The '07 USACi World Finals found a new home this year at the Qwest Center in Omaha, NE. The World Finals gave SPL a new acronym: So Phreakin' Loud! Is 180dB truly loud? Not loud enough? How does 182.1 hit you? To me, that's just earth-shattering pain. So who would be daring enough to approach the unattainable? Joe Labato for one and we can't forget about Scott Owens of Team Edge hitting 181.2dB.
In a sea of minivans and sport trucks, a few competitors truly stand out. There was a DB Drive competitor with old-school style and new-school gear. What made this event truly unique was the three new World Records, all in the Super Modified class: Super Modified 2001-4000 174.4 Danny Hays, Super Modified 4001-8000 176.7 Kyle Witherspoon & Super Modified 8001-Up 179.3 Scott Owens.
Life is about experiences and this is exactly what the USACi team brought to Omaha. The crew kept attendees active with entertainment from bikini contests to drag racing. When I say drag racing, it is definitely not the type of drag racing you'd expect. Think guys in drag. And how can you top the sight of the children of the corn prepping for a lowrider exhibition? There's nothing quite like it. In an effort to take things to the next level "Q" Dodson of Pimp My Ride and the March Playboy Playmate Tyran Richard made an appearance.
The show really pulled up a number of interesting artifacts including vintage gear, a Lotus Elise kicking it with a sleek yet sexy system and Focal's finest. World Finals showed us that carputer integration is here and it's here to stay. One vehicle after another utilized carputers to control motorization, run PowerPoint presentations of build pics and fine tune listening locations. This is merely the beginning of what we are about to see. Audio enthusiasts come and go, but the ideas and concepts keep coming. All we can say is life begins at 180dB. Many manufacturers feared this 180dB breaking point because strange anomalies could occur. To date we haven't seen any of these oddities appear. Stay tuned as the records keep climbing and we'll see what the future holds.
CA&E wants to congratulate and thank all of the competitors and show-offs at Finals. Without you there would be no new experiences, no new ideas and no new world records. Keep making your dreams a reality.