Twenty-two-year-old Ashley Cantwell has been into cars ever since she could get a wrench under the hood. After deciding that her first vehicle, a Honda hatchback, had become "slow and old," she looked into getting a Subaru WRX. She soon realized that buying the parts and modifying the WRX would cost the same as buying a WRX STi. Even though she could barely drive a stick shift (she did get some practice in the dealership parking lot), Cantwell brought one home. Sans factory stereo, the Subie's first modification had to be A/V.
"I just got done paying $27,000 cash for the car, pretty much my whole life savings," Cantwell relates. "So I thought to myself, 'Why put some crappy stereo in my car?' " She headed over to Independence Audio in Independence, MO, with a budget of $3,000 for the entire installation. Her goals? "I wanted enough bass, but not too much, and highs with a good crisp sound."
In the showroom, the Pulse Touch display of an Alpine IVA-D300 blew her away. "I've also heard great things about Alpine, and they've always worked great for me in past installs," Cantwell explains of her HU decision. "For the highs and tweeters I chose MB Quarts [PCE-213] because they're known for the clean sound they put out." In the rear locations she picked out Memphis MClass 15-MSYNC6's.
For the subs and amps, Cantwell went with the salesman's recommendations: a Memphis Belle amp and JL Audio subs. "I've heard great things about JL [Audio] and their speakers, so I took his advice and went with two 12" JL [Audio] W3's in a custom box," she says. Lastly, the shop surprised her with an Audiovox 4-inch screen in the trunk lid, while her dad installed LEDs throughout.
For the first week Cantwell was pretty happy, but then she felt the hunger for more bass. "I saw a feature on a car, and it had one JL [Audio] W6 in it," she states. She wavered between getting more W3's or switching to the 12W6v2's. Based on the shop's advice, Cantwell went with the W6's, backed up by a new Memphis Belle 16-MCH1300 amp. The finished system went over budget a bit, but it won her numerous awards across the state, including a measured high of 142dB at one SPL event.
For most of us, the job is never done and things change. No exception, Cantwell moved to Arizona and the Subie's latest mod is a baby seat. This new mother is also looking forward to JL Audio amps to match the subs, plus a lightweight carbon-fiber enclosure. Having a baby doesn't mean you can't go fast.