideal product right from the release....

Sgt. SLUT reporting for duty, SIR! :D
 
As I stated in my recent thread, I really liked the "regular" Focus amp -- due to its size, power, and simplicity. However, the iamp800 was more appealing in a side-by-side comparison due to its increased headroom and volume. Bob didn't say much about the new Series III AI amps -- other than what's already been rumored.

I have to agree with you guys, a 2 Channel head that has considerably more power and versatile input options would be awfully tough to beat. Bob did say that there wouldn't be too much of a price increase in the new AI models, so stack something like $1400 up against a WW for $2400.

That extra grand could buy a pretty cool speaker cabinet to go with the new head! (EA NL2x10...)

I second the motion to have Chris Fitzgerald "beta" test the new head before it hits the street -- to see if it really is "Mo' Betta"!!! :bassist: Geez, Rick at AI couldn't pay for better advertising...it's a no-brainer!!!