For the first time in the history of the show, this year's Rocky Mountain Audio Fest will exhibit a small group of select automobiles with truly extraordinary sound systems. You might think that automotive audio systems have no place at the nation's finest high-end home audio show, but take a listen - we think you will be pleasantly surprised. These mobile systems were designed and built by award-winning automotive audio competitors who are music lovers and hi-end home audio enthusiasts as well. The craftsmen who designed and built these audio systems used components valued in the tens of thousands of dollars and dedicated hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of labor to the fabrication and tuning process. These automotive systems do, in many ways, rival the hi-end home audio experience, and may redefine what you believe to be possible within the automotive environment.
One of these extraordinary mobile systems was designed by Jon Whitledge, a renowned audio competitor, IASCA (International Auto Sound Challenge Association) sound quality judge, polymer scientist, and mechanical engineer. Jon's system is comprised of more than $40,000 of audio components and accessories from prestigious companies such as Dynaudio (loudspeaker transducers), Kimber Kable (interconnects and speaker cable), WBT (audio connections), Alpine (digital source and processor), Genesis (amplifiers), Cascade Audio Engineering (sound damping and room treatments), and many others. The speaker complement includes 12 transducers powered by 1800 Watts of amplification, and has taken more than 4,000 hours to build and tune.
Jon designed and built the entire system, which features meticulously handcrafted loudspeaker enclosures, door panels, headliner, and various interior trim pieces. Particularly noteworthy is the subwoofer enclosure, which was laminated from 18 layers of Baltic birch plywood with a total wall thickness of 75 mm (almost 3 inches), uses six Dynaudio woofer drivers in an Isobaric configuration, is powered by a 1000 Watt Genesis amplifier, and weighs in excess of 300 pounds! The two-channel audio system uses eight channels of DSP (digital signal processing) and eight channels of amplification to control the loudspeakers. The audio system was tuned solely for listening in the driver's seat by using appropriate crossover parameters, time delays, and equalization. Steve McCormack, a renowned audio component designer, assisted with the final voicing of the system.
How does Jon's system sound? Fantastic, of course, but you will no doubt want to experience it yourself. Jon feels that the sound stage is up at eye-level and stable from left to right, with outstanding depth extending well beyond the windshield. He also believes the system possesses essentially pinpoint imaging within a three-dimensional sound stage where the loudspeakers rarely make their presence known. The bass is powerful, solid, and articulate down to 20 Hz. Jon explained his system's goals, "I wanted to achieve a level of sonic fidelity that approaches a live musical performance, and resembles that of a hi-end home system." Jon continued, "The response of listeners to my system has been overwhelmingly positive - numerous individuals have complimented the sonic clarity and imaging. A few claimed that the bass response is the cleanest and most tightly integrated that they have ever heard in a car. Several people have proclaimed that my system is not a car audio system, but rather, a home audio system on wheels". Jon concluded, "I'm extremely grateful for Steve McCormack's assistance with the system voicing. His expertise dramatically improved the sound of my system, I learned a great deal from his vast experience". Some distinguished individuals in the music industry had this to say ...