Azentek Smart Mirror Review and Hands-On

By: Ben Vollmer, Car Audio Nationals/Team SoundDomain

A few weeks ago, I posted a blog  with a video about a new product from Azentek called a SmartMirror. Well, I bought one, and man am I happy I did! The box arrived and I was so excited. Inside the box  there is the mirror, different mounting brackets for different types of windshield mounts, a microphone, and power cord assembly. The unit has a "Getting Started" manual for using the product, but the complete users manual is supposed to be online. After poking around for some time on the Azentek website, I still couldn't find the manual. So much of my discovery was make just from poking around.   

The unit feels OEM. It doesn't feel like other units I've looked at that are somewhat cheesy - the Azentek is as solid as they come. On the passenger side of the mirror is an SD card reader used by Navigon to supply the maps and programs required for the GPS. 

So here is the unit hooked up to my trusty Astron power supply in the Ferrari Garage. 

Car Audio Nationals Gallery Live

Team SoundDomain's Thumper grabbed about 40 pics from the CAN Finals last weekend and his collection is available for your viewing pleasure after the jump!

Car Audio Nationals-- The Results Are In!

Car Audio Nationals took place the past weekend in Georgia, and the show was an amazing success. The competitor roster was full of the industry's top guns, and why not? With a $3500 purse on the line, who wouldn't want to try their hand! CAN took place along MECA State Finals and a USACi event, so there was no shortage of audio fanatics and experts on hand. CAN judging included one-seat and two-seat SQ judging, so competitors really had to bring their A-game. A special thanks goes out to Arc Audio for hosting the event.

We'll have pics up shortly from the event thanks to Team SoundDomain's own Jonathan "Thumper" Denton. And if you were there and had a camera handy, we'd be happy to add your shots to out gallery as well. And speaking of Thumper, big congrats on your 4th place finish! Not too shabby for a rookie....

We've got the full results posted after the jump, and you can join in on the CAN discussion in the SoundDomain forums.

Counting Down: One Week Until CAN Finals!

By: Ben Vollmer, Car Audio Nationals, Team SoundDomain

Next week in Atlanta, Georgia, Car Audio Nationals welcomes competitors to the Car Audio Nationals Finals held in conjunction with MotorSports Nationals. The show will be held on September 20th and 21st. This is going to be the most exciting shows of the year! This is the ONLY show this year that is Triple Point with sanctioning by IASCA, MECA and USACi AND  a $3,000.00 cash purse for Car Audio Nationals Competitors!

We have secured the services of several world-class sound quality judges, industry legends, and former world champions to determine “the best of the best” in the CAN competition. Our judging staff includes Richard Clark, Richard Inferrera, Micah Sheveloff, Dave MacKinnon, Bob Johann for Car Audio Nationals, Shazad Rahaman, Tim Brown, Allison Brown, Moe Sabourin, & Jereme Creamer for IASCA, David Hogan, Kirt Proffitt, Adam Gladen for MECA and Ben Vollmer and Rick Sellers for USACi.

The CAN Finals will be co-located with the Motorsports Nationals car show, which features an array of activities, live music, models, a terrific car show, and more. Please feel free to print this coupon for $5.00 off admission (Available after the jump).

Road To Tulsa - Day 4 & 5

By: Ben Vollmer, Car Audio Nationals/Team SoundDomain

After spending upwards of 18 hours on the road and in airplanes, we have finally come to the days that we made the journey for. Joe and I spent most of the day on Saturday judging cars for the USACi Regional Event, so much of the day was a blur to me with the exception of seeing a ton of cars. I think we judged about 35 or so cars during Saturday's judging.

The thermostat reached a heat index of 104, which lead to a bit of sweating for Joe and me.

The hardest part of the whole day? Deciding on the best cars for the USACi Portion of the show. I can't think of any recent occasion when there have been this many strong cars in a single location that wasn't a World Finals event from one of the competition sanctioning bodies.

The Money Round Judging was probably the most organized I have ever seen it in recent times. Each competitor was assigned to a group, and each group was assigned a time. I think the Money Round judging was done by about 11:30 or so on Sunday, which is actually ahead of schedule. By contrast, the USACi Judging wasn't done until about 9:30 on Saturday night. (Blame me for that...)

After the trophies were handed out, Andy, Rick and I headed out of Tulsa and back towards Memphis. We made it about 85% of the way before deciding to stop for the night. We made it as far as Lonoke, AR, which is as far as I could drive before I wanted to pass out. Our hotel was also the destination for some Gustav evacuees and unfortunately, we got gouged for a hotel room, which to me should be a crime. We paid almost as much for one night in this place as we did for 5 nights in Tulsa.

And the list of winners from the Tulsa Invitational are: