Is this special edition?

[AudioAnonymous]

Good luck trying to get a woofer. I had a broken Extreme 2 Sig that he tried not giving me my money or fixed sub back for!

[mazdakid]

and look, theres the guy i originally bought it from viewing the thread, its dreid

[Tim Dunham]

To set EVERYONE straight... I am the Production Manager for Rockford Acoustic Design in Grand Rapids Michigan. I know Chris and Mike well and can tell you they both have alot of passion for what they do.

Chris brought the original design with him and I want to say Ground Zero and Eclipse were using this motor structure before anyone else. Matter of fact the first assembly had Ground Zero etched in the bottom plate...

Without getting into all the BS the woofer shown was revised by myself and my team at Rockford Acoustic Design. It's not the same woofer, looks very similar however most of the topology differs. We optimized the design using in-house design and testing process and that is the bottom line. If you have a "TRF" with a black top-plate it's mine... end of story... Now there are a few other guys that went ahead and appropriated it for themselves but that story is yet another.

We did source the entire motor assembly built from TC the first year but upon review we determined we could re-design, purchase materials annd assemble the entire driver in Grand Rapids, which we did. In my opinion this driver is superior to earlier generations. I don't think Mike would have a clue if I sat him down at a terminal and said have at it, design a topology and optimize the magnetic field...

He is a great guy did alot with what he had and used his resources well. Ahead of his time even however, most of his "designs" have been appropriated by others. You can throw the word "stole" out all-together this isn't China and if you have rights to something you can do pretty much whatever you want with it. On the other hand if you source something it only need be a little different...

WOW.........

[Mike Ankney]

/wave - hi Tim, long time no see man how's it going? I can't see that I disagree with anything you said. I certainly don't claim to be a mastermind guru of actual subwoofer design, lol. And yes, you are right, even my prototype 4hp had Ground Zero etched in the back plate and had the ground zero basket when I first got it!

My claim to fame is moreso that of modifying existing things and getting that little extra edge out of it all through trial and error. I gotta tell ya though, I sure wish I had the chance to play with some of the fancy equipment you have there at RF

Anywho, send me an email sometime...would like to talk to ya!

ps, how goes it at the phone company? (inside joke, lol)

[FatStig]

Wow, some truth has come out in this thread. I wish all the best in the coming season.

[Tim Dunham]

Hey Mike, doing fairly well hope you guys are all doing well in Shockerville. When people are still churning out product based on some of the designs you did well with you know you did something right!

I just want to add Chris Norris did a ton of work getting the TRF up and running and not only that but he convinced RF to let him do it! No small feat in and of itself. Chris put in a ton of time on that project, not to mention the time spent building these woofers for one of the most dominant teams ever.

We took it a little further after Chris left and unfortunately RF stepped away from the competitive arena had that not happened I truely feel the game would have been stepped up even more, matter of fact I know it. I'm pretty sure there are some protos that never saw the light of day...

[AudioXtremes]

Some people still use shocker products believe it or not. They even still get Reconed by Mike. Couldn't be happier with my sigs.

[Octavio]

are they still making this sub's?

[Railrocker]

What a thread!

[lilmaniac2]

So who really designed the 4hp

[bdawson72]

hmmmmmmmm?

[snoopdan]

So who really designed the 4hp

Im so glad I have nothing to do with this conversation....Im still trying to figure out how I didnt come into it

[btnhfan]

So who really designed the 4hp

Thilo?

[lilmaniac2]

Thilo?

I was specifically told that it wasnt thilio, but they refuse to tell me who really did

[audioholic]

Im pretty sure Al Gore invented the 4hp.

Seriously.