Installer calvin thomas comes from a sound competition background. When your work is constantly under scrutiny, you learn pretty quickly to perfect it. Consequently, thomas knows how to spot excellent craftsmanship. This expert fabricator helped us out during the trifecta finals at sema 2007, judging the build quality of all the competitors. A few booths over, this '66 ford gt race car made its debut at polk audio.
CA&E: What is your background as an installer?
Calvin Thomas: I've been installing for 14 years. I started in a small shop in Birmingham, AL. I learned by doing the job. Being an IASCA competitor I had to learn how to win. If I wanted to win I had to learn how to make things look good.
CA&E: Now you own your own business?
CT: Thomas Audio is an independent shop located in Alpharetta, GA. We've been in business for about eight months.
CA&E: Why did you start this project?
CT: The owner Mike Gelb had a nice sports car and he wanted to put a system in it. So we got together with Polk Audio and designed a system for the car using a lot of new equipment. At SEMA 2007, the car was featured in Polk's booth for the unveiling of the new SR amplifiers.
CA&E: What were your goals with this build?
CT: The goals were to keep the car with a race theme. I wanted it to have as little weight as possible and look as original as it could.
CA&E: What was your first step in doing that?
CT: I had to figure out where to make things fit. There wasn't enough room in the car-there barely was enough room for the driver! First I looked under the seat. There's no room under the seat. Then we looked behind the seat, but there was no room behind the seats. So I looked under the hood and placed the amplifier there.
CA&E: What about the source unit?
CT: Since there was no room for a radio, we came up with the idea for the iPod as the source unit. Matt Turner designed and built the docking station for the iPod [www.specdock.com]. It's in front of the gear shifter.
CA&E: What else did you do in regard to the lack of space?
CT: I built speaker pods to go on top of the fuel cells. You've got fuel cells on the left and right sides of the car in front of the dash. The fiberglass pods house Polk Audio 5.25'' SR Series components that convert into coaxials. In the foot well of the passenger side of the car, I built an enclosure to house a Polk Audio SR 8" sub. It tucks deep into the foot well and is made of MDF wrapped in suede to match the upholstery on the seats.