Car culture seems to thrive wherever there's warm weather and a sunny sky. After all, it's hard to remain passionate about customizing when you have to lock up your ride during a long, cold winter, with its constant threats of salt corrosion, rust and errant icicles. So if you want to find large concentrations of serious car audio enthusiasts, travel to a balmy clime, such as that found in the Sunshine State.
Twenty-six-year-old Floridian Freddy Harrison decided to build a custom car audio system at the age of 15. He started in the typical ghetto fashion, taking apart home speakers and putting them in his car, before hitting some local shops. For this 2002 RSX Type-S, Harrison stepped it up, going to SoundCrafters in South Daytona Beach. Having always lusted after an RSX, he knew exactly what he desired with this build. "I wanted to be able to stand up to the top car audio competitors, but still be able to have it as everyday driving car," he says. Following IASCA standards, Mike Baker and Jeff Johnson took over the vehicle for two months before handing it back to Harrison as you see it here.
Driver: Although Harrison may have started out as an unknowing babe, he soon learned a lot about car audio by hanging out at shops all day while his ride was being worked on. It's important to him that he can drive his RSX every day, and as he cruises he listens to everything from alternative to drum and bass and jungle. Thanks go out to Mike Baker, Jeff Johnson, Jeremy Carlson, Paul Bemis and Paul Papadeas at SoundCrafters; Doug and Eric at Hybrid Performance; Scott Buwalda at Hybrid Technologies; Keith at RZ motoring; Eric at Image Dynamics; Paul and Craig at Select Products and others.
Shop: SoundCraftersSouth Daytona Beach, FLInstallers: Mike Baker, Jeff Johnson
For the rear fill install, the key word is rings. In fact, rings may be a theme for the entire install, as Baker had to router 28 of them throughout the car. The 6.5" Image Dynamics CXS Chameleon woofer drops into an acrylic ring on the inside of the factory door panel. A suede-covered MDF ring then sandwiches the speaker securely into place and makes for a flush appearance (the speaker bolts into the acrylic inner circle). For an added touch, eight blue LEDs light up the acrylic.
A custom dash kit painted to match the orange exterior holds an Alpine IVA-W200, which Harrison chose on the recommendation of the installers. The receiver works in conjunction with an Alpine F#1 Status PXA-H900. In a classic SoundCrafters move, Baker removed the headliner and molded it to fit the F#1 processor and its controller, which usurped the place of the map lights. Once complete, the headliner received a blanket of black suede. Below in the center console, a sliding tray holds the molded-in F#1 remote, and beneath that, cup holders gave way for the distribution blocks' remote displays.
Unorthodox speaker sizes and placement mark the front stage. Rather than a single high-frequency driver in the suede-wrapped A-pillars, Baker used MDF and acrylic rings to mount a Hybrid Audio 3.5" woofer and a tweeter. But the Hybrid Audio gear isn't all that's upfront. Taking some advice from respected installer Jeremy Carlson, Baker built kick panel enclosures sealed with non-hardening clay for a pair of Phoenix Gold 9" subs.