Mackie Thump has been a customer favorite for years. The low cost, high-portability and durable structure upholds the "built like a tank" message that Mackie values to a great degree. The Thump customer is pretty well defined - an individual or company that needs great sound at low cost. They found popular use as "fleet vehicles" in rental shops, providing great bang for the buck. Since they could be abused and replaced as needed, they also found great favor with working DJs and musicians who find themselves outdoors or in different venues with their own gear.
What do our customers value? Identifying user benefits is an important process. Any updates to an existing product line must ensure that a user's expectations are maintained and/or exceeded.
Examining the product line as a whole also exposed an element that had been missing from this lineup for quite some time.
Since the THUMP family had gained traction with DJs for it's rugged durability, affordability, and great sound, we looked to the DJ market for answers...
THUMP needed a subwoofer!
DJs were pairing the THUMP speaker boxes with other subwoofers to create their own "touring" kit. It was decided that we could provide a quality product in this niche that remained true to the THUMP values.
Initial concepts focused on a box that would be low cost and survive high-impact. Compromised sound was not an option.
The final family look updated the THUMP top boxes with new knobs, rear panel, and grill. The subwoofer is a woodbox construction with a bandpass layout. I used internal bracing to convey a sense of strength and stability, as well as to provide structural support. I feel it's a very honest product that does it's job extremely well.
To see how I designed the rear panel to speak more directly to the end users, check out the icon page here.