Following the Denver Trifecta where it poured rain the entire weekend, the San Diego show began ominously with a weather prediction of 30 percent chance of precipitation. Luckily San Diego's reputation for perfect weather proved more reliable than the forecast, so the final regular Trifecta of the year took place under sunny skies. Top sound quality and show car competitors vied for the prize money and bragging rights, including some amazing vehicles from Texas and northern California.
First place went to James Moe, the 16-year-old owner of a Chevy Brookwood. Kustom Kar Audio and Chris Merrill, responsible for the highly modded out interior and the fantastic fabrication work, built a vehicle that had the judges wide-eyed at the wagon. Second place went to James Ngim (aka, Junior) with his Honda Civic full of Sony gear. A top finisher at Sony's sound competition, it made a strong impression on the judges for its install and hi-fi audio. We should note that this "show car" serves as Ngim's daily driver! As he finished in second place, he, along with James Moe, will be competing at SEMA. Taking home third was Larry Stevens with his Ford Expedition. His reptilian-themed truck with a JBL system was a crowd pleaser and just barely finished behind the Civic.
Weighing each vehicle for overall aesthetics/build quality, sound quality and peak SPL, our team of judges spanned the car audio spectrum. Our thanks to Gary Bell, Chris Yato, Mike Vu, Matthew Valbuena, and Pimp My Ride's Mad Mike, along with our sound quality judging crew of Ed Ng, Keith Turner, Eric Fitzgerald and, of course, CA&E's own Casey Thorson.
The judges don't get a breather yet. In addition to the aforementioned judges, Chip Foose, Troy Sumitomo, Bryan Schmitt and Rob Ida will lend their expertise at the Finals in November. For more information on the Trifecta Finals at SEMA, check out www.caraudiomag.com.
| Top 10 |
| Philadelphia - Denver - San Diego |
| 1. Justin Efkowitz |
| Chrysler 300M | 127.6 |
| 2. Deav Hary |
| Audi S4 | 116 |
| 3. Zee Siddiqi |
| Nissan 240SX | 113.5 |
| 4. James Moe |
| Chevy Brookwood | 111.75 |
| 5. Ryan Shutt |
| Honda Civic | 111.1 |
| 6. James Ngim |
| Honda Civic | 109.7 |
| 7. Mark Abate |
| Saturn Ion | 108.8 |
| 8. Wayne Watkins |
| Acura RSX | 106.0 |
| 9. John Williams |
| Mitsubishi Eclipse | 104.0 |
| 10. Chris Zitkevitz |
| Mazda6 | 103.1 |