In a sentence, my dad actually got me into the hobby when I was quite young. I helped him upgrade what was then his personal commute vehicle, in the seventies.
In the seventies, the only equipment available was powered EQ’s and 3 or 4-way speakers. My dad was never happy with the factory sound of the day, even though they usually came with 4 speakers in them. We would always improve the speakers first, and then usually added one of the aforementioned powered EQ’s. The concept of an autosound amplifier hadn’t been invented yet.
When I became a driver, I was instantly interested in upgrading the sound systems. I did what I could through high school, and a friend of mine introduced me to “Car Stereo Review” magazine. I read up on these things called “Sound Off” competitions, where people would compete for trophies for the best sounding car audio system. This introduced me to the International Auto Sound Challenge Association. (IASCA)
In the mid-80’s, I worked with a man who competed in car audio competitions, and he was asked to be a spokesperson for the Sony Corporation. He was invited to have his vehicle completely sponsored by Sony, and I assisted in the design and installation of a truly amazing system. (For that era) His vehicle was used by Sony to showcase their product at “Sound Off” competitions across the country. This led me to want to compete in these “Sound Offs”, and I set out to build something of similar quality of my own.
In the late 80’s, I competed in my first IASCA competition. I had a Dodge Daytona with a 3-way front stage, a center channel, and an Isobaric subwoofer enclosure in the rear. This was a two-amplifier system, using mostly passive crossovers. At this first competition that I had ever built a car for, I was introduced to one of the executives from International Jensen, and he offered to sponsor my car. This never materialized. Even though the sponsorship never happened, and I was beaten severely by points at the first show, I was hooked on the thrill of sound quality. I continued to work hard on the car, and I won my first 1st place trophy for sound quality later that season. This earned me my first invitation to the World Championships. (These were by invitation only)
I competed with the Dodge Daytona for several years on a regional level, and earned the regional “Points Leader” plaque, as well as additional invitations to the World Championships. The Dodge Daytona’s system changed after almost every competition. I regret that I don’t have any pictures of this vehicle to show anyone.
As I got to a higher income level in my career, I could afford better cars, and better equipment. In the 1994-1995 era I decided to do my first “Big Budget” multi-amplifier system in a new Oldsmobile that I was driving. I spent every penny I had on a Sony Mobile ES source unit, and 5 Soundstream Class A amplifiers. I even had the amplifiers painted to match the exterior paint of the vehicle, which since then has become the trademark of my installs.
This is the era where IASCA and USACi competitions were EVERY weekend, and within a couple hours drive. I was certified in 1994 for SQ, RTA, and installation judging. I even built a competition vehicle for a good friend of mine during this timeframe, which was successfully campaigned in local shows. My first year competing with the Oldsmobile I was the regional points leader once again, and it was my first year attending the World Championships, even though I had earned invitations several times before. There were 39 cars in my class that year, and I tied for 10th place. I won the tiebreaker, which was the SQ score. IMAGINE…39 cars in ONE single class. These days you’re lucky to have that many cars TOTAL. I was happy with my 10th place.
The financial drain on my pocket book was heavy that year, but I continued to compete with that vehicle for two following years, and I was also re-certified for judging. I earned invitations to the World Championships those years, but didn’t attend again with that vehicle.
In the late 90’s, my career path led me to live in New York. I attended IASCA and USACi shows out there as a spectator, but I never competed while living there. My car audio hobby began to loose steam, and I was almost completely out of the hobby entirely. During this era is when I bought the Durango, and was playing around with a few ideas, but nothing serious.
In 2001 I was transferred back to the Mid-West, and expected troubled times on the career-front. Jobs were scarce after September 11th, and I expected to be out of work, so I decided I needed a hobby to occupy my time. I decided to build something nice in the Durango. Again I applied my signature style, and painted 5 Linear Power amplifiers to match the exterior amethyst paint on the Durango. I still had the Sony Mobile ES source from the Oldsmobile, so I decided to re-use that since it cost a fortune. I was ready for competition again at the beginning of the 2002 competition season. There was a new car audio competition organization too; called SLAP, the Sound Looks And Performance show organization.
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In 2002 I earned an invitation to the USACi, IASCA and the SLAP Championships, but I couldn’t attend due to the demands of my career. The reverse of what I thought would happen was actually happening, and my career was taking off again. I expected to be jobless, but I was quite busy in my career.
In 2003 I decided to take things quite a bit seriously. I decided to focus on only 2 competition organizations, SLAP and IASCA. I led the points in my region in 2003, competing in dozens of shows, and winning “Best SQ of Show” at all but one show. This is almost unheard of in a truck. This is the season that I returned to the World Championships for the first time since 1995, and I won the Championship titles in both SLAP and IASCA for Sound Quality.
In 2004 I was re-certified for SLAP and IASCA judging, and I decided not to compete with the Durango anymore. I decided I would judge the SLAP and IASCA competitions, and bring the truck along just for display/demonstration purposes. (You would be surprised how much easier it is to explain the concepts of staging, imaging, and tonal accuracy when you have a good working example to show people) The owners of SLAP and I developed a good working relationship, and I was invited to judge the SLAP Championship in 2004. (Which I did). I was invited back to judge the Championship again in 2005, but my health was deteriorating, so I could only judge a couple of Mid-West shows.
I took the Durango off the display/demonstration role in 2006, keeping it merely for my own enjoyment. I intended to get out of the hobby, and focus on some other areas in my life. In 2007 a good friend of mine bought the Durango with all of the equipment in it ready to go back into service as a competition/show vehicle. I bought a replacement vehicle, and fully intended to stay out of the car audio hobby permanently…
…And then a Car Audio manufacturer called me, and started speaking about asking me to help them develop a new product… This is how my current Top Secret Project got started…
