The basic idea of the TriCool fan is a good one - having a 3-way speed switch built into the fan is an excellent idea and is much more convenient than the adaptors that come with Noctuas etc.
The problem is in the implementation: firstly the actual fan is not very quiet when compared to some other fans spinning at similar speeds, secondly the fans run too fast for really quiet operation even at the lowest setting (1200RPM), and thirdly the SPCR review makes it plain that the TriCool get rough-sounding and begins to "chuff" at the lowest speed. For many users the current TriCool is fine but most of us put them straight in the spare parts bin. We'd certainly never buy one as a retrofit, and we tell our friends and colleagues not to buy them either.
So Antec have a market opportunity here: they could bring out a new model of the TriCool, a low-speed version with improved noise characteristics. Something like 1200/900/600RPM for speeds, and with the noise characteristics of a Nexus - now there is an Antec fan that I
would buy! And if they offered it as an option on their cases that would be brilliant. Ideally it should be supplied with silicone mounts.
OK I realise that the extreme quiet market is not as big as the market for the standard TriCool, and that designing and building the fan would have costs, but a company as big and successful as Antec must be able to source appropriate components, even if not from Dynatron (they don't appear to make a low speed 120mm fan, let alone a quiet one - I have nightmares thinking about what Dynatron's 15,000RPM 25mm fan must sound like
).
A small price premium over the standard TriCool would not be unacceptable if it was a truly better fan - TriCools are not a premium-priced product so there's room for a price increase for the new fan. And the best thing from Antec's point of view is that this fan would bring in new customers, not just eat into the sales of their current TriCool.
I take Ces's point about the VP/Dynatron relationship problem, but maybe that relationship is strong enough for Antec to get Dynatron to start designing and producing low-speed quiet fans, which would be a win/win for both companies.
What do other people think?
Cheers!