For Mark Vickers, owner of Sound Sensations in Marietta, Ga., no car compares to the '99 Mercedes-Benz CLK430.By making it the demo car of his shop, he could keep his former daily driver at the forefront of custom, placing all thelatest technology at his disposal. For the last two years, Vickers has participated in Pioneer's Sound Build-Off compe-titions, coming in Third last year. This year, with creative and solid installation of the sanctioned Pioneer gear, he impressed the IASCA judges enough to win First Place.
"Everyone in the company helped one way or another," Vickers reveals about the build. He pulled not only on his own tal-ents, but also those of Alex Lewandowski, Keith Gantt, Mark Jonsling, Johnny Justice, Nolan Menne, and Jeff Smith, to build a top sound-quality demo car using a select group of products. The electronics included the Pioneer Premier DEH-P800PRS head unit, a pair of TS-C720PRS speakers, another pair of TS-C520PRS components, a duo of PRS-A900 four-channel amplifiers, a single PRS-D1200SPL mono amplifier and a pair of TS-W3001D4 12-inch subwoofers.
Since everyone in the competition had to work with the same gear, Vickers and company could spare no ounce of creativity or attention to detail. In dropping the head unit into the dash, they fabricated a trim bezel to contour with the shape of the radio for a seamless appearance. They also fashioned 4 1/8-inch brackets from aluminum to mount it securely. Behind the radio, they didn't slack with the wiring. "Every wire is color coded and protected with expandable tubing and terminated with heatshrink and solder," Vickers says. "Terminal strips were used throughout to ensure no wire would have to be cut for any type of disassembly or service."
The door panel speakers appear factory but behind the panels,Vickers says, "it is anything but stock." The doors hold the 6.5-inch speakers from the component set while the A-pillars hold the tweets.The doors also feature custom illuminated door locks for the Viper 5002 alarm. Other lighting in the Benz includes neon in the trunk.
To provide equal pathlengths for proper imaging and staging, Vickers and team looked to the kick panels for the remaining set of 5.25-inch speakers pictured at left. "We designed and built enclosures within the kickpanel utilizing vario-vent technology," Vickers explains. "The enclosures are also impedance matched using Linear-X equipment." Like a true competitor, Vickers took every detail seriously, looking through graphs of the impedance tuning to find the perfect sound.You won't notice certain details in the kick panel enclosures at first glance. For instance, Vickers placed the tweeters on mechanics' mirrors to enable the installers to easily tune the system. The tweeters were also placed in front of the midranges in order to create a mechanical time delay. In building the enclosures in the kicks, the team also had to remove the emergency brake and fabricate a replacement of their own.
While the team made do with tamperproof screws and machine inserts to secure the 6.5- and 5.25-inch components, they used carriage bolts to lock down the heavy-duty subwoofer enclosure at top. The box's unique design allows it to be either sealed or ported at the touch of a button on a remote. Vickers and his team made it possible by using a 4-inch heavy-duty linear actuator.
To cool the three PRS amplifiers, the team installed remote control fans. The same remote also controls all the accessories, such as lighting and the subwoofer enclosure actuator. "Rather than use traditional buttons or switches," Vickers reveals, "we created a remote which interfaces with a custom-made relay controller using the latest surface mount technology." Other special touches include visual indicator lights for system control and a gauge cluster in the dash to monitor the temperature of the amps.
In the trunk, a Stinger SP-2150 stores juice pumped out by a H/O Bosch 190-amp alternator underhood. The install team used 3/8-inch steel plate and 5/16 stainless threader rods to bolt the battery to the bottom of the car. "The port holes are used to filter out any battery gases using the push-pull configuration," Vickers says. Talk about attention to detail! In addition, the team relocated the fuse box to the rear deck and added a custom fuse panel to protect the various accessories. Ought-gauge wire runs power to the battery. Stinger wiring was used throughout.
At first security tried to dismiss our photographer and Vickers from the premises until the guard realized this car is a Mercedes, a sponsor of the arena you see behind the vehicle. Thanks Mercedes!
Of course, the CLK has received some eye candy on the exterior as well, including new paint by Import Collision Services, a lowered suspension with Lowrinser Springs and new 20-inch wheels. Taken as an entire package, the CLK packs a punch. "I have had many offers from people wanting to buy the car, but due to its sentimental value I just can't let it go," Vickers divulges. He plans on taking his new show vehicle to CES next year, IASCA competitions, and other events in the South.