Competition Pointers?!

Hey all you great stereo people out there,  I have been to many a competition in the past and will continue to do so in the future, (actually i am going to one tonight).  Anyway, I was just wondering if there are any hints or tips or reccomendations for people that do compete on how to actually reach the highest SPL for their particular system, whatever that may be.  Any ideas or schemes or stories about anything would be aprecieated and (I'm sure) enjoyed by all. 

-------------
Owner/Installer
Bassment Designs
Alberta Canada
Kicker in a Convert!! YAY!!

hmm.. well i was never into the SPL-only competitions myself.. most of those installs I see look like a typical ghetto redneck K-mart special job complete with loose cable all over the floors, raw MDF boxes with silicone smeared all over it and split wood from the drywall screws being too tight, to the radio half hanging out of the dash and the fuzzy dice in the mirror.
but hey all they care about is SPL.. not install quality LOL
Okay anyway for SPL only?
as much power as you can afford
as much sub surface-area as you can afford
sound dampen the interior using dynamat type mat, strap-foam, dum-dum, locktite green, and anything else to stop metal vibration
use line level pre-amps to get a 4 to 9 volt line signal
use stiffening capacitors, a bank of yellow top optima batteries, the biggest alternator you can find, and appropriate power cable and fusing.
build good enclosures for the subs, with cross bracing, .75" HDF, etc.. and if you can do it, use 6th or 8th order bandpass.. if you actually want it to sound good too use ported or 4th order bandpass
get sponsors so you can afford more, bigger amps and subs..
that's about all i can think of telling ya for now :)


-------------
-GlassWolf
Pioneer Stage-4, Orion, DynAudio, Fi

Get the Boston Acoustics 3 CD set and make sure you have a bass maximizer for the system. The type of music you play will have a BIG affect on your system and also if you are making a sub box, try to build it with SPL in mind meaning that there is a certain frequncy that the subs will perform the best at, so build the box to enhance that frequency. As for competition day,

• make sure that the battery('s) is FULLY charged ,
• place a charger on the batteries the night before ) 
• also double check all connections
• BRING EXTRA FUSES
• bring all the right tools along incase you need to do an emergency disection of the system

-------------
Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA

true dat. my Festiva was a good example of that.
ran a pair o fported twelves with 320WRMS between them.
They hit very hard in that tiny car.


-------------
-GlassWolf
Pioneer Stage-4, Orion, DynAudio, Fi

the only advantage a larger vehicle will have is that there is more room for a sound wave to complete its wavelength. so in some cases bigger is better. if you check the db drag racing website, you will see quite a few of the extreme class competitors running a mini van with only 2 subs, but they are doing in the 170's. a good place to start on spl is to look at the different sanctioning bodies rules. some thing you may not think is a big deal, may be enough to screw you in to being in a higher class, where without experience, you will get stomped.

indeed very good advice.
I was just looking over the rules myself for that sort of stuff.
things like sound damping materials can kill ya.
no double or triple layering, no expanding foam more than an eighth of an inch thick, etc.. man crazy rules hehe
anyway had to make sure I could squeeze into the class i want with my Jeep so I had to review all of that stuff before i start messing with it.
some of those rules are very unclear though, like "no modified dash"
does that mean my EQ being in a hand-made ABS plate disqualifies me? or do they mean no cutting up the dash? or what? heh gotta get a hold of a judge and find out specifics before next season i guess.


-------------
-GlassWolf
Pioneer Stage-4, Orion, DynAudio, Fi