Rebuilding the A4

By: Ben Vollmer Car Audio Nationals / Team SoundDomain

After having a competition audio system in my Audi A4 for about 4 years, I've decided it is time for a refresh. There are some parts of the system that I love, and some parts that have driven me nuts. And then to top it off, I blew a couple of the caps in my ancient Phoenix Gold MS Series amps. So instead of patching the system together, the decision was to redo the majority of the system but remain competitive in the classes that the car competes in.

Since my family moved recently, taking it back to Benchmark Audio in Upstate NY wasn't practical. It went from a 6 hour drive to a 15 hour drive, which just isn't going to happen.

So after looking at a ton of shops, the decision was made to take the car to Acoustic Images in Mooresville, NC.  The crew at AI employs a number of veteran competitors including Bryan Wilkinson, Jason Syner, Mark Worell and other well known industry installers.

I also got a little help from some great manufacturers: JL Audio, Second Skin and AudioControl have all helped out with the project. We will be covering each of those sponsor's products usage in the rebuilt system.

The goals of the system were pretty easy:

1. Run the front stage 100% Active, getting rid of the Alpine F#1 Passive Crossover Networks
2. Install New Subwoofers
3. Replace Existing Sound Dampening Materials

Over the next couple of weeks we'll post up pictures of the trunk being redone, the kicks and doors being rebuilt, and some general rebuilding of the car. It's going to be quite a process, but I'm really looking forward to the results. Stay tuned!

How Loud Was the Ocean Center at SBN?

I LOVE Spring Break Nationals. It is by far one of my favorite shows. SVR is another favorite, but for completely different reasons. SBN is one of those shows that I go to for the crowds as much as the competitors. Having thousands of people milling around a car audio show is always fun.

The Ocean Center is where we retreat to when it gets too hot outside. The only issue is that it is loud inside. How loud?  According to this handy chart, here are some average sounds as expressed in dB:

CarDomain Member ArmoredHaulin's Beefy Build

Jen over at the CarDomain blog stumbled on CarDomain member ArmoredHaulin, who's restoring an old 1992 GMC Topkick armored car. He's also building out an audio system and plans to have this beast at Spring Break Nationals in 2009. Too bad he won't have it down there for this year's event, but we'll be sure to keep track of his install and keep you updated. Looks pretty insane and he seems to have just about everything needed for the install. He's got quite a mix of equipment ready to drop in - a mix of Pioneer, Infinity, Soundstream, Tsunami, Audio Control, Eclipse, Phoenix Gold, Savv - so this should be interesting. Click on the pic, or click here, to read the article and check out his page for all the deets.