Folks:
My wife and I had the opportunity to tour the HiFi2000 factory in July, and it seemed appropriate to post a brief write-up about the experience. Gianluca (the principal contact for HiFi2000 and a regular contributor here at diyAudio) and I were trading PMs a few months ago when I mentioned an impending vacation in Italy that included a few days in Bologna. His response: “why don’t you come for a tour?” I immediately agreed.
It turns out HiFi2000 is a tiny, family-owned business that was started in 1977 by Gianluca’s parents. They’re ostensibly retired, though the day we visited they were hard at work helping to fill orders. Gianluca now runs the business, which is located close to Bologna’s airport in an industrial park and consists of a few offices, a design studio, two CNC systems in a workshop area (where panels and heat sinks are drilled, threaded and customized), a digital printing station, inventory storage and management systems and an order fulfillment area. I believe Gianluca said there was a staff of 7 or 8 people, including his parents and himself.
The operation struck us as incredibly efficient (though for all my wife and I know it may be the norm these days). There was a person in the front office, someone in the design studio and someone operating the CNC systems; everyone else was busy gathering parts and/or putting orders together. Gianluca was very proud of the fact that HiFi2000’s products are 100% Italian – for example, the aluminum for their panels is smeltered in Northern Italy and cut to size by a vendor in the Bologna area. Anodizing is outsourced to a nearby shop. Most of the other components are also locally sourced. Gianluca was passionate about customer satisfaction, HiFi2000’s efforts to accelerate deliveries to customers and supporting their market generally. It was rewarding listening to someone who is deeply invested in what he does.
Hanging out with Gianluca for an hour was a pleasure. I did a rough count and it seems I’ve purchased (or directed people I was helping with projects to purchase) about 19 chassis from HiFi2000 over the past 15 years or so (naturally, there are plenty more projects in the works). It was fun seeing how it all comes together. There are a lot of ways to spend your time in Bologna, and for me the tour was a far better experience then watching sausage being made.
Regards to all!
My wife and I had the opportunity to tour the HiFi2000 factory in July, and it seemed appropriate to post a brief write-up about the experience. Gianluca (the principal contact for HiFi2000 and a regular contributor here at diyAudio) and I were trading PMs a few months ago when I mentioned an impending vacation in Italy that included a few days in Bologna. His response: “why don’t you come for a tour?” I immediately agreed.
It turns out HiFi2000 is a tiny, family-owned business that was started in 1977 by Gianluca’s parents. They’re ostensibly retired, though the day we visited they were hard at work helping to fill orders. Gianluca now runs the business, which is located close to Bologna’s airport in an industrial park and consists of a few offices, a design studio, two CNC systems in a workshop area (where panels and heat sinks are drilled, threaded and customized), a digital printing station, inventory storage and management systems and an order fulfillment area. I believe Gianluca said there was a staff of 7 or 8 people, including his parents and himself.
The operation struck us as incredibly efficient (though for all my wife and I know it may be the norm these days). There was a person in the front office, someone in the design studio and someone operating the CNC systems; everyone else was busy gathering parts and/or putting orders together. Gianluca was very proud of the fact that HiFi2000’s products are 100% Italian – for example, the aluminum for their panels is smeltered in Northern Italy and cut to size by a vendor in the Bologna area. Anodizing is outsourced to a nearby shop. Most of the other components are also locally sourced. Gianluca was passionate about customer satisfaction, HiFi2000’s efforts to accelerate deliveries to customers and supporting their market generally. It was rewarding listening to someone who is deeply invested in what he does.
Hanging out with Gianluca for an hour was a pleasure. I did a rough count and it seems I’ve purchased (or directed people I was helping with projects to purchase) about 19 chassis from HiFi2000 over the past 15 years or so (naturally, there are plenty more projects in the works). It was fun seeing how it all comes together. There are a lot of ways to spend your time in Bologna, and for me the tour was a far better experience then watching sausage being made.
Regards to all!
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Nice to know more about them. My one experience with them was first class in every way.
Just wish they offered heat sinks with more width - they seem skimpy to me.
Heat sinks are certainly the most difficult piece of the puzzle for the DIY builder.
Just wish they offered heat sinks with more width - they seem skimpy to me.
Heat sinks are certainly the most difficult piece of the puzzle for the DIY builder.
