All my life I have loved pursuing two great passions, building high-end audio and customizing hot rods. Icons like Chip Foose, Ed Roth, and George Barris have taught me to look beyond what is, to what could be. And as great fortune would have it, I live in the same town as Bill Dudlesten, founder and chief engineer of Legacy Audio, an industry leader in world-class high-end speaker design. Between learning speaker design from Bill and professionally customizing hot rods for over 40 years, my creative passions have been well fueled. My vision for Mancave Metal came from a desire to merge my passions and create something completely different for connoisseurs of the outrageous. I was completely bored with the cookie-cutter status quo appearance of most speakers. By utilizing my metal fabrication skills and my audio design background, I envisioned products that would be fantastic in appearance and performance.

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My first quest was to sculpt a set of loudspeakers that were so extreme, fresh, and futuristic that they would create an entirely new element of audio options. I had the privilege of viewing up close First Love, the 2007 Ridler winner, built by Troy and his crew at Rad Rides by Troy. It was absolutely indescribable in beauty, detail, and engineering. I just shook my head in amazement. It didn't matter if I was looking at the engine bay, suspension, or the perfect hand crafted body lines, every aspect of the car was a masterpiece. This level of excellence and visual impact is what I want my speakers to embody. A lofty goal, absolutely! But isn't that the essence of the American spirit? Build your dream! Forget the critics and spectators. That is what an American car crafter would do.

So the journey began. Now thousands of hours and hundreds of design modifications later, the Raptor 1.0 is finished, our first authentic statement in an ever-expanding line of highly functional art.