Real Men Do It On The Dash

Ah, this is it....my favorite (and most expensive) hobby; car audio. Since i was 16 i have loved car audio. Like alot of people i was first attracted to it from that fuzzy feeling bass can give you. My system's have gotten bigger and louder, but more on that later. And it wasn't until just recently (after the completion of my new SPL system which really does a number on the hearing), that i started to seriously start thinking about doing a SQ install. But i'm gonna wait until i graduate and get a nice car before i do that.

Anyway, here's a simple compilation of how my systems have progressed and here's a couple pics of my old systems.

I have been competing for a year now, mostly USAC Outlaw SPL events because that's about all that is held around here. I was able to enter two db drag comps this summer and placed first at both of em. Since i had no idea that competition would be so addictive (and hard on the pocketbook), i never saved my scorecards until fairly recently. A list of my scores can be found here. If i don't remember the exact score there will be an asterik next to it...and it has been suggested that i add the dates of the competitions to the scores. I will do that for the ones i have the dates for when i find the time to dig out the scorecards with the dates. Good idea :)

Since I know that i am addicted to this hobby and have scoured the internet for the better information sources, i'll pass along my favorite links.

Two heads are often better than one, and with that in mind check out these car audio forums. There are very knowledgeable people on these forums, especially Term Pro (many stereo competitors reside there). My suggestion to anyone is to read a forum for a couple days or a week before asking a question on it so that you can get an idea of the kind of help you will get. As i said, Term Pro is full of competitors and people from the industry which is why it is my favorite forum.

I don't know who this person is but they seem to know what they are talking about, his site is called installer.com and covers not only car audio but some radio communication stuff (i.e., ham, shortwave, etc.).

And this page has helped me in understanding alot of the basic (and not-so-basic) stuff pertaining to this wonderful hobby. I highly recommend this page to anyone. It has interactive graphics and an easy navigation system. Check it out!

Here's a tech paper on class T amps written by US Amps. In case you were wondering what the deal was with Class D and Class T amps. But as it was written by US Amps, there is a bit of company hype involved, but hey, it's better than nothing.

If you're looking for some in-depth, technical (to me at least) freeware/shareware programs for audio, Steve Ekblad's Free Audio Software Page and On-Line Audio Tools is heaven. Many great programs there. If you're looking for a decent free subwoofer enclosure designing program i recommend WinISD or Blaubox.

CarSound magazine is the official magazine of Db Drag Racing and their site offers product reviews, a car audio forum with input from the magazine's writers (very knowledgeable people), industry news, and other useful info.

n4toy.jpg
Noise 4 Toyz is an attempt to better the public's opinion about us boomers. Not all of us are punks who roll through your neighborhood at 1AM banging our music, many of us are respectful. To find out more click the pic. I'll give a clue, it has to do with charitable donations.
dbdrag.bmp
Db Drag Racing is considered THE competition organization. They offer only legal style competition (read USAC paragraph for explanation) and most, if not all, of the world's most serious competitors compete in it. Classes are dependent upon what size woofers you are using, how many, and what vehicle modifications have been done. Everything from stock to extreme (concrete filled doors, 2" plexiglass windshields, not daily drivers by a long shot) is available.
USClogo.gif
The United States Autosound Competition (USAC) competition organization has two basic types of competition, legal and outlaw. In outlaw you can place the microphone almost anywhere in the vehicle and open any doors/windows you want to obtain the loudest score possible. This is good for getting high #'s but the SPL results are not considered viable due to the fact that not many people listen to their systems with their head near the port or in the kickpanels. Legal means that the vehicle is sealed up (windows up, doors closed) and the mic is put in the same specific spot on the dash in every vehicle. This is considered a legit SPL score.

And here is a chart of the differences in A, B, and C weights...