Last month's Directory issue was a bear, and we have yet to see the final results of our labor of love. We made some minor changes, rearranging the book and excising obsolete material. With the great emphasis the industry and enthusiasts place on this issue we have to find ways to raise the bar, so look forward to even more changes for next year; in fact, we are already working on it. Now we are just putting the finishing touches on the June issue, as many of you are getting ready to head to both the Spring Break Tuner Bash and the Spring Break Nationals. I'm sure a lot of you just can't wait; we are full of anticipation as well. Speaking of events, this year we will be sponsoring S3, a Street, Sound and Style competition that will take place in October of this year. Look for more on that as the time approaches.
This month we have Caine Gayle on the cover. As a pro skater he earns his living riding a skateboard. Car audio enthusiasts who work in the industry doing something they love can well understand that. But for some people the two just don't compare. A lot of people never can get over the fact that a person makes a nice living riding a kid's toy. Make no mistake, though, it takes an incredible amount of skill to do what he does. The cover is an example of that.
For most athletes, music provides an on-command adrenalin rush. But for the athlete it can almost be looked at as a tool for their trade. In Caine's case, he drives to many different locations for his skate sessions and while in route music keeps him psyched for his next gig. He wanted a clean system that did not take up any room in the truck, so the One Track Mind crew in Encinitas, California did a cavity search and decided some factory metal had to be removed to keep things slick and stealth. While our magazine does it's fair share of showing off some wild and elaborate systems we try to find very clean and simple systems such as Caine's install. Not that removing factory sheet metal is simple. In any case, we hope you will get a couple of ideas for your next project; or maybe a friend needs a couple of ideas. That's what the mag's for.
I actually like the practicality of these systems. No worries leaving it in a shopping mall parking lot or in that "iffy" neighborhood where your friend lives. We live in the real world too, as was made clear when someone recently broke into one of our staff member's cars. By the way, look for a security feature in the next issue. Sometimes, we get so fixated on cool components that we neglect the issue of car security. I personally have had three systems removed the hard way, and Casey, our technical director, had his car stolen; so you can see where I get my passion for a simple system. I think we all have war stories to tell, but our passion for music will not let this get in our way!
Believe it or not, a good simple install is even harder to find than the show systems. Simple and tasteful are usually not the two words used, it's more like simple and budget, which usually means, no integration of the system with the vehicle was considered. You've seen it: CD changer wherever, amp bolted to the back of a seat or stuffed under it with the wires resembling spaghetti. Stealth but "showy" systems, forget it! Very rare indeed, but we would love to show and tell - maybe that is why no one's getting us the lowdown... You don't want to blow your cover, as it were.
For those of you who want something more complex, not to worry. We have a great Lincoln LS; and in the months to come we are putting together a tremendous group of vehicles that will make you wonder about the benefits of a stealth setup!