I haven’t picked up a copy yet, but the March issue of Car Audio & Electronics has started arriving to subscribers and at retail locations (I’ll never quite understand why magazines put issues out one month ahead of the published month, but I digress). Featured inside is an in-depth article on the Car Audio Trifecta winning 300M Project and the installers who created and supported it throughout the show season this year - Matt Turner (yours truly), Randy Lively, Chris McEntyre and Billy Brown. I’m not 100% sure what the text content is, as I haven’t read the copy yet, but my good friend and super ultra mega talented photographer Ryan Flynn is responsible for somehow making myself, Randy and …

I’m pretty sure this is the longest I’ve gone without posting - so sorry about that for those that were checking back to see completed pics of the 300M. I can’t even begin to express how busy we all were from October through the end of January getting everything done with this project and others. Anyway, here it is in all its glory. These shots are all from the CES 2006 show floor in Las Vegas. The car was featured in Orca Distributing’s Focal/Audison booth and was very well received. Look for coverage coming up in Car Audio Magazine and Performance Auto and Sound. The car will also be going to Car Audio’s Trifecta show in Pennsylvania and the Spring …

Tonight before we left after another long day, we mocked up the entire install in the 300m project car to see how far we have gotten and to make some final decisions on seams, finishes and design for the interior. The only parts left to fabricate are the left and right door panels, although there is (a lot) of finish sanding and test fitting - not to mention wiring - to accomplish before we can start sending parts and the car out for paint and powdercoating as well as beginning to upholster other pieces of trim. We’re really pleased with the outcome thus far, so enjoy the photos and please keep checking for (near) future updates. Make sure to click …

We’ve been on the audio/video portion of the project for exactly two weeks now and are very pleased with the progress on the 300m we are building for CES. Almost every portion of the fabricated interior panels have been framed, fiberglassed and roughed in with body filler. The overhead door rotation mechanism was installed Tuesday and is working perfectly, and we are looking forward to testing the xb-5 logic circuit that was built specifically to run the doors on Monday. We’re right in the middle of the project, so look forward to big changes in the following weeks. I’ll update every chance I get (weekly is likely) so that the process and the time involved is clear. Have fun checking …

I mentioned this project briefly (and vaguely) in a few previous posts, and am now ready to let everyone see a few choice shots of our biggest undertaking to date. This 300m is undergoing radical modifications to take it from dad’s sports sedan to a one of a kind show vehicle that is slated to make its debut at the 2006 International CES in Las Vegas this January. We have already stripped the 300m of all its original interior panels and accessories (few will make their way back to the car) and have trailered the vehicle to ASK Research and Development (an Atlanta-based machine shop and engineering facility) for extensive door modifications. Before we can start any of the interior …

Boston Acoustics showed a wild new subwoofer design at CES called the Revolution. It is a 13″ x 9″ (if memory serves) oval-shaped monster with a huge motor structure, machined aluminum basket and neodymium magnet assembly. The oval design will allow for a larger cone area in the same (horizontal) space a typical 10″ subwoofer would occupy. Aside from being a well-built, power-thirsty automotive woofer, the dust cap design is particularly intersting for those constantly running back to their favorite shop with smoking or frozen-up woofers. The speakers’ voice coil is attached to the dust cap, which is - in turn - held in place by six socket-cap screws. If and when the speaker stops functioning due to voice coil …

There were an insane amount of iPod control adapters shown at CES last week. In the year preceeding the show, I did a lot of auxiliary input and charging solutions for iPods because almost nothing existed to actually control the little buggers via a car radio. Then, along came the Dension ICELink. Next was the Alpine iPod adapter. Still, that was about it until CES. Now, the floodgates have opened. So, almost no matter what car you have or what head unit you may have in it (factory or aftermarket) you’re most likely going to be able to have charging, audio and control through a simple dock connector.
The primary and most reliable companies I saw at the show sporting iPod …

On display in the Rockford booth was the 1970 ‘Cuda designed and built by Chip Foose and Troy Trepanier of Rad Rides by Troy fame. The build was featured on a recent episode of TLC’s show rides, and is one nice piece of machinery. Although the audio system was not very extensive at all, it doesn’t need to be. The car would really stand on it’s own even if there was an 8-track player in the dash. This car is so perfect in the execution and details that you really can’t find one thing wrong with it, which I can only say about one other car at the entire show. The work required to re-route and trim out the exhaust …

Every year, Alpine and their head installer/designer, Steve Brown bring a few cars to CES. All of them are well-designed and executed, but there is always one out of the group that is completely off the charts in its scope and complexity.
This year it is a BMW X5 that is actually a recycled project car from the company. Previously, it remained a mostly stock X5 with a multimedia system installed in it. Now, it is a demo vehicle for Alpine’s flagship audio/video system F#1 Status, which is only carried by a handful of dealers nationwide. It has to be seen to be believed, but here are a few shots of the vehicle on display at CES. The X5 was …

A favorite company of mine, JL Audio is showing two entirely new product lines and is adding two new products to existing lines, which doesn’t sound that exciting until you hear what they are.
JLs first consumer woofer was the ridiculously popular 10w1. It completely overtook the car audio industry with its small size, impressive output and small enclosure requirements. After a long run, JL replaced the W1 with many other choices, including to ever-popular W6v1 and 2, the W3v1 and 2, W0v1 and 2 and W7. Realizing that there is still a big need for a really shallow woofer that will work in a relatively small enclosure (i.e. fits in stock sub locations, under seats, in floorboards, etc) the W1 …

A favorite company of mine, JL Audio is showing two entirely new product lines and is adding two new products to existing lines, which doesn’t sound that exciting until you hear what they are.
Boaters have long suffered from only a few choices when it comes to marine-specific audio gear that won’t be affected by salty air, moisture and vibration. Most of the stuff available was pretty cheap and inadequate. JL has fixed that permanently by developing a full line of marine speakers, subs, amplifiers and accesories. Available in the first a second quarter of 2005 are a 10″ marine subwoofer, two different sets of 7.7″ component speaker systems (one for cabins and one for wakeboard towers), a set of 7.7″ …

A favorite company of mine, JL Audio is showing two entirely new product lines and is adding two new products to existing lines, which doesn’t sound that exciting until you hear what they are.
Have you ever wanted to hear some simply retarted-ass bass in your home theater or home audio system? Lots of us out there had ridculously large boxes with a stupid amount of woofers stuffed into the backs of our cars when we were younger (or even now), but you could never really get that kind of knock in your house. Check this out: JL is introducing a line of home audio products and is starting with what they know best - subwoofers. The Gotham self-powered home subwoofer …

A favorite company of mine, JL Audio is showing two entirely new product lines and is adding two new products to existing lines, which doesn’t sound that exciting until you hear what they are.
JL, realizing that it’s getting more and more difficult to change out head units in today’s cars (since many are now tied into body control modules, engine control modules, a/c controls, OBDII, etcetera) - and entirely grasping what that might mean for a manufacturer of subwoofers, speakers and amplifiers - has developed a device that has been needed in car audio for a very long time. The clean sweep is basically a kick-ass line output converter with a built-in self-calibrating 120 band eq (30 bands per four …