Imagine User’s Manual ©Hybrid Audio Technologies Page 4 of 28
Imagine Individual Component Parameters
Your Imagine system contains speaker drivers and a tweeter passive crossover network that were
developed and assembled with a significant effort in research and development, materials science
engineering, an exhaustive level of sampling and prototyping, real-world testing, and obsessive
attention to detail. The specifications and parameters of your Imagine component system is detailed
as follows:
Midbass Speakers (Imagine I5, Imagine I6, and Imagine I69)
Frame: Cast ABS plastic. The basket is a high-quality cast ABS design, which plays a critical role in
aligning the voice coil in the magnetic circuit. Additionally, the cast ABS frame allows for better
clamping strength verses typical stamped steel frames, and ensures that the voice coil remains
centered in the former. The frame is a shared technology with the Unity component sets, and allow for
immediate upgrade potential due to identical size footprint, mounting depth, bolt circle diameter, and
motor diameter as the Unity systems.
Cone: Pressed paper with water proof treatment. It is widely acknowledged that pressed paper
cones are the best marriage of lightness, stiffness, and ability of the cone to damp unwanted cone
and edge modes and resonances (read: distortion). The paper cone, known for its excellent sonic
attributes, is water proof, thanks to a polymer developed exclusive and proprietarily by Hybrid Audio
Technologies. The treatment does not change the look and parameters of the driver like old-
fashioned “glossy” polymers which added an appreciable amount of moving mass and significantly
colored the sound. No, the Imagine cones look like any “normal” paper cone, but in reality are likely
the only high-performance water proof paper cone car audio speaker systems on the market. The
treatment protects the cone from periodic drips (such as inside a door panel), as well as accidental
splashes to the front of the cone. On the hybrid-audio.com website, we have hosted a video of an
actual water-proof demonstration where we pour two liters of water over an Imagine coaxial, and then
connect it to a musical source. That video is located here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sso8sqY2umc&feature=channel_video_title
Phase Plug: Cast ABS plastic. When using the midbass in component set mode, the tweeter pole
piece is replaced with an ABS extended phase plug pole piece. The extended phase plug pole piece
is critical for focusing high-frequency information at the center of the cone. This design ensures the
speaker’s response remains linear into the lower- to mid-treble frequencies.
Surround: Inverted high-loss rubber surround. The inverted high-loss rubber surround (in concert
with the spider, detailed below), helps to provide the compliance and “restorative force” needed for
the Imagine drivers to play effectively into the lower midbass, and even upper subbass frequencies
(depending on in-car cabin gain and other factors). You'll also know a Hybrid Audio midrange and
midbass design by its inverted surround; this design feature allows for the use of a smaller height
grille, better clearance with OEM panels, and more flexibility in mounting options.
Spider: Phenolic fabric and tinned tinsel leads. The spider is the brownish/yellow corrugated
(rippled) fabric that attaches the cone and voice coil. The spider for the Imagine designs was the
subject of a considerable amount of our research and development. The spider is a phenolic
symmetrically-rolled fabric which provides excellent restorative force during excursion. The spider is
vented courteous of the speaker frame; a design element not typically found in this price range of
speaker system. The spider venting increases the thermal power handling of the Imagine midbass
driver. The tinsel leads are connected to real epoxy PCB, not flimsy cardboard.
