2002 Cadillac EscaladeEverywhere you look there's another big SUV; it's getting so that you don't even notice them anymore. Even the luxury variety pass by without a blip on your mind's radar, they're so common. That is not a description that can be applied to this 2002 Escalade from Cadillac. Passers-by understand right away this is no run-of-the-mill Caddy SUV. This has the gold package, a rear spoiler, a billet grill and it's riding on 20-inch LD1 Lowenhart wheels. Not that you can see it but under the hood resides a supercharged engine. Those are just a hint of things to come.
Owner, Saul Robles, has always been into exotic cars with big systems. He also likes big cars with exotic systems. After purchasing the Escalade he went to his friends at Mobile Soundwaves in Atlanta, GA, because as he puts it, "[he] wanted it done right". The installation would take the high road in style, thanks to installer Monty Knight.
Mobile Soundwaves set Robles up with the Alpine CDA-7990 mounted in the factory location. The factory trim was re-molded and textured to conform to the contours of the 7990. The signal from the head unit and the 6-disc changer travel through to the PXA-H900 processor which gets the sound exactly the way Robles likes it. Also up front, in the center console, is an Alpine 6000 DVD changer.
Pristine and precise, the signal is played through Alpine F17T DDDrive speakers which were mounted in fiberglass baffles in the front doors. The component set crossover was also installed above the driver with the tweeters in the factory pillar locations. The rear doors have the another set of the speakers on fiberglass baffles as well. And like more and more vehicles, this Escalade also has a center channel: Alpine's SPX-F13M, a 5-1/4" speaker.
The low frequency sound is made up of six Rockford Fosgate subs, the HX2, which were inverted (mainly for cosmetic purposes). The top of the enclosure was formed with cotton cloth then layered in fiberglass mat to a thickness of around 5/8 of an inch. The sub enclosure, amps and processor are all mounted on a steel frame welded with 1/2" square tubing.
The system is powered by three Esoteric 7041 amps that reside in the rear of the vehicle; they are trimmed with a vinyl-wrapped fiberglass trim panel. The third amp is not visible. Two run the subs and the third is a 6-channel amp that runs the mids and highs.
For multimedia Robles went with Alpine. One TME-M750 was disassembled and flushed into the factory radio location. The dash panel was re-textured and painted with factory paint. Two TME-M750's were used for rear video; one in each headrest. The monitor up front is also used for navigation via Alpine's NVE nav unit.
This outstanding package of perforce has a top-of-the-line security system, Alpine's 8063 with a pager. When you have the something as big, bad and beautiful as this Escalade you better watch your own back. Especially considering that the total value of the vehicle is over six figures. Protection is a minimal necessity.
Robles, who competes in USAC, IASCA and dB Drag in the SQ Unlimited class, would like to thank Jake Kunz, Monty Knight and Dax Derringer. Certainly a job well done. That's not good news for the competition, but interesting for the rest of us. Look for more on this bad-ass SUV on our Web site. It deserves another look.