snafu

There were many reasons, but the main one is that we just couldn't make any money in the category. Cool factor plays a huge role in head unit sales, and we just didn't have the resources to get in that game like the big boys.

Thanks Boss - I'm a car nut. When the wife gave me the nod to get this one, I just had to do it. It's still got a long way to go yet, but it's been a blast so far.

Thanks guys!

Looks like you've made a bunch of progress on it since I was there. NW Audio is just a great partner of ours - we all wish we had 10 more like them!

Actually, it doesn't rattle so much as to "breathe". The trunk lid (and whole rear of the car for that matter) bellows a bunch - so much that it demolished the mounting tabs for the rear wing. Although the trunk behaves in this fashion, it doesn't seem to hurt output all that much. The basic principal behind infinite baffle is that the enclosure in which the woofer(s) are mounted has a volume that exceeds the woofer(s) Vas. In this case, that really isn't so - I can't remember, but I think I've got about half as much volume in the trunk as would be necessary to achieve that. I think this is the main reason that output isn't really compromised - as the enclosure volume increases slightly when this occurs. We've sat on the trunk lid in an effort to see what kind of an effect stabilizing the trunk lid had on output and it seems to be irrelevant. Either way, whatever noise this creates on the outside of the vehicle is inaudible from the inside. Seems that the 'stang's resonant frequency is about 23 Hz. At 23 Hz on my hand-held OSC-2, I can cause the roof, hood, doors, sides, etc. of the vehicle to move substantially. The front end of the car will resonate so much that you can't actually see the antenna! We figured that out when we were trying to hunt down the source of the whistling from the front of the car and we noticed that it was the antenna "howling" from this! I need to capture that on video, huh? Thanks for all the comments. I've had a bunch of systems in my time and I always try and come up with something unique. 18s in a Mustang GT just sounded like . . . huh? I just think of all the kids that have seen it over the last three years that tell their buddies, "dude, this guy had EIGHTEENS in his 'stang AND his back seat AND his spare tire . . . " and their buddy looks at them like . . . "right" . . . Plus, my first BIG system back in the day was a 1984 Mustang GT with a pair of 18s . . .

A few answers: 1. We stopped selling Source Units by the end of 2004 so we no longer offer them. Incidentally, our "deal" on decks was that you could not clip the RCA preamp outputs at MAX volume and they had very low source output impedance. We just never had "cool" . . . 2. The wheels are Weld Draglite XPs - they were very hard to find. I chose them because I had a "hook-up" at Weld where I got a buddy deal (they've since sold to American Racing . . . ) AND I'd never seen a New Edge Mustang with 17" Draglites. Weld makes great wheels . . . 3. Jeremy in tech support gave me the aluminum A/C knobs - they're from Steeda - thanks bro'. Now, I have a question - is that dog wearin' a wig?

18s . . . you won't have an argument from me on that . . . but, I don't see it happening any time soon as we just won't sell enough of them to offset the cost of tooling one up. I'm obviously an 18 inch kinda' guy . . . go big or go home.

It's an RFX-9420. This is my daily driver (when I'm actually in town that is). Jason Digos of RTTI fame built the baffle and the amp racks for me. At first, he was doubtful that we could get a pair of 18s in the car as I couldn't even fit them in it in the boxes they came in . . . but we got them in. Clearances were very tight - trust me, everything is twice as tight as it looks. System wise, it's simple - two amps, two woofers, one pair of 6.5" components, source unit, 3Sixty.2, and an Epicenter. Charging system wise is equally as simple - Ohio Gen 200 amp alt, Optima Red Top, 100 Farad RF cap, and lots of 1/0. It was built to sound good no matter what kind of music you want to listen to - it's been quite enjoyable. Of course, if you want the bass we're known for, it can do that too! It plays flat to just under 20 Hz and is nearly flat to 15 Hz with no equalization below 60 Hz. I punished The Dave's ears with some Bass Mekanik one night and he couldn't believe it. Of course, to address Assman's comments on the Olds' . . . it's gotta go fast too. It runs in the 12s at over 112 mph thanks to a Vortech SQ, full Bassani exhaust, 4.10 gears . . . and a WHOLE lot more. Handling is via Hotchkis suspension components and Nitto 555s - basically, it's a bunch of fun. Glad you guys like it. BTW, if you look REALLY hard in the photo with the neon on, you can see the old amps - a 1501bd and 1051s. We finished the car in about December of 2003 and I've for the most part just listened to it ever since. BTW, I'll get Steve a current underhood shot and a shot of the spare tire, which is still in the car and fully functional.

Thanks . . . it gets to 80 pretty damn quick! So . . . I'm guessing that was your Tahoe that Cobbs and I looked at last time we were at NW Audio huh?

I'd love to see it!

I drive it into the office occasionally. I live about 15 miles South of ROFO. If I drive it in, I have to come in a little bit late and leave a little early to avoid the traffic, so it's not really all that convenient to do so. I get it out every chance I can - some nights I'll just cruise it up to the local Sonic to hang out. Others, I'll take it to the car show at the Scottsdale Pavilions on Saturday. It has a 12 gallon fuel cell - best mileage I've gotten from a tank full has been about 75 miles. I have a 2003 Mustang GT that is my daily driver. It's a full bolt on car with a Vortech, runs 12s in the quarter, has 18 inch HX2s, etc. I'll have to send Steve some pics of it as well.

Thanks guys. The first pics Steve posted are the most recent (notice the different scoop and smaller upper pulley). I'll give you the rundown: 1972 Cutlass S (good eye groundpounder) Engine: 454 Chevrolet, .030 over Steel Crank & Scat Steel Rods 8.5:1 TRW Forged Blower pistons GM Hi-Perf Rect. Port Cylinder Heads Comp Cams camshaft, pushrods, and springs Crane Gold Roller Rockers with JessEm Girdles Weiand 6-71 Blower @ 10 pounds of boost BDS blower manifold Dual Edelbrock 600 cfm carbs Ron Davis Aluminum radiator w/dual 16" cooling fans Ignition: MSD 6-BTM MSD Pro Billet Distributor Exhaust: Hooker 2 1/8" ID Super Comp Headers Custom 3" Exhaust with H-Pipe and Flowmaster 40s Trans: GM TH400 with reverse manual valve body 3,000 RPM stall TransBrake (I've not used this yet) B&M Pro Stick Shifter Rear: Narrowed Ford 9-inch 4.30 gears Moser 35 Spline spool and custom axles Ford disc brakes Custom: Fully Back Halved with coil overs and ladder bars Fiberglass front clip and hood Candy Apple Red Tubbed 8 point cage Full complement Auto Meter gauges I bought it on eBay about a year ago as a basket case. The chassis work, front clip, and paint looks as it does today, but I had to totally replace the drivetrain - engine, trans, rear end, etc. I built a wiring harness in it from scratch and everything works as it should. It's totally street legal, and even passed emissions. The guys at Ron Fassl in Scottsdale, AZ built the motor and rear end and it's got about 1,500 miles on it now. It's not been on the chassis dyno yet, but I think it's easily capable of 750 flywheel hp. As it is now, it will burn the tires through first gear and into second if you stand on it . . . and that's with a fairly conservative tune and 91 octane pump gas. It's a lot of fun. Glad you guys like it. BTW, the rear tires are not Mickey Thompsons, they're ProTrac . . . and they measure over 19 inches of rubber on the ground.