Every company has a story and RPG’s story begins in October 1980, in the conference room of the Laboratory for the Structure of Matter at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, DC, where Peter D’Antonio was employed as a diffraction physicist. Knowing Peter’s interest in music, a colleague handed him the latest issue of Physics Today with a cover photo of Manfred Schroeder seated in an anechoic chamber. The article suggested using number theoretic diffusers in concert halls. While Peter’s interest at the time was not in concert halls, he became fascinated with the thought of using these diffusers in a renovation of Underground Sound, a private studio he originally built in 1972 with Jerry Ressler. The acoustic renovation utilized a new concept called Live End Dead End™ proposed by Don and Carolyn Davis, of Synergetic Audio Concepts (Syn-Aud-Con), and implemented successfully by Chips Davis. At that time, Peter was examining the 3-dimensional structure of matter in various phases, using electron and x-ray diffraction techniques. Peter shared the article with John Konnert, a colleague at NRL, and it became apparent that the “reflection phase gratings” suggested by Schroeder were in effect 2-dimensional sonic crystals, which scatter sound in the same way that 3-dimensional crystal lattices scatter electromagnetic waves. Since the diffraction theory employed in x-ray crystallographic studies were applicable to reflection phase gratings, it was straightforward to model and design the reflection phase gratings. Read More
| Timeline | |
| 1983 | |
| Dr. Peter D'Antonio founds RPG Diffusor Systems | |
| 1984 | |
| The RFZ/RPG Control Room Design is Created | |
| 1987 | |
| QRD® 734 | |
| 1989 | |
| Abffusor® | |
| 1990 | |
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Omniffusor®
RPG funds Disc Project New Membrane Bass Trap Introduced |
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| 1991 | |
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Diffusion Coefficient Proposed
Chair of AES Acoustical Materials Working Group |
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| 1992 | |
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Moved to Present Facility
VAMPS™ |
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| 1993 | |
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DiffusorBlox®
Diffractal® |
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| 1995 | |
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Skyline®
Optimized Diffusors Introduced |
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| 1996 | |
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RPG Co-funds EPSRC Diffusion Coefficient Research
North American SIAP Distributor |
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| 1997 | |
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ProFoam™ Patented
Silent Steps ® Patented CHAOS Shape Optimizer Introduced |
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| 1998 | |
| BAD Panel Patented | |
| 2000 | |
| Curved BAD Panel Patented Digiwave Patented |
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| 2001 | |
| Publication of the AES-4id-2001 Information Document describing a method to measure and quantify the uniformity of scattering from diffusors | |
| 2002 | |
| Motorized Triffusor Patented | |
| 2004 | |
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Publication of "Acoustic Absorbers and Diffusers: Theory, Design and Application" by Trevor J. Cox and Peter D'Antonio. The first reference text including diffusion and scattering coefficients and a review of the current knowledge of absorptive and diffusive surfaces. Publication of ISO 17497-1. Measurement of the random-incidence scattering coefficient in a reverberation room. |
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| 2006 | |
| Patents pending |
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| Copyright 2000, RPG Diffusor Systems, Inc. |