Thunder 1000000

</noinclude>The Thunder 1000000, or Thunder One Million, is a custom-made 60 inch subwoofer associated with Concept Design and MTX Audio. It holds the record for the biggest loudspeaker ever made. The Thunder 1000000, for obvious reasons, is not available on the market or part of any production line. For this reason, it is not qualified to compete in audio drags. The Thunder 1000000 was designed by Richard Clark and David Navone.
History
The idea for the subwoofer came about in 1994 when Mark Elridge, Doug Winker and Chris Lewis were investigating how to make the highest SPLs possible. It was designed and built over a six week time period in 1997. The original name on it was Concept Design, then MTX.
Technical details
Diameter: 60 inches total; 54 inch cone + 3 inches of surround (x2)
Cone excursion: 6 inches peak to peak
Radiating surface area: 2,290 square inches
Maximum sound pressure level: 180 dB+ (This is very dangerously high as it can cause instant deafness)
Motor: 6,000+ pounds (27 kN) of linear force
First installation
The Thunder 1000000 was installed in a modified out-of-service delivery truck. At only half power, it literally blew the doors off and caused the sides to fluctuate several inches.
The truck was designed to be an SPL truck by Tim Maynor and Dr. Eugene Patronis from Georgia Tech. They had underestimated the acoustical power of the 60 inch subwoofer.
1997 Finals
The subwoofer was installed in a bread truck in the 1997 SPL finals. There was opposition to the use of a computer to control the energy fed to the subwoofer, so Richard Clark had to do it by touching two wires together with no way of knowing if it was at the right level, which it was not. The motor drove the cone assembly much too hard, causing the main connecting tube to break in half. Even so, a decibel reading of 162 dB was taken with just the one, single directional stroke the cone had before breaking.
 
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