John
Chicken or egg? Cabinet or crossover? In decades past, the drivers dictated the cabinet’s dimensions and construction. Nowadays, it’s the opposite: the cabinet is computer-modelled before a single tool is lifted and only once its resonances are sorted does attention turn to the (bespoke) drivers and their crossover network.
All this according to German native Karl-Heinz Fink whose consultancy work runs from the 1970s to the present day with clients including (but not limited to) Denon, Yamaha, Mission, Tannoy, Mordaunt-Short, Naim, Q Acoustics, IAG and Bentley. Other automotive sector clients still have Fink under NDA; their identities cannot be disclosed without legal ramifications.
In January of this year, Fink acquired the EPOS brand with plans to reboot it but modern-day hi-fi fanciers will probably best know Fink’s handiwork via Q Acoustics’ Concept 300/500 and 3020i plus Wharfedale’s Diamond 12 Series. It’s the latter that forms the foundation of our podcast conversation (introduction here) that also takes in the man’s high-end FinkTeam loudspeaker company, his in-car audio projects, British food and how weights placed atop electronics can reduce their susceptibility to microphonics.
Listen via SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or this embedded player:
