Thursday, December 7, 2006

Delighting Audio Freaks

When traffic turns ugly and the streetlights go awry, there’s no better way to pop the tension than to turn on the radio and belt out tunes to the pulse of mean-edged rock. That’s what I do anyway. It’s a good tension reliever whenever I find myself stranded in the streets and highways during rush hours. It’s better than picking a fight or getting into a ranting frenzy about idiot drivers and rude pedestrians.

Of course, this requires equipping my ride with the best sound system available. Well, the one I have works well, though if asked, I’d say the Bang & Olufsen Advanced Sound System that the Audi A8 or S8 has is the definite audio dream.

And as a testament to its quality, it bagged the best production sound system in the world award at the seventh annual ‘Interior of the Year’ event. There were 69 automotive journalists that went for it. Yep, 69.

If you want to read the article, click here.

Posted by Dhagz at 08:15:34 | Permalink | No Comments »

Goodbye yellow brick road

Across the street down Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida, 20,000-strong watts of power was rocking the crowd. It wasn’t a live concert, and there was no bulky speaker system that could otherwise make the place look even more crowded. The sound was coming from a Ford Bronco owned by “Boom Box Granny” Alma Gates, the 69-year-old world-renowned car audio competitor.

That year’s Spring Break Nationals was the first for Gates and her JBL team to participate in a sound-quality competition. And, with a decade or so worth of sound pressure level category accolades under her belt, the SQ tilt proves that there’s more to Gates’ powerful Bronco than loudness.

A year later, with the words “I don’t want to go down any other way than on top,” the Phoenix-based Gates announced her retirement. “It’s going to be very emotional,” Gates said. “Since 1996 I’ve had the privilege of sharing my passion for car audio with people from all over the world.”

“One of the hardest parts about leaving will be not seeing all my friends on a regular basis. I’ve been fortunate enough to gain an extended family around the world thanks to car audio, and that I will truly miss.” That with SPL and SQ feathers on the cap of her Ford Bronco. We say, thanks. A lot.

For those who wanted to get the lowdowns on what it took for Gates’ Bronco to make the hair of every nearby listener and chance passerby stand on end, here’s the specs of the Ford Bronco during that SQ competition in Daytona:

Seven c508GTi 5-1/4-inch JBL GTi component system speakers
Three JBL Pro 2118H midrange drivers
Four 10-inch JBL Pro midrange drivers
Four JBL Pro 2426H compression drivers and 2370A Bi-Radial® horns
Six 15-inch JBL W15GTi subwoofers
Two JBL A6000 GTi amps
Four JBL Power Series PX300.4 amps
One JBL Power Series PX600.2 amp
One 17-inch Panasonic® monitor
One 8-inch Panasonic® monitor
One Panasonic® head unit
One Panasonic® DVD player
Tsunami® wiring, distribution and charging system
Twelve Eagle Picher® batteries
Neon courtesy of Lite Glow®
Alarm system courtesy of Viper®
Sound-damping material courtesy of Dynamat®
Posted by Dhagz at 03:20:39 | Permalink | No Comments »