Arguably, multimedia systems have continued to be one of the hottest trends in the mobile electronics industry. A glance through any of our recent issues offers sufficient evidence of this popular movement. Wayne Watkins, however, chose a much different path when building his own demo/competition vehicle, a 2003 Acura RSX. Over the course of two years, he has created a truly remarkable competition audio system to compete in both IASCA and USACI 601+ classes. That's right, an audio system-no video sources or monitors anywhere.A Little Preppy
To route JL Audio power/speaker cables and interconnects throughout the vehicle, Watkins gutted the RSX to the bare bones. The factory battery was replaced with two Optima Yellow Tops mounted in custom aluminum battery trays under the hood. All power cables were run in the factory frame rails under the rocker panels; the RCAs, down the center of the vehicle along the center console; and the speaker cables, down the roof through the A-pillars into the dash, doors and kick panels. Before reassembling the vehicle, every accessible inch of sheet metal was covered in Dynamat Extreme, consuming three bulk packs of the sound deadening material.
Go To The Source
Up front, the factory double-DIN radio location now holds an Eclipse CD8053 source unit trimmed with a custom smoked acrylic panel that houses the RSX's custom gain controls, status LEDs and switch for the linear actuator in the sub enclosure (more on this later). No additional processors were required as the Eclipse features built-in crossovers, time alignment and equalization. For additional convenience, an Eclipse 5083 CD changer is tucked behind the rear seat.For a powerful yet accurate front stage, Watkins created a 3-way system utilizing the doors, kick panels and dash for driver placement. Focal 165K2P 6 1/2" drivers were installed in custom fiberglass inserts on the door panels. Watkins also built custom kick panels to house the 4" midrange driver from the Focal 100KP component set. The tweeter was flushed into the factory dash location. Both the door and kick panels feature color-matched silver trim panels with yellow accents and custom-made clear acrylic speaker grilles to protect the drivers.
 Flanking the two amplifiers...  Flanking the two amplifiers in the hatch is a Focal 100KP 4" component set that serves double duty for both rear fill and for demo speakers when the hatch is open. Matching yellow trim rings and custom clear acrylic grilles were added to protect the 4" drivers. For added flexibility, Watkins added a separate gain control for the rear stage to adjust the level of the drivers for either rear fill or demo purposes. |  |  The factory double-DIN radio...  The factory double-DIN radio location now holds an Eclipse CD8053 source unit trimmed with a custom smoked acrylic panel that houses the RSX's custom gain controls, status LEDs and switch for the linear actuator in the sub enclosure. No additional processors were required as the Eclipse features built-in crossovers, time alignment and equalization. For a secondary audio source, an Eclipse 5083 CD changer is tucked behind the rear seat. |
 The front stage is comprised...  The front stage is comprised of a Focal 100KP 5 1/4" component set and a pair of 165K2P 6 1/2" midbass drivers to create a 3-way system. Custom inserts were fabricated to house the 6 1/2" drivers in the doors, and custom kick panels were also built to house the 4" drivers. The Focal tweeters were mounted in the factory dash locations. Color-matched silver fiberglass panels with yellow accents trim the midrange drivers. Custom clear acrylic grilles protect the components that are installed with stainless steel security screws. |  |  Folding the rear seats reveals...  Folding the rear seats reveals yet another silver fiberglass panel that displays the fuses for each amplifier and also trims the Eclipse CD changer. |