ULTIMATE SERIES SUBWOOFERS

WELCOME

Thank you for buying a DLS ULTIMATE subwoofer. The subwoofer must be installed correctly in order to work well. This manual will show you how to install it like a pro. Please read the entire manual before beginning the installation. Install the subwoofer yourself if you feel confident with our instructions and if you have the proper tools. However if you feel unsure, turn over the installation job to someone better suited to it. The speakers are designed for enclosure mounting. In "open air" installations the power handling capacity is reduced by 30% from the nominal value. We dont recommend open air installations for Ultimate subwooers.
UR10, UR12, UR15 SP12, SP15 SP15S, SP18S
SUBWOOFER ENCLOSURES, GENERAL
Build your enclosure in a stable and airtight material. The best is MDF-board, 19 mm, or particle board, 22 mm. Larger enclosures must have bracing inside to avoid vibrations. The enclosure must be completely airtight. Use sealing compound in all joints, also around the cable terminals. The size of the enclosure is decided by the speaker data.

SEALED ENCLOSURES

Sealed enclosures are easy to build. The size is not critical, but it cant be too small. The speaker data such as Fs, Qts, Vas and X-max decides the size of the enclosure. Large speakers need larger boxes. Two speakers need a box of the double size etc. The enclosure must be completely airtight. A sealed enclosure should be filled with acoustic wool up to 75 - 100%. A sealed enclosure has a lower efficiency than vented enclosures but they can handle high power and are easy to build. A subwoofer in a sealed enclosure creates a tight bass suitable for the audiophiles listening to classical music, jazz and soft rock. All the Reference subwoofers are recommended NOT to use in sealed enclosures.

CONNECTION OF SUBWOOFER

How to connect depends on what type of amplifier you use. The best is to follow the instructions given in the manual for the amplifier. Most amplifiers today have built-in lowpass crossover and possibilities to connect your subwoofer in bridge mode. Two 4 ohm subwoofers are often connected in stereo mode since most amplifiers cant handle bridge mode loads below 4 ohms. The UR10, 12 & 15 have dual, four ohm, voice coils. Each voice coil has an impedance of 4 ohms. If they are connected in series the resulting impedance is 8 ohms. If they are connected in parallel the resulting impedance is 2 ohms. Make sure to connect in a way that dont ruin the amplifier. If you have a DLS Ultimate amplifier its possible to connect the voice coils in parallel, these ampliers are 1 ohm stable. SP12 and 15 have dual, two ohm, voice coils which should be considered when you connect them. We also recommend the use of a subsonic highpass filter. This gives a better bass reproduction with less "rumble". In most DLS amplifiers this feature is already built-in. For wiring use high class speaker wires, min AWG13 (2.5 mm2). For example DLS SC 2x2,5. If you have an amplifier without built-in crossover you must use a passive crossover between amplifier and subwoofer like in this example, one crossover for each voice coil. Component values are for 4 ohms.

VENTED ENCLOSURES

A speaker in a vented enclosure has a higher efficiency (3 dB) and higher power handling capacity than in a sealed enclosure. In a vented enclosure the sound from the speaker and the port work together creating a higher sound level. The sound from the port must come out in the same phase as from the speaker otherwise the result is bad. The size of the vented enclosure is decided by the speaker data just as for the sealed one. The size of the vehicle often decides the practical size of the enclosure. A smaller enclosure has a higher resonant frequency than the larger one. The size of the enclosure should not be so big that the speaker plays below its own free air resonance (Fs), then it looses in power handling capacity. The port does not have to be fully inside the enclosure as long as the area and length are correct. Sometimes you need two or more ports in an enclosure. You can convert from one to two or more ports as long as the total port area is the same. All DLS subwoofers works well in vented boxes.

Connected with a 12 dB passive low-pass x-over = 10 mH coil in series and a bipolar capacitor of 300 microFarad in parallel. Crossover frequency is 95 Hz.

Active filter

Connection in mono bridge mode with an active x-over. Voice coils connected in series. If you have a 1 ohm stable amplifier the voice coils should be connected in parallel for best performance (for example on a DLS monoblock).

Valid from 2003-12-01

7654321

Amplifier

BANDPASS ENCLOSURES
In all bandpass enclosures the speakers are hidden inside the enclosure, all sound is coming out through the ports. There are different types of bandpass enclosures and they have in common that they are a bit more difficult to build. Most DLS subwoofers can be used in bandpass enclosures.

IMPORTANT!

The speaker cones of UR10,12 & 15 are made of magnesium, a material of low weight with excellent acoustic qualitys. We recommend you NEVER to touch the cone body with you fingers. Remaining deformation of the cone body will occour if you push it with your fingers. Also think of the speaker weight when you mount it. If you dont mount it properly it can get loose.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR DLS ULTIMATE SUBWOOFERS
Revised data for UR10 valid from production date 2003-07-01. Revised data for UR12 valid from production date 2003-12-01.
Size Impedance Nom. power (RMS) Freq. range Sensitivity Voice coil diameter Voice coil height Re Voice coil inductance, 1 kHz BL product X-max Suspension compliance CMS SD- Effective piston area Resonant freq. (Fs) Vas (liters) Vas (ft3) Qms Qes Qts Cone material Magnet weight Magnet diameter Installation depth Mounting hole Outer diameter Weigth 25 cm (10") 2 x 4 ohm 400 W (max 700) 25 Hz- 2 kHz 85,6 dB 75 mm (3) 42 mm (1,65) 1,92 ohm* 0,8 mH 13,1 +-14 mm (0,55) 80,2 314,6 cm2 42,3 Hz 13,9 0,5 5,62 0,40 0,37* (0,7 with single VC) Magnesium 180 oz (5,1 kg) 7,1" (180 mm) 5,24" (133 mm) 9,29" (236 mm) 10,39" (264 mm) 20 lb (9,1 kg)
30 cm (12") 2 x 4 ohm 500 W (max 800) 20 Hz-2 kHz 87,2 db 75 mm (3) 42 mm (1,65) 1,6 ohm* 0,89 mH 16,1 +-14 mm (0,55) 82 452,3 cm2 36,1 Hz 24 0,85 4,98 0,32 0,3* (0,6 with single VC) Magnesium 200 oz (5,67 kg) 8,7" (220 mm) 5,9" (150 mm) 11,1" (282 mm) 12,2" (310 mm) 28,66 lb (13 kg)
37,5 cm (15") 2 x 4 ohm 500 W (max 800) 15 Hz- 2 kHz 90 dB 75 mm (3) 42 mm (1,65) 1,93 ohm* * Data measured with 0,89 mH VC connected in parallel 13,9 +-14 mm (0,55) 146 854,8 cm2 27,5 Hz 116,7 4,12 4,31 0,40 0,36* (0,57 with single VC) Magnesium 200 oz (5,67 kg) 8,7" (220 mm) 6,93" (176 mm) 14,17" (360 mm) 15,35" (390 mm) 29,54 lb (13,4 kg)

RECOMMENDED ENCLOSURES FOR UR10, UR12 & UR15

RUNNING-IN PERIOD

Allow the speaker to play for at least 1520 hours. After this time the performance is correct.

VENTED ENCLOSURE

F3 = approximative lower frequency for vented boxes in Hz. Often called F-3 dB point = the point where the power is 50% lower. Fb = Box resonant frequency
Subwoofer UR10* UR12* UR15/par UR15/ser
Volume (liters/ft3) vol: 19 / 0,67 vol: 27,4 / 0,95 vol: 57 / 2,01 vol: 52 / 1,84
Port 3 x 40 cm/15,x 33 cm/ x 24 cm/9,x 24 cm/9,45
Damping Line inside Line inside Line inside Line inside
F3 40,1 Hz 37,4 Hz 51,2 Hz 43 Hz
Fb 40,0 Hz 34,0 Hz 39,8 Hz 39,8 Hz
* voice coils in either series or parallel

SEALED BANDPASS

The speaker is installed in Vb1 playing into chamber Vb2 where the port(s) are installed.
SEALED ENCLOSURE Vb1=rear, Vb2=front
UR12 (VC in parallel, 2 ohm
Vb1 Vb2 Port Vb2 19,5 11,16 1x6,8x32 cm 0,69 ft3 0,39 ftx 3" x 12,6" (US) F3 Vb1: 40,5 Hz, Vb2: 73,6 Hz
UR10 single voice coil: 15 liters / 0,53 ft3 F3: 49,9 Hz UR12 single voice coil: 16 liters / 0,56 ft3 F3: 49,8 Hz UR15 single voice coil: 55 liters / 1,94 ft3 F3: 52,4 Hz use only one voice coils in sealed enclosures
UR15 (VC in parallel, 2 ohm)
Vb1 Vb2 Port Vb2 41,13 55,4 1x16x27 cm 1,45 ft3 1,96 ftx 6" x 10,6" (US) F3 Vb1: 50 Hz, Vb2: 102,5 Hz
Size 30 cm (12") Impedance 2 x 2 ohm Nom. power (RMS) 500 W (max 800) Maxiumum power for SPL use 1200 W Freq. range 20 Hz- 2 kHz Sensitivity 97,3 dB Voice coil diameter 75 mm (3) Voice coil height 32 mm (1,26) Re 1,27 ohm* Voice coil inductance, 1 kHz 0,52 mH BL product 8,73* X-max +-12 mm (0,47) Suspension compliance CMS 344 SD- Effective piston area 452,3 cm2 Resonant freq. (Fs) 30,5 Hz Vas (liters) 98,76 Vas (ft3) 3,48 Qms 4,42* Qes 0,25* Qts 0,24* Cone material Paper Magnet weight 200 oz (5,67 kg) Magnet diameter 8,7" (220 mm) Installation depth 5,71" (145mm) Mounting hole 11,22" (285 mm) Outer diameter 12,4" (315 mm) Weigth 28,66 lb (13 kg) * Data measured with VC connected in parallel
45 cm (18) 3 x 2 ohm 500 W (max 800 ) 2000 W 13 Hz - 1 kHz 90,5 dB 100 mm (4) 32 mm (1,1) 2,2 ohm** 1,16 mH 12,07** +-12 mm (0,47) 936 31,9 Hz 177 6,25 5,33** 0,8** 0,7** Paper 200 oz (5,67 kg) 8,7" (220 mm) 8,66 (220 mm) 16,9 (430 mm) 18,3 (465 mm) 43,65 lb (19,8 kg)
37,5 cm (15") 37,5 cm (15) 2 x 2 ohm 4 x 2 ohm 500 W (max 800) 500 W (max 800 ) 1200 W 2000 W 15 Hz-2 kHz 15 Hz - 1 kHz 99,9 db 88,1 dB 75 mm (3) 75 mm (3) 32 mm (1,26) 28 mm (1,1) 1,25 ohm* 1,8 ohm** 0,57 mH 0,96 mH 8,49* 9,53** +-12 mm (0,47) +-12 mm (0,47) 754,8 cm2 754,8 cm2 33,2 Hz 39 Hz 191,7 72,4 6,77 2,55 4,22* 6,94** 0,35* 1,07** 0,32* 0,92** Paper Paper 200 oz (5,67 kg) 200 oz (5,67 kg) 8,7" (220 mm) 8,7" (220 mm) 6,89" (175 mm) 6,89" (175 mm) 14,17" (360 mm) 14,17" (360 mm) 15,35" (390 mm) 15,35" (390 mm) 29,54 lb (13,4 kg) 29,54 lb (13,4 kg) ** Data measured on single voice coil

VENTED ENCLOSURES FOR SP12 & SP15
Subwoofer SP12 single VC SP12 par. VC SP12 ser. VC SP15 single VC SP15 ser. VC
Volume (liters/ft3) vol: 41,9 / 1,48 vol: 36,9 / 1,30 vol: 40,4 / 1,43 vol: 60 / 2,12 vol: 60,55 / 2,14
Port 4 x 35 cm/13,x 25 cm/9,x 17 cm/6,7 2x4 x 35 cm/13,8 2x4 x 37 cm/14,5
Damping Line inside Line inside Line inside Line inside Line inside
F3 38,1 Hz 30 Hz 50 Hz 53 Hz 44,7 Hz
Fb 38,6 Hz 32 Hz 50 Hz 45,0 Hz 44,0 Hz
SPL ENCLOSURES FOR SP12, 15, 15S, 18S
The enclosure examples can be used only for the reproduction of normal music. If you want to use these subwoofers for SPL competition, which they are designed for, the design of an enclosure is more complicated. The vehicle must be modified in many ways and the enclosure must be individually designed for each vehicle type and also for the different competition classes. You are welcome to contact DLS for advices. On our website www.dls.se /support you will find some helpful hints (PDF document) regarding the build of SPL competition vehicles.

Vb1=rear, Vb2=front

SP12, single VC
Vb1 Vb2 Port Vb2 29,4 17,3 1x10,2x29 cm 1,04 ft3 0,61 ft3 1x4"x11,4" (US) F3 Vb1: 40 Hz, Vb2: 102 Hz
SEALED ENCLOSURE FOR SP15

SEALED ENCLOSURE

SP15 , single VC
Vb1 Vb2 Port Vb2 52,8 58,3 2x16x25 cm 1,86 ft3 2,05 ftx 6" x 9,8" (US) F3 Vb1: 50 Hz, Vb2: 111,6 Hz
SP15: 54,5 liters, F3: 67,5 Hz 1,92 ft3 (Use only one voice coil)
HINTS & TIPS FOR DO IT YOURSELF ENCLOSURE BUILDERS
ABOUT THE RECOMMENDED ENCLOSURES
The performance of these recommended enclosures will vay from vehicle to vehicle. It is more difficult to get a tight and well defined bass in a SEDAN vehicle because of the tightness between trunk and interior of the vehicle. In this case a bandpass box could be a better choise. - All volumes are inside measures. - Volumes occupied by speaker and ports have already been added to the given enclosure volumes. - Use conical bass ports for best result. (DLS BP-75 or BP110). If the ports are too long for the box you can use a bend. Either cut the tube and glue it together in angle, or use factory made tube bends. Its easier to use the factory made ones. The total length must be the same as for a straight tube. Make the measure in the center of the tube. The port opening inside the enclosure must not be closer to an interior wall than 3 (75 mm), otherwise it will have negative effects on the airflow. - The enclosure must be very steady and completely air-tight. Use 22 mm particle board or 19 mm MDF-board. The particle board has a self resonant frequency of 14 Hz while the MDF has a resonant frequency of approx. 400 Hz. Its important to do some type of bracing inside the enclosure to avoid vibrations. Volume taken up by bracing should be added to the enclosure volumes.

ENCLOSURE PLACING IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF VEHICLES
In small vehicles like VW Golf, Peugeot 306 and similar the bass box should be installed with both speaker and port directed backwards. Alternatively booth speaker and port can be directed upwards. This way of mounting is valid for all types of vehicles where the trunk is incorporated with the inner compartment. In sedan vehicles with the passenger compartment separated from the trunk, the enclosure should be installed with booth speaker and port directed towards the rear seat. Some cars have an opening in the middle of the rear seat for loading skis etc. You can install the enclosure behind this opening and direct speaker or port through this opening. There must be some free space in front of the port, (between the rear seat and the port opening). In large vehicles like station wagons the best sound is achieved with the enclosure installed behind the rear seat with booth speaker and port directed backwards. Alternatively you can install the enclosure on one side of the luggage compartment.

CALCULATE YOUR ENCLOSURE

Box volumes: When caculating the volume of an enclosure you simply multiply the width (W) x heigth (H) x depth (D). Use measures in dm and you will get the answer in liters. A trapezoid box is calulated as below: Vol=width (W) x heigth (H) x upper depth (UD) + lower depth (LD) 2 W UD H LD Be sure to measure the inside dimensions.

ENCLOSURE DAMPING

Most enclosures should be damped inside with syntetic (acoustic) wool or damping mat (line). Attach the damping material on the wall opposite from the speaker and port. A sealed enclosure should be filled up to 70-100% with acoustic wool. In a vented enclosure the speaker and port should be on the same side, otherwise a fade-out of some frequencies can occour. In most vehicles, except for SEDAN cars, the speaker and port should be directed backwards for best result.

THE SUBWOOFER

speaker cone chassis voice coil magnet dust cap

upper suspension

WARRANTY SERVICE
This speaker is covered by warranty, depending on the conditions in the country where it is sold. If the speaker is returned for service, please include the original dated receipt with the product.

spider

pole plate T-yoke
Technical Assistance DLS Svenska AB
P.O. Box 13029 SE-40251 Gteborg, Sweden Tel: +840060 Fax: +844021 E-mail: info@dls.se www.dls.se For technical assistance ask the shop where the product was sold or the distributor in your very country.You can always phone the DLS Helpdesk in Sweden + 840060 or send an email to info@dls.e Information can also be found on our WEB-site www.dls.se We follow a policy of continuous advancement in development. For this reason all or part of specifications & designs may be changed without prior notice.

Learn how Phil Petracca and his team created a full DLS-based audio system in three weeks.
Words by Scott Aruti & Ari Rubin

FORWARD

Usually, installing an audio system is a time consuming processes. People spend months, even years, planning, building, and testing their systems before showing them off at sound off events. Not so for Phil Petracca, who, along with some help from Bill Acevedo and Omar Buker of Sounds Impossible, decided to make a complete install featuring DLS speakers during the three weeks leading up to the Steel Valley Regional IASCA event. Petracca, a soundoff battle veteran and 12volt guru, fell in love with DLS speaker line, which is now available in America, at this years CES. He secured the position of Northeast representative of the DLS line for his company, Sound Marketing Group, of Union, NJ, and began figuring out ways to create a system that would highlight his new favorite speakers. After auditioning DLS drivers at this years CES, I was excited that they would now be available in the US, Petracca says. The DLS speakers are very dynamic, offer great tonality, and are some of the best drivers that Ive ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

www.carsound.com

[ 45 ]

F A S T

Petracca enlisted the assistance of long-time friends and partners Bill Acevedo and Omar Buker of Sounds Impossible. The three men decided on a debut target to show off their yet-unrealized project: the Steel Valley Regional IASCA event. With only three weeks until the intended target, Petracca and the team looked toward his 2001 VW Jetta VR6 as the chariot of choice, and began planning a system. Heavily scrutinizing and analyzing the vehicles interior, Petracca and crew began meeting their needs up front, beginning with the source unit. A Pioneer DEX P9/DEQ P9 combo set up runs the show, taking care of all processing requirements via the DEQ P9 processor. The team opted to use a DLS UR36S three-way component set to comprise the Jettas front stage; DLS 28mm tweeters and 2.5-inch dome midranges are housed in custom kick panels. Because speaker placement in particular was so crucial to this install, non-structural sheet metal was removed from both wheelwell areas to optimize this placement. The Fiberglas kick panel pods were painted to match the Jettas exterior color and vividly highlight the DLS components. As a custom security touch, Petracca constructed a grille for each driver which makes them virtually invisible to prying eyes, due to the fact that this is his daily driver. Petracca says this was a fairly easy task because of the extremely shallow mounting depth of the drivers. The DLS tweeter and dome midrange drivers utilize a unique resonance chamber with a vented pole plate, which eliminated any concerns regarding rear wave cancellation. Custom baffles were fabricated to mount the DLS UR36S 6.5-inch sandwich cone midbass in the factory locations; care had to be taken here to ensure enough mounting depth while leaving room for the excursion of the midbass driver. In the end, they were housed behind the factory grille to maintain stock appearance. The doors were then treated with sound deadening materials by IXOS to eliminate unwanted resonances. Two DLS UR12 subwoofers reside in a sealed Ultra MDF enclosure, with each driver receiving 1.1 cubic ft. of airspace. The enclosure was internally braced and also treated with IXOS sound deadening material. The subs are highlighted by a Fiberglas trim panel, which is also painted to match the vehicle, while red lighting and DLS logos add even more visual flair to the panel. The enclosure is secured to the vehicle with 1/8-inch steel brackets. I share the belief that you can NEVER have enough power, exclaims Petracca. With that in mind, he chose a trio of DLS Ultimate Reference A3 Twin Mono amplifiers to power the front stage. Each amp is conservatively rated at 100 watts per channel at 4 ohms, but these unregulated amps generally produce, according to Petracca, 170 watts per channel at 4 ohms; this helped

[ 46 ]

THE CURSE OF THE MEXICAN BURRITO
To paraphrase an old blues standard, If it wasnt for bad luck, [Phil Petracca] wouldnt have no luck at all. Since this article was completed, Phil Petracca has faced a number of trials and tribulations with his 2001 VW Jetta. In the first week of August, Petracca and his ride were caught in a freak flash flood in his New Jersey neighborhood. The streets were filling up fast, and the water didnt look that high, recalls Petracca. By the time I realized I couldnt go any further, the water was up to the middle of the doors. In order to keep the interior, and my kick panels, as safe as possible, I cranked open the sun roof and climbed out of the car. From there, I pushed the car through the thigh-high water seven blocks to safety. The car sustained $12,000 worth of damage and the 12-volt systems wiring was destroyed. Upon inspection, Petraccas insurance company did not total the $18,000 because of the $20,000 worth of equipment in the vehicle. Instead, they covered the damages. This, unfortunately, is not where the story ends. I left the Jetta with my local VW dealer so they could replace the motor and the starter and get the car running again, explains Petracca. The car was there for two-and-a-half weeks when I came to pick it up. I inspected the car with someone from the service department when I realized there were still a few things wrong there was some moisture in the head lights and the plastic piece that covers the motor was cracked. I called my insurance adjuster to find out why this wasnt covered. While I was on hold, I struck up a conversation with a kid who was at the dealership who asked me about DLS after noticing the stickers on my car. So we start talking about car audio, competition, and the car. I opened the trunk to show him the system and there was NOTHING there it was gone. Everything was still in the car the kickpanels, the radio, and the melted Ixos interconnects but there was nothing in the trunk. Petracca called the police and an investigation is currently underway. While no one has been charged yet, there were pieces of the Fiberglass panels found underneath the toolboxes in the dealerships engine bay. Im currently battling with my insurance company to recoup the money that I lost from the install, adds Petracca. Their question is Why would someone have a $20,000 system in a $20,000 car theyve obviously never dealt with a car audio competitor! Petracca left the Jetta at the dealership after coming to an agreement with the insurance companies involved. So, I just went to pick up the car this week. They pull the car up and its dej-v the bumper was all smashed! It must have just happened is all the guy who got the car could say. So the service manager comes running out and tells me not to worry about, that they would take care of it. Needless to say, I left the car there, and made my third insurance claim in the last three months. After this string of events, Petracca is convinced that his ride is cursed. Its The Curse of the Mexican Burrito Volkswagen makes their Jettas in Mexico. Im convinced that every silver Jetta is cursed. For more information, contact DLS America at 305-933-5255 or visit them on the Web at www.dls-america.com.

the large power supplies to be capable of delivering over 1000 watts at 1 ohm. To adequately power the subwoofers, each DLS UR12 is connected to its own DLS Ultimate Reference A6 Mono amplifier, which delivers over 1200 watts at 1 ohm. With over 3500 watts
RMS on tap, there was obviously a large current requirement. To ensure the amps are operating under optimal conditions, gauges were installed on an MDF panel, which also match the vehicles exterior, in the glove box. Amplifier voltage, amount of current being drawn, and temperature of each amp as well as the ambient air temperature are displayed. In addition, the center arm rest houses a DLS Sub Level Controller for each of the DLS Ultimate Reference A6 Mono amps. Petracca and crew chose IXOS wire and interconnect based on, what they say, is excellent quality and ease of use. Power is fed via IXOS GTI Professional Grade 1/0 AWG Flat Power Cable, which utilizes two side-byside conductors for additional outer surface area and unmatched flexibility. IXOS 6002 Super 7 Gamma Geometry speaker wire was used to ensure the signal from the DLS amps reach the DLS speakers in its purest form. IXOS 10040 Ixotica Aptimus Perimeter RCA cables deliver the low level signal with, according to Petracca, no unwanted noise or signal degradation. IXOS distribution and fuse blocks were used to protect and route power to the various components. They are mounted to a baffle painted to match the vehicles exterior, which is located in the factory storage bin in the left quarter panel. Their modular design and clever fusing possibilities made managing specific installation requirements simple for Petracca and crew. As to be expected, five amplifiers that deliver the kind of power this system puts out made space an issue. I needed an attractive layout to highlight the DLS Ultimate Reference amplifiers that had to be easily serviceable, and keeping in mind my evershrinking time constraints, explains Petracca. Symmetry has always been important to me, so I opted for two amplifiers mounted above, two below, and one floating between the four. The DLS Ultimate Reference amplifiers have all of their terminations on one end, which allowed us to mount them side-by-side almost giving the appearance of one large amp. The floating amp effect was achieved by building a convex Fiberglas panel which is hollow to allow amp terminations, and is at the same time, [ continued on page 94 ]

VITAL LINKS

DLS..www.dls-america.com IXOS..www.ixoscable.com Pioneer.www.pioneerelectronics.com Volkswagen..www.vw.com

SPEAKER SELECTION

[ continued from page 28 ] that if you havent listened to either of these speakers, dont argue with me. In a door, in the factory location, I defy you to get a better sound with round speakers that you can with these! Also remember the parameters of this project vehicle, that only factory locations could be used, and that space had to be left so that the vehicle is completely usable. While a different set of parameters would change the choice of components in this setup, oval is the way to go!

HES A SELL OUT!

No, Im not I swear to you. What Im doing, however, is pointing out one of the biggest problems that people building their own systems make. They assume that if they buy the best possible products and put them in their vehicle theyll get great sound. They look at the products used in the top competition vehicles and want to use them in their vehicle; its just in most cases, they cant put them in the same way. And, as any top competitor will tell you, application is usually more important than product. Look at some of the top guys who change sponsors and win just the same the application is the key. In a lot of cases, keeping the same size as factory is important. Consider that the audio guy did the best he could with limited space and money, extend his dollars with a
particular vehicle type. The RDS tuner worked well on our two stations that transmit their call letters along with their signal. This tuner is also capable of receiving scrolling text and time information for auto setting of the clock. There are three FM bands with the last one (which I liked) being dedicated to the Travelstore feature, which will automatically store the six stations with the strongest reception. There is one AM band. The CD player, which is capable of playing a CD-R loaded with MP3 files, also worked well. You can assign names for up to 30 CDs. My favorite part of this system has to be the Compact Drive MP3 Player. This unit acts just like a CD changer, with your directories acting like disc that can have up to 99 tracks, but without the delay switching between discs. The head unit will automatically scroll artist and track information across the screen. I usually have a glitch or two whenever I burn an audio CD, but this hard drive played flawlessly. When driving over rumble strips that would have stopped a CD player the Compact Drive MP3 Player never blinked.
Eldridge, Rob Hephner, and Bill Acevedo. All of these competitors were impressed with the performance of the DLS products prior to tuning, and also how receptive the gear was to dialing in. The DLS speakers sound truly awesome right out of the box. The response to the system has been far greater than expected. For more information, contact Sound Marketing at 908-624-1992 or visit www.sound-marketing.com.

FAST FORWARD

[ continued from page 28 ] structurally sound. Red neon lighting was used above, below, and underneath the center amplifier to complete the desired effect. The entire amp rack was trimmed with OEM carpet and leather to integrate with the vehicle. All of our install objectives were met within our short time frame, concludes Petracca. At the debut of the Jetta the IASCA Steel Valley Regional the system received a great deal of praise from fellow competitors. This was made possible with less than two hours of tuning assistance by Scott Bawalda, and approximately another hour of tweaking between Mark

BLAUPUNKT CASABLANCA

[ continued from page 90 ] driving. The five-band digital parametric EQ gives you great tone control for those of you wanting to tweak your system for that perfect sound. Others may choose to use one of the six audio presets. You can also select for you

MovinOn

Sounds

5 6-489-www.movinon.com

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